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E«-ubtl8hed  in  1S91  by  EoG«ti  Wolcoit  (H,U,  1870)1  in 

mnnfff?  of  hii  ^Cher,  for  '*tht  purchast  of  books  of 

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works  uf  History,  Political  Hconomj*  4nd 

Sociojogy^"  and  Increased  in  1901  by 

a  bequest  tn  his  will* 


Policies  Issued  by  the 

Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Co. 

AGRICULTURAL    MACHIN-KRV     -    AtrrOMOBILE    — 
AVIATION  —  BUSINESS  INTERRUPTION  -  CAMERAS 

-  CONTRACTORVS  EQUIFMENT  -  CUSTOMERS* 
GOODS  -  EARTHQUARE  -  EXPLOSION  —  FARM  ^ 
EINE  ARTS  —  FlItE  —  FUR  —  HAIL  —  JEWELRY  — 
LIVE  STOCK  —  LIGHTNING  ^  MARINE  {HULL  ANI> 
CARCOl  -  MERCHANDISE  IN  TRANSIT  (BY  LAND, 
WATKR,  OR  AIR)  —  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS 
PARCEL  POST  —  PERSONAL   EFFECTS    -   PROFITS 

—  RAIN  —  REGISTERED  MA|L    "  RENT  —  RIOT  AND 
CrVIL    COMMOTION    -    s^.  ^^SMFN'S    SAMFLj 

SPORTSMEN'S  -  SPRJNK I  " 

LIVE  S^OCK  -  WINOJITOr 


Agents  En 


U,(fil,   IVl-^V>/^l«»-V/(iV-'V^^'/ 


Lou\ruy^ 


BY 
REV.   WILLIAM   P.  BURKE. 


Winitvfoxh: 
Printed  by  N.  Harvey  &  Co. 

FOR  THE  CLONMEL  LIBRARY  COMMITTEE. 
1907. 


^^/J-^/AJ-Z 


PREFACE 


JN  presenting  to  the  Subscribers  the  HISTORY  OF  ClONMEL,  the  Editor 
feels  that  an  apology  is  due  for  the  long  delay — nearly  five  years,  since  the 
prospectus  was  issued.  During  three  of  these,  unforeseen  events  interrupted 
the  work,  and  indeed,  separated  him  from  reading  altogether.  But  the  delay  was 
not  without  some  advantage.  Extended  inquiries  were  made  for  original  mater- 
ial, in  particular  for  the  "Annals  of  Clonmel,"  which  existed  in  the  time  of 
Sir  James  Ware,*  The  old  corporation  books  were  also  sought  for.  Though 
little  was  discovered,  one  is  thereby  enabled  to  go  to  press  with  the  assurance 
that  the  ''History  of  Clonmel"  is  as  complete  as  it  is  now  possible  to  make  it. 

Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  works  of  Gilbert,  Hardiman,  Caulfield 
and  others,  will  miss  in  the  earlier  chapters  that  minute  detail,  those  old-world 
pictures  of  burgher  life  which  give  local  histories  most  of  their  value  and  all 
their  charm.  But  in  extenuation,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  present  work 
was  gathered  exclusively  from  outside  and  public  sources.  The  early  municipal 
records  which  form  the  basis  of  the  history  of  Dublin,  Galway  or  Waterford, 
are  here  altogether  wanting-  There  is  not  a  charter  preserved,  and  scarcely  a 
deed  as  old  as  the  seventeenth  century.  The  oldest  minute  book  does  not  go 
beyond  1744,  and  even  then  it  is,  for  a  century,  a  mere  catalogue  of  names. 
There  are  no  parish  records.  Family  papers  which  elsewhere  afford  such  valuable 
material,  are  inaccessible  or  not  existing.  So  that  the  past  of  the  town  could  be 
reconstructed  only  by  painful  gleaning  in  the  Dublin  Record  Office,  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy  and  the  Bodleian  Library. 

Among  those  who  co-operated,  special  acknowledgment  is  due  to  Mr,  J,  F, 
Morrissey,  of  H,M,  Public  Record  Office,  himself  a  native  of  Clonmel,  who 
furnished  no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  folios  of  transcripts  from  the 
Pipe  Rolls,  Quit  Rent  records.  Wills  and  Commonwealth  Books,  From 
Mr,  Frederick  /.  Quinn,  besides  advice  on  many  points,  was  obtained  the 
Vaughan-Ryall  Ledger  (1680-1707),  Mr.  John  F.  O'Brien  gave  much  infor- 
mation upon  the  corporate  estate,  tolls  and  the  like.  Among  the  other  members 
of  the  Library  Committee  it  will  not  be  invidious  to  name  Mr.  James  White, 
To  him  indeed,  to  his  public  spirit  and  generous  labours,  it  is  mainly  due  that 
the  book  has  been  undertaken  at  all, 

WILLIAM  P.  BURKE. 
St,  Marysville,  Cahir, 

25th  May,  1907. 

•  "An  intention  there  was  not  long  since  by  Sir  James  Ley  Knight  to  have  published  some  of 
our  country'  writers,  for  which  end  he  caused  to  be  transcribed  and  made  fit  for  the  Presse,  the 
Annales  of  John  Clynne,  the  Annales  of  the  Priory  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  of  Kilkenny,  and  the 
Annales  of  Multifernan,  Rosse  and  Clonmell.  But  his  weighty  occasions  did  afterwards  divert  his 
purpose." — Preface  to  Campion's  History  by  Sir  James  Ware,  Dublin,  1633. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.  Page. 

Introductory     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...       i 

CHAPTER  II. 
Feudal  Clonmel  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...       6 

CHAPTER  III. 

Clonmel  in  the  Sixteenth  Century     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...      21 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Clonmel,  1603-1641  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...     42 

CHAPTER  V. 
War  of  1641,  and  Siege  by  Cromwell  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...      60 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Clonmel  during  the  Commonwealth    ...  ...  ...  ...  ...     80 

CHAPTER  VIL 
From  the  Restoration  to  the  Revolution     ...  ...  ...  ...     95 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Clonmel  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    112 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Clonmel  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  (continued)  ...  ...  ...    136 

CHAPTER  X. 

Clonmel  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  ...  ...  ...  ...  •  ••    i74 

CHAPTER  XL 

Corporation      ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ••  •••  •••    214 


Contents— continued.  V. 

CHAPTER  XII.  Page. 

Cromwellian  Surveys,  &c.        ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    238 

CHAPTER  Xm. 
St.  Mary's  Church        ...  ...  ...•         ...  ...  ...  ...    263 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Franciscan  House...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    299 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Parliamentary  Representatives  ...  ...  ...  ...  .314 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Clonmel  Wills  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    324 

CHAPTER  XVIL 
Printing  AND  Journalism  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    346 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Father  Sheehy  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    361 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Abbey  of  Innislounaght   ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    406 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Donoughmore    ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    417 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Palatinate  of  Tipper ary  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    424 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Census  OF  IFFA  AND  Offa,  1659...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    444 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Clonmel  Notabilities    ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    457 


Index  of  Subjects  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    499 

General  Index  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    507 

List  of  the  Original  Subscribers         ...  ...  ..  ...  ...    520 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 

View  of  Clonmel  ... 

Frontispiece 

Remains  of  Town  Wall    ... 

... 

16-17 

Parnell  Street 

56-7 

Main  Guard 

167-8 

O'Connkll  Street  ... 

172-3 

Bank  Note  of  Riall's  Bank.  1804  ... 

... 

190-I 

Quay 

196-7 

Corporation  Regalia 

235-^ 

St.  Mary's  Protestant  Church     ... 

264-5 

White's  Altar  Tomb 

269-70 

Chancel  Window,  Old  St.  Mary's 

... 

272-3 

St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church 

280-81 

Tomb  of  the  Lords  of  Cahir 

302-3 

Tomb  of  John  White,  First  Mayor  of 

Clonmel  ... 

343-4 

Oh  AFTER   I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

CHE  district  of  Cionmei  in  the  beginning  of  documentary  history  was 
inhabited  by  a  Celtic  tribe  who  bore  the  name  of  the  Deisi. 
Traces  of  an  older  people,  probably  non- Aryan,  exist  in  some  place 
names,  those  especially  of  prominent  natural  features,  such  as 
rivers  and  mountains /'^/A  But  whence  this  older  race  or  races  were,  and 
what  influences  economic,  customary  or  religious,  they  exercised  on  the 
Celtic  Deisi  cannot  be  determined  at  the  present  stage  of  ethnological 
inquiry /'W.  The  story  which  the  Deisi  told  of  themselves  was  this:  they 
originally  occupied  a  territory  in  Meath,  now  the  barony  of  Deece,  and 
were  descended  from  a  common  ancestor,  Fiacha  Suidhe,  brother  of  Con 
of  the  Hundred  Battles  who  in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era  was 
monarch  of  Ireland.  About  the  year  278  having  attempted  to  place  their 
chief,  Aongus  on  the  throne,  they  were  defeated  and  driven  into  Munster, 
where  Olioll  Olum,  king  of  that  province  settled  them  in  the  present  County 
of  Waterford.  Increasing  in  power  and  numbers  they  passed  the  Suir 
towards  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  and  drove  the  Ossorians  out  of  the 
district  north  of  the  river  which  henceforward  was  known  as  Deise 
Tuaisceart  or  North  Deise.  Such,  cleared  of  preternatural  accretions,  was 
the  traditional  account  (c).  Whatever  truth  it  may  contain,  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  aboriginal  name  of  the  locality  W1a$  femtn  ran  with  the  Celtic 
Deise  Tuaisceart  far  into  the  historic  period  and  the  inference  is  that  neither 
Ossorians  nor  Deisi  supplanted  the  older  race  but  simply  conquered  and 
coalesced  with  them. 


(a)  For  example  :  Liiij^aii,  Clodaj^h,  Mahon.  Suir.  But  Rev.  Dr.  Hcncbry  informs  me  that  in  the 
canton  ol"  Lu/ern,  Switzerland,  there  is  a  small  river  called  the  Sur  which  empties  into  the  Sursee. 

(h)  Professor  Rhys,  of  O.xford,  is  of  opinion  that  Druidism  bespeaks  a  non-Aryan  oriji^in. 

(c)  Keatinj^,  O' Flaherty,  O'Heerin  passim.  The  earliest  narrative  of  these  events  is  in  the 
Bodleian  (Laud  610,  fol.  99)  the  language  is  middle  Irish. 

B 


2  History  of  Clonmel. 

From  the  introduction  of  Christianity  onward  the  evidence  becomes 
more  reliable.  It  is  probable  that  the  Gospel  was  preached  in  the  district  by 
St.  Patrick  himself.  The  localities  Ballypatrick  and  Glasspatrick  preserve 
his  name ;  three  ancient  churches,  Kiltagan,  Killerk,  and  Kilmaloge,  preserve 
those  of  his  immediate  disciples,  while  Donoughmore  has  from  the  earliest 
times  been  regarded  as  a  Patrician  foundation  (d).  In  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  many  traditions  of  the  saint's  visit  to  the  Deisi  were  current,  some 
of  them  fortunately  finding  their  way  into  recognized  biography.  The 
Tripartite  life  has  a  very  circumstantial  account. 

Patrick  then  went  into  the  southern  Desi  and  set  about  building  a  church  in  Ard 
Patrick;  and  Lec-Patrick  is  there  and  the  marks  of  his  church,  Derball  son  of  Aedh 
opposed  him,  Derball  said  to  Patrick,  "  If  you  would  remove  that  mountain  there  so 
that  I  could  see  Loch  Lunga  across  it  to  the  south,  in  Fera  Maigh  Feine  [Fermoy 
barony]  I  would  believe."  Cenn  Abhrat  is  the  name  of  the  mountain  and  Belach 
Legtha  the  name  of  the  pass  which  was  melted  there.  When  the  mountain  began  to 
dissolve  Derball  said  that  whatever  he  (Patrick)  did  would  be  of  no  use.  Patrick  said  to 
Derball,  "There  shall  be  no  king  nor  bishop  of  your  family  and  it  will  be  permitted  to 
the  men  of  Munster  to  plunder  you  all  every  seventh  year  for  ever  as  bare  as  a  leek." 

As  Patrick  was  in  the  district  of  the  Desi  awaiting  the  King  of  the  country — 
Fergair  the  son  of  Rossa,  Patrick  said  to  him  after  his  arrival,  "  How  slowly  you  come"! 
"  The  country  is  rough  "  (said  he),  "  Quite  true,"  said  Patrick.  "  There  shall  be  no  King 
from  you  for  ever."  "What  delayed  you  to-day"?  asked  Patrick,  "The  rain  delayed  us," 
said  the  King.  "Your  meetings  shall  be  showery  for  ever,"  said  Patrick.  Patrick's  well 
is  there  and  also  the  church  of  MacClairidh  one  of  Patrick's  people.  And  assemblies 
are  not  held  by  the  Desi  except  at  night  because  Patrick  left  that  sentence  upon  them 
for  it  was  towards  night  they  went  to  him.  Patrick  then  cursed  the  streams  of  that 
place  because  his  books  were  drowned  in  them  and  the  fishermen  gave  his  people  a 
refusal.  Patrick  said  that  they  would  not  be  fruitful  notwithstanding  their  great 
profusion  up  to  that  time  and  that  there  would  never  be  any  mills  upon  them  except 
the  mills  of  strangers.  He  blessed  the  Suir  moreover  and  the  country  around  and  it  is 
fruitful  in  fish  except  the  places  where  those  streams  (glaise)  flow  into  it  (e) 

Another  tradition  of  the  eleventh  century,  to  which  the  scholarship  of 
Ussher  has  given  undue  prominence,  was  that  St.  Declan  preached  to  the 
Deisi  before  the  coming  of  St.  Patrick.  That  there  were  isolated  Christians 
in  the  South  of  Ireland  is  almost  certain,  considering  the  close  proximity  of 
the  Christian  communities  of  Wales  and  Cornwall,  but  that  St.  Patrick 

(d)  Glasspatrick  now  Glen  Patrick  was  a  distinct  parish  as  late  as  the  Down  Survey,  1654.  A 
rude  stone  chalice,  long  an  object  of  popular  veneration  in  Ballypatrick,  is  now  in  possession  of  Rev. 
P.  Power,  of  Waterford. 

(e)  Hennessy  and  others  have  identified  this  Deisi  with  "  Deisbeag,"  a  district  lying  around 
Bruff ;  the  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  Tripartite  is  a  redaction  of  older  lives — such  as  the  one 
in  the  Book  of  Armagh — nt^de  by  some  one  imperfectly  acquainted  with  Munster  topography.  Not 
to  speak  of  "  Patrick's  Well "  with  its  extremely  ancient  Celtic  cross,  the  names  Lec-Patrick,  Belach- 
Legtha,  Cille  MacClairidh,  are  all  discoverable  in  South  Tipperary.  The  monk  Jocelyn,  who  wrote 
in  the  12th  century,  makes  Lec-Patrick  the  coronation  stone  of  the  Munster  Kings  on  the  Rock  of 
Cashel  (Ed.  Messingham  p.  35,  Paris,  1624).  Belach-Legtha  seems  to  be  the  very  remarkable  pass 
in  the  Knockmeldown  mountains  now  known  as  Bay  Lough  :  a  Bealanlogh  in  Co.  Tipperary  is 
found  in  a  Piant  of  Elizabeth  dated  1587.  Cille  Mac  Clairidh  is  possibly  Kilmoclear,  north  of  Carrick. 
These  localities  may  have  been  confused  with  Ardpatrick  and  Singland,  in<  Co.  Limerick,  by  the 
compiler  of  the  Tripartite. 


History  of  Clonmel.  3 

found  a  Christian  tribe  and  a  regularly  constituted  diocese  under  the  rule 
of  St.  Declan  as  the  old  legend  of  that  saint  relates,  cannot  now  be 
maintained.  At  whatever  time  converted,  it  is  clear  that  by  the  middle  of 
the  seventh  century  the  whole  population  of  the  Deisi  had  embraced  the 
Christian  religion ;  not  only  so,  but  with  a  fervour  and  an  enthusiasm  that  led 
them  to  imitate  the  extreme  asceticism  of  the  East.  Some  such  as  St,  Aidan 
of  Bollendesert  and  St.  Declan  of  Ardmore,  retired  into  desert  places  after  the 
manner  of  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Pachomius.  Others  as  St.  Cuan  at  Mothel, 
and  St.  Carthage  of  Lismore,  set  up  religious  communities,  living  together  in 
stone  cells  or  houses  of  wattle  and  cultivating  the  learning  of  the  time. 
Others  again  fired  with  an  indomitable  missionary  spirit  carried  their  faith 
to  the  continent,  and  we  hear  of  two  great  Deisi  saints  as  wide  asunder  as 
Liege  and  Otranto.  St.  Farannan  of  Donoughmore  is  venerated  as  the  founder 
of  the  abbey  and  town  of  Waser  on  the  Meuse;  while  St.  Cathaldus  of 
Lismore  is  held  in  honour  in  the  old  Greek  city  of  Tarentum  at  the  extreme 
heel  of  Italy,  In  their  pedigrees  like  the  modern  Spaniards,  the  Deisi  were 
proud  to  emblazon  the  names  of  their  saints,  and  we  read  in  MacFirbisigh  of 
St.  Colman  of  Kilcash,  St.  Ronan  of  Kilronan,  St.  Ultan  of  Maghnidh,  and 
others.  The  death  of  a  notable  ecclesiastic  was  recorded  by  the  chroniclers 
with  equal  care  to  that  of  the  chief  himself.  More  curious  still  it  is  to  read 
amid  the  annals  of  savage  warfare  how  men  retired  to  Lismore-Mochuda 
and  in  the  quaint  language  of  the  annalist  put  themselves  under  the  direction 
of  a  "  soul-friend  "  and  died  there  "  after  the  victory  of  penance."  But  only 
in  asceticism  did  the  Deisi  copy  the  Eastern  church ;  an  incident  related  by 
St.  Bernard  affords  evidence  of  extraordinary  religious  tolerance.  A  cleric 
of  Lismore  denied  the  Real  Presence.  Being  prosecuted  by  the  laity  before 
a  meeting  of  the  clergy  he  had  permission  granted  him  to  defend  his  views. 
He  stoutly  maintained  against  St.  Malachy  who  was  present,  that  he  had 
reason  and  truth  on  his  side  while  on  the  other  was  the  mere  ipse  dixit  of  the 
primate.  Furthermore  he  accused  the  saint  of  dishonestly  speaking  against 
his  real  convictions.  Yet  we  learn  that  the  assembly  merely  declared  him 
anathema  and  left  him  to  the  judgment  of  God.  (f) 

Civilization  went  hand  in  hand  with  religion.  It  is  often  taken  for 
granted  that  the  Irish  previous  to  the  Anglo-Norman  invasion,  were  little 
better  than  savages,  and  the  murderous  tribal  warfare  recorded  in  the  annals 
is  put  in  evidence.  The  truth  is  that  in  the  fine  arts  as  probably  also  in  the 
useful  ones  they  were  far  in  advance  of  the  English  of  the  same  period. 
The  Lismore  crozier  apart  from  its  artistic  value  bespeaks  long  experience 


(f)  Life  of  St.  Malachy  by  St.  Bernard.     Messingham,  Paris,  1624,  p.  368-9. 


4  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  great  skill  in  the  working  of  metals.  The  old  church  of  Donoughmore 
may  be  instructively  compared  with  contemporary  ones  in  England  such  as 
Bradford-on-Avon.  The  clean  cut  ashlar  of  the  windows  together  with  the 
exquisite  Hiberno-classic  detail  is  removed  from  the  barbaric  English 
Romanesque  by  a  whole  cycle,  (g) 

The  most  important  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Deisi  from  their  conversion 
to  the  twelfth  century  was  the  invasion  of  the  Danes.  Their  first  appearance 
in  the  locality  was  in  864  when  their  fleet  on  the  Blackwater  was  defeated 
and  the  fortified  camp  at  Youghal,  destroyed.  The  next  year  the  Deisi  were 
again  victorious,  Grimhbeolu,  "chief  of  the  foreigners  of  Cork,"  being  slain. 
During  the  following  century  and  a  half,  despite  many  reverses,  the  Danes 
continued  steadily  to  arrive.  From  the  harbours  they  penetrated  inland  in 
their  flat  bottomed  boats  and  having  raided  the  monasteries  and  chieftains* 
strongholds  swiftly  disappeared  again.  Yet  in  the  wake  of  the  freebooters 
many  came  to  trade  and  settle.  Tradition  credits  them  with  being  the 
builders  of  forts,  bridges  and  even  round  towers.  This  much  is  certain  that 
they  were  the  founders  of  the  great  maritime  cities  and  probably  of  some  of 
the  towns  on  navigable  rivers  also.  There  they  carried  on  considerable  trade, 
importing  large  quantities  of  wine  from  Poitou  and  exporting  ox  hides  and 
other  skins  (h).  Not  having  brought  wives  they  interjnarrled  with  the  Irish, 
and  so  came  in  the  next  generation  to  profess  the  Christian  religion. 
Politically  too  they  were  soon  identified  with  the  Irish ;  they  took  a  part  in 
the  tribal  wars,  and  at  Clontarf  some  of  them  fought  on  the  Irish  side,  while 
on  the  other  hand  some  Irish  fought  with  them.  When  the  Danish  community 
of  Waterford  petitioned  for  a  bishop,  the  petition  went  naturally  in  the  name 
of  the  Irish  king  (i).  By  the  time  that  the  Anglo-Normans  arrived  the  North- 
men and  the  native  Deisi  were  almost  completely  fused.  We  meet  with  such 
names  as  'Heverbric'  (Ivar  O'Brick),  *Ragnal  O'Rigbardain  '  (Reginald 
0*Riordan),  'Imari  O'Cathal'  (Ivar  O'Cahill)  and  others  (j).  The  most 
notable  occupant  of  the  See  of  Lismore  from  St.  Carthage  down,  was  the 
Dano-Irish  Gillechriost  O'Connary,  better  known  as  Christianus,  while  in  the 
defence  of  Waterford  against  Strongbow  the  leading  part  was  taken  by 
Malachy  OThelan,  chief  of  the  Deisi. 

It  is  to  the  Danes  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  first  beginnings  of  Clonmel. 
Making  their  way  up  the  Suir  to  its  navigable  limit,  the  islands  in  the  river 


(^)  Appendix. 

(h)  "  Foreign  commerce  supplies  it  with  wine  in  such  plenty  that  the  want  of  the  jjrowlh  01"  vines 
is  scarcely  felt.  Poitou  out  of  its  superabundance  ex|X)rts  vast  quantities  of  wine  to  Ireland  which 
willinj^ly  gives  in  return  its  ox  hides  and  the  skins  of  cattle  and  wild  beasts."  Giraldus  Cambrcnsis, 
p.  2\.     Bohn's  Translation. 

(i)  L'ssher,  SvHoge,  Dublin,  1632.  (j)  Annals  of  Innisfallen  1 170,  and  State  Papers. 


History  of  Clonmel.  5 

aflforded  a  position  to  hold  their  stocks  and  carry  on  their  barter  with 
absolute  security.  The  home  of  the  OThelans,  Greenane,  was  close  by,  and 
with  them  as  chiefs  of  the  district  the  principal  exchange  of  wine,  iron,  arms, 
and  personal  ornament  would  naturally  be  made.  Tradition  indeed  has 
constantly  traced  the  origin  of  Clonmpl  to  the  Danes.  The  compiler  of  the 
Tripartite  Life  in  the  eleventh  century  speaks  of  the  mills  of  the  "  foreigners  " 
there.  Without  entering  the  region  of  mere  speculation  a  few  vestiges  of  the 
Danish  settlement  may  be  traced.  The  highest  elevation  of  the  old  town, 
about  one  hundred  yards  west  of  the  Main  Guard,  has  always  been  pointed 
to  as  the  site  of  the  Castle  of  Clonmel  (k).  Lower  down,  the  level  land  along 
the  river  now  occupied  by  the  eastern  section  of  the  town  was  known  as  late 
as  a  century  ago  as  the  "Green."  From  what  we  know  of  Scandinavian 
settlements  elsewhere,  we  can  have  no  difficulty  in  recognising  the  fort- 
crowned  hill  as  the  ancient  "Thingmote,"  while  along  the  foot  of  it  was  the 
unmistakably  Danish  "Green"  or  place  of  assembly.  As  illustrating  the 
abiding  character  of  legal  institutions  amid  political  disturbance,  it  may  be 
observed  that  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  inquisitions 
were  held  and  cases  adjudicated  on  the  Green.  But  the  settlement  of  the 
Danes  seems  to  have  been  of  small  importance.  Girald  Barry  who  visited 
Ireland  in  II84  describes  the  Suir  as  flowing  through  Ardfinnan  and  Tibarach 
(a  hamlet  below  Kilsheelan  now  forgotten)  to  the  sea  ;  there  is  no  mention  of 
Clonmel  (l). 

fk)  Sec  note  iti/ru. 

(I)  The  name  of  Clonmel  so  obviously  inteliij^ihle  to  the  Irish  sixraker  does  not  prove  so  easy  on 
closer  investigation.  If  it  were  discoverable  in  the  ancient  annals  the  question  would  lie  at  once  set 
at  rest,  but  it  occurs  at  the  earliest  only  in  17th  century  documents,  -Keating  and  the  Four  Masters. 
Shaw  Mason's  "  Statistical  Survey  "  of  Clonmel  in  the  P.K.O.,  gives  the  popular  tradition. 

'*  Clonmel  derived  from  Irish  Clu^m  a  retreat  and  mcAlA  honey  which  Burke  (De  Burgo, 
Hibernia  Dominicana)  translates  "  Secessus  Mellis."  When  it  got  this  name  not  clearly  known, 
many  suppose  from  fertility  of  soil  and  richness  of  country  in  which  it  is  situate.  The  inhabitants 
have  among  them  the  following  tradition.  I/Oiig  before  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  were 
converted  to  Christianity  the  site  of  this  town  being  all  an  uncultivated  tract  of  land  on  both  sides  of 
the  Suir  some  of  the  aborigines  intended  to  build  a  large  castle,  and  like  the  antient  Greeks  and 
Romans  they  undertook  nothing  of  importance  without  some  kind  of  omen.  Taking  a  large  swarm  of 
bees  for  their  guides  which  they  accidentally  met,  they  determined  to  build  wherever  the  wandering 
insects  first  settled.  Accordingly  they  erected  a  castle  and  called  it  CluAin  Ule^lA  which  name  it 
always  retained  till  it  was  lately  [circa  18 10]  thrown  down  by  Mr.  John  Harvey  to  the  rear  of  whose 
house  in  the  Main  Street  and  directly  opposite  Flag  Lane  it  stood." 

Though  the  17th  century  authorities  give  CluAin  me-AlA  there  are  very  strong  reasons  for 
doubting  the  etymology.  The  careful  inquirer  will  hear  the  older  townsfolk  who  are  uninfluenced 
by  literary  tradition  pronounce  "  Clomell "  (accent  on  sejond  syllable).  Kickham  who  reproduced 
dialect  peculiarities  with  absolute  fidelity  makes  Phil  Lsihy  in  "  Knocknagow  "  state  "  'Twas  the 
corn  med  a  town  of  Clomell."  Now  this  is  supported  by  the  earliest  forms  of  the  name  in  state 
papers  and  other  public  records.  We  find  '  Clumell '  (1215),  'Clomele'  (1243),  'Clomele'  (1268), 
Clomeil' (1291),  'Clomer  (1302),  'Clomell'  (1381),  '  Clomel'  (1429).  This  would  point  to  the  old 
Irish  Ctiu  met.  The  word  Cltti  means  a  portion  or  division  and  is  often  used  in  connection  with 
land  in  the  early  MSS.  The  other  word  may  be  a  proper  name,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Deisi 
pedigree  contains  the  name  melt,  daughter  of  Ercbran,  who  became  wife  of  Crimthan,  King  of 
Ui  Cinnselagh.  So  that  the  true  interpretation  of  Cloinnel  may  be  *'  Mell's  Lot "  rather  than 
"  Honeyvale."  The  later  form  of  the  name  took  shape  as  the  significance  of  the  former  was 
forgotten.    Just  as  in  H.M.  navy  the  ship  Bdlcrophon  is  known  by  the  more  intelligible  "  Billy  Kufifian." 


Ohapxe^r  II. 


FEUDAL  CLONMEL, 

JT  is  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  Irish  history  that  at  the  time  of  the 
English  invasion,  the  whole  country  was  parcelled  out  among  the 
Anglo-Norman  adventurers  and  that,  so  far  as  the  power  and  law  of 
England  could  effect  it,  the  Irish  dominion  of  the  land  ceased,  "  All 
Ireland,"  writes  Sir  John  Davis,  "was  cantonized  among  ten  persons  of  the 
English  nation  ";  and  he  gives  the  interesting  detail  that  "  Otto  de  Grandison 
obtained  a  grant  of  all  Tipperary  "  (m).  Yet  this  statement  sanctioned  as  it 
is  even  by  original  inquirers  such  as  Prendergast  and  Richey  is  altogether 
wide  of  the  facts  (n).  To  take  a  few  local  instances.  In  1204  Donal  OThelan 
son  of  the  defender  of  Waterford  against  Strongbow,  still  held  the 
"province"  of  Dungarvan  with  two  other  cantreds  in  Waterford.  Forty 
years  later  his  son  Ros  OThelan,  together  with  Murrough  O'Brien  of  Aherlow, 
and  Richard  MacCormacan  of  the  Deisi,  as  independent  chiefs  were  invited 
by  Henry  III.  to  help  in  the  war  against  the  Scots  (0).  And  so  far  from 
Otto  de  Grandison  being  granted  all  Tipperary,  the  truth  is  that  personage 
did  not  arrive  in  Ireland  for  a  full  century  subsequent  to  the  invasion  and 
then  received  only  a  portion  of  the  Burgh  estates  in  that  county.  Though 
the  records  of  Henry  II.  and  John  are  in  great  part  lost,  the  Pipe  rolls  of 
Edward  I.  enable  us  to  form  a  tolerable  notion  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
settlement  of  Tipperary.      For  the  sheriffs  of  the  county,  John  de  Coventry 


(lu)  A  Discovery  of  the  True  Causes  VVhy  Ireland  was  never  Subdued — London  16 13. 
(u)  Cromwellian  Settlement  2  Ed.  p.  17.     Lectures  on  Irish  History,  First  Series,  13*6  scq. 
(o)  Slate  Papers,  Sweetnian,  pp.  34,  405. 


\ 


History  of  Clonmel.  7 

and  Maurice  Le  Bret,  in  the  years  1275-6  returned  in  their  accounts  the  rents 
paid  to  the  King  by  the  tenants  in  capite.  Now  these  rents  were  paid  in  the 
names  not  of  the  tenants  then  living,  but  in  those  of  the  original  grantees  or 
their  immediate  descendants. 

From  the  rolls  therefore  it  appears  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  southern  boundary  of  the  county  was  formed  by  the  Suir  as  far 
as  Cahir,  and  thence  by  the  Galtees.  East  and  north  the  boundaries  were 
substantially  as  at  present,  but  westwards  the  county  included  some  three  of 
the  present  baronies  of  Limerick  and  extended  to  within  a  few  miles  of  that 
city.  Upon  this  territory  were  set  down  twenty-two  feudarii  or  tenants 
holding  immediately  of  the  King,  and  about  six  times  that  number  of  sub- 
feudarii.  The  Irish  for  the  most  part  were  left  undisturbed.  We  hear  only 
of  the  O'Mearas  driven  into  North  Tipperary  from  the  rich  lands  of  lifa  and 
OfFa  (p).  The  O'Neills  of  Ballyneale,  the  O'Lonergans  of  Cahir,  the  Quirkes 
of  Clanwilliam,  the  Ryans  of  Owney,  the  Fogartys  of  Ely,  the  Meaghers  of 
Ikerrin  and  several  smaller  septs,  still  lived  on  the  lands  as  they  had 
probably  done  since  the  time  of  Christ.  The  Anglo-Norman  baron  or 
tenant  in  capite  built  his  mound,  erected  a  stockade,  surrounded  himself  with 
his  free  tenants  and  demanded  tribute  which  the  Irish  paid  when  he  was 
strong  enough  to  enforce  it  (q).  The  twenty-two  baronial  feuds  were  created 
at  different  times  and  were  of  very  unequal  extent.  A  list  of  them  drawn  up 
about  1240  with  the  services  payable  to  the  King  in  time  of  war,  is  found  in 
the  Pipe  rolls.  Though  not  invariably,  the  services  were  generally 
proportioned  to  the  value  and  extent  of  the  lands  conveyed, 

"  From  Richard  de  Burgh,  XVII  Knights'  services,  a  half  and  a  third. 

From  Theobald  Butler,  XXII  services. 

From  the  Lady  Moyalwy  [Moyaliff],  II  services. 

From  William  of  Worcester,  IX  services,  a  half. 

From  the  heirs  of  Hugh  de  Lega  of  Ustnachteg,  I  service. 

From  John  Butler,  I  service. 

From  William  de  Canvyl,  II  services. 

From  Walter  de  Burgh,  I  service. 

From  Richard  Fitz William,  a  half  service. 

(t>)  *'  O'Meara  who  is  a  j(oodly  prince 

The  chief  of  Hy  Faha" — O'Heerin  Topographical  Poem. 

(q)  An  inquisition  on  the  lands,  etc.,  of  Richard  de  Burgh  son  of  William,  in  1243  found  that 
of  his  manor  of  Kilsheetan  only  2\  plowlands  were  held  in  demesne,  while  the  Irish,  O'Neills  and 
the  rest,  held  23  plowlands  for  which  they  paid  a  tribute  of  £2%  a  year.  The  original  Norman 
"  castles "  were  of  wood  raised  on  an  artificial  mound  of  earth.  About  1214  when  Murrough 
O'Brien  invaded  Ormond  and  Ely  O'Carroll  "  the  King's  Council  commenced  fortifying  a  castle  in 
the  vill  of  Koscrea  by  erecting  a  mote  and  a  wooden  tower." — State  Papers,  Sweetman  I.,  p.  412. 
The  mote  at  Kilsheelan  is  very  perfect,  those  at  Tibroughney  and  Knockgraffon  still  more  so. 


8  History  of  Clonmel. 

From  Robert  Comyn,  a  half  service. 

From  Gilbert  English,  I  service. 

From  Walter  Bret,  I  service. 

From  John  Kent,  a  quarter  of  a  service. 

From  Gilbert  Canute,  an  eight  of  a  service. 

From  Richard  Cosyn,  a  quarter  of  a  service. 

From  Thomas  Cosin,  one  third  of  a  quarter  of  a  service. 

From  Robert  Racket,  one  service. 

From  William  Bret,  one  service. 

From  Matilda  de  Ledene,  a  half  service. 

From  Thomas  White,  a  half  service. 

From  John  de  Cranill,  a  quarter  of  a  service. 

From  Alexander  Stokes,  a  (juartcr  of  a  service  "  (r). 
It  will  be  observed  that  out  of  the  sixty  two  and  a  half  knight  services, 
forty-eight  were  rendered  by  three  barons,  De  Burgh,  Lc  Butler  and 
De  Worcester.  De  Burgh  was  son  of  William  FitzAdelm,  lord  lieutenant 
under  Henry  II.,  a  man  according  to  Cambrensis,  conspicuous  among  his 
fellow  adventurers  for  covetousness  and  ambition.  FitzAdelm  as  the  earliest 
grantee  obtained  the  choice  lands  of  that  county,  the  'Golden  Vale'  from 
Cashel  to  Limerick,  and  the  alluvial  district  from  Clonmel  to  Carrick.  The 
ruins  of  Athassel,  the  largest  of  Irish  abbeys,  where  he  and  his  sons  down 
to  the  Red  Earl  of  Ulster  lie  buried,  still  witness  to  his  magnificence.  The 
junior  branches  of  his  family  became  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves, 
and  as  the  "Clan  William"  held  sway  in  the  baronies  which  bear  their 
name  in  Tipperary  and  Limerick,  down  to  the  time  of  Elizabeth.  More 
extensive  though  not  so  fertile  was  the  district  granted  to  Theobald  Butler 
in  1200.  It  included  the  five  baronies  of  Ely  O'Carrol,  Eliogarthy,  Owney 
and  Arra,  Owney  O'Callaghan,  Owney  O'Heflfernan  and  the  half  barony  of 
Killaloe  (s).  The  third  of  the  great  feuds  was  created  in  favour  of  Philip  of 
Worcester,  uncle  of  William,  whose  name  appears  on  the  roll.  It  embraced 
the  baronies  of  Slievardagh,  Comsey,  Owney  Cashel  (now  Middlethird), 
Ardfinnan  and  Muskerry  Quirke,  the  head  or  baronial  castles  being 
Knockgraffon,  Ardmayle  and  Kiltinan  (i).  These  three  great  feudarii  created 
numerous  sub-infeudations.  Under  the  Butlers  were  the  Purcells,  Graces 
(Le  Gros),  Morrises  (De  Monte  Marisco),  Boy  tons,  Fannings,  and  others.     The 


(r)  Pipe  n»l!  3  &  4  Kcl.  I.  The  TipiHrrjiry  i^orlioii  occupies  40  pa^^es  f«M»lscap  in  ihe  traiiNcript 
made  by  Mr.  T.  F.  Morrissy.  Pub.  Kec.  OlVice.  Kxcept  lor  names  and  adininistrative  detail  it  is  tnilv 
valuable  as  showing  tlial  the  leudal  settlement' of  Tipperary  by  the  Ani^lo-Xorniaiis  was  very 
thoroiij^h. 

(s)  Carle's  Ormoiid,  .vviii. 

(t)  Grant,  6  July,  1215.     State  Pa|x;rs,  Swcetman. 


History  of  Clonmel.  9 

Worcesters,  and  their  inheritors  the  De  Berminghams,  had  as  under  tenants 
the  De  Ketings,  St  Johns,  Mocklers  (Mauclerc),  Tobins  (St.  Aubyn), 
Mandevilles,  Heneberys  (De  Inteberge)  and  Prendergasts. 

Having  settled  on  their  allotments  the  Anglo-Normans  proceeded  to 
open  communications  through  the  county.  The  two  approaches  into 
Tipperary  were  the  **  tougher"  in  the  bog  of  Ely  east  of  Thurles,  and  the 
passage  from  South  Ossory  by  Mullinahone.  The  former  was  guarded  by 
the  castle  of  Adlongport  (Longford  Pass)  held  by  Elias  FitzNorman.  In 
1242  Maurice  FitzGeraJd,  justiciary,  was  ordered  to  cut  down  the  wood  of 
Thomas  St.  Aubyn  in  the  pass  of  Comsy,  between  Fethard  and  the  marches 
of  Ossory,  "  that  a  safe  way  might  be  opened  for  merchants  and  wayfarers, 
the  King  having  heard  that  many  persons  peaceably  passing  there  had  been 
killed  and  others  robbed  "  (11),  Southwards  the  great  road  between  Cashel 
and  Lismore  was  protected  at  the  ford  of  Ardfinnan  by  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  settled  there.  The  communication  with  Limerick  by  the  wooden 
bridge  at  Ballindrehid  was  maintained  by  the  neighbouring  castle  of  Knock- 
graflfon.  Many  of  these  Anglo-Norman  roads  are  still  traceable  with  the  aid 
of  the  ordnance  maps,  and  it  will  be  found  that  in  nearly  all  cases  they 
follow  the  line  of  the  old  castles.  Communications  being  established,  the 
new  settlers  obtained  charters  for  holding  fairs  in  certain  districts,  and  in 
some  instances  founded  municipal  communities.  If  we  had  not  the  evidence 
of  the  public  records  it  would  be  difficult  to  believe  that  such  places  as 
Athassel,  Ardfinnan  and  Lisronagh  were  once  corporate  towns.  Yet  in 
1293  the  commonalty  of  Athassel  with  their  provost  Roger  Thuberville  were 
fined  for  trespass.  Edward  II.  in  1 31 1  at  the  instance  of  the  Bishop  of 
Lismore  granted  bridge  toll  to  the  "  bailiffs  and  good  men  of  Ardfynan," 
while  Henry  IV.  granted  to  the  provost  and  commons  of  Lisronagh  exemption 
from  taxes  "for  the  building  and  rehabilitation  of  their  town  burnt  by  the 
FitzGeralds  "  (v). 

Throughout  the  thirteenth  century  the  feudal  system  was  maintained 
unbroken.  The  King's  officers,  sheriffs,  escheators  and  coroners  were 
regularly  appointed  and  the  baronial  and  manor  courts  were  in  full 
operation.  The  accounts  in  the  Pipe  rolls  exhibit  the  profits  of  the  King's 
courts,  fines,  reliefs,  marriage  compositions,  scutage  payments,  escheats, 
down  to  the  smallest  detail.  The  dull  routine  of  the  figures  is  occasionally 
relieved  by  such  items  as  [1254]  "£3  14s.  od.  fine  to  be  levied  on  the  town 
of  Cashel  for  the  escape  of  a  thief  from  the  parish  church  [where  he  had 
been   kept]   for   want  of   a   prison.'Ytyy.     In   the   same   year  a   thief  took 


(n)  State  Papers,  Sweetman,  p.  385.  (%^}  Pipe  Rolls  Ed.  I.     Patent  Rolls  Ed.  II.  &  Hen.  IV. 

(w)  Account  of  William  de  Waylande,  Sheriff  of  Tipperary,  39  Hen.  III. 


10  History  of  Clonmel. 

sanctuary  in  the  church  of  Ardfinnan;  several  persons  who  should  have 
kept  watch  on,  and  arrested  him  when  leaving,  were  fined  for  his  escape. 
In  1275  David,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  accounted  for  125  marks  out  of  the 
goods  of  Reginald  Maccot  a  usurer  ^jrA  Henry  of  Kilsheelan  was  fined  for 
selling  wine  contrary  to  the  assize  (legal  price),  while  several  were  fined  for 
false  weights  and  measures.  So  exhaustive  indeed  are  the  particulars,  that 
the  few  fragments  of  the  rolls  of  Henry  III.  and  Edward  I.  surviving,  are 
enough  to  show  that  the  Anglo-Norman  settlement  of  Tipperary  was 
thorough  and  complete.  But  the  feudal  system  in  Ireland  laboured  under 
some  fatal  defects.  At  the  head  stood  the  justiciary  representing  the  King. 
Often  selected  from  one  of  the  eight  or  so  ruling  families,  that  functionary 
instead  of  being  the  controlling  power  and  the  bond  of  peace,  became  a 
mere  centre  of  intrigue  and  conflict.  Occasionally  but  worse  still,  some 
adventurer  climbed  into  the  position,  only  to  use  it  for  traffic  in  the  King's 
justice  and  King's  patronage.  Such  a  man  was  Stephen  de  Fulburne, 
Bishop  of  Waterford,  who  was  appointed  justiciary  in  1 282.  "  Hardly  any 
one"  it  was  said  "can  hold  office,  or  be  sheriif,  or  constable  of  a  castle 
unless  he  gives  or  sells  land  to  the  justiciary  or  bestows  on  him  half  the 
fees.  Take  the  case  of  Walter  Uncle  [sheriflf]  and  the  proceeds  of  the 
Co.  Tipperary.  He  every  year  gives  more  in  horses  to  the  justiciary  than 
the  whole  proceeds  for  which  he  is  accountable  to  the  King."  (y)  How  the 
sheriff"  recouped  himself  we  learn  from  a  petition  of  the  Tipperary 
freeholders  to  King  Edward  I.  in  1290.  Following  the  example  of  the 
neighbouring  Irish  chiefs  the  sheriffs  in  their  half-yearly  tourns  regularly 
"coshered"  on  the  people  to  their  great  damage.  Moreover  they  now 
levied  a  half  mark  each  tourn  on  every  knight's  fee  instead  of  on  the 
barony  as  formerly  (z).  They  invented  a  new  offence  and  so  by  the  fines 
reaped  considerable  profit.  This  was  to  summon  the  freeholder  to  cut  down 
the  woods  in  the  bad  passes  of  the  county,  whoever  defaulted  was  fined 
YiQ2iV\\y  (aa).  The  Anglo-Norman  yeomen  caught  between  the  upper  and 
nether  millstones  of  their  lords  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Irish  on  the  other 
gradually  disappeared.  The  names  which  figure  so  largely  in  the  Pipe  rolls 
and  Plea  rolls  of  Tipperary  in  the  thirteenth  century  are  sought  in  vain  in 
later  records.  Neither  in  the  Fiants  of  Elizabeth,  nor  the  census  of  our  own 
day  can  one  discover  such  patronymics  as  Arsyc,  Burel,  Codynor,  Dunheved, 
I'Enfaut,  fflamvill,  Godmund,  Haleton,  Joye,  Krik,  Lovell,  Mallbronch, 
Namenach,  Osnel,  Passelewe,  Roleg,  Stobboc,  Trussenylan,  Wyard,  Yvor. 


(x)  Account  of  John  de  Coventry,  Sheriff,  3  Kd.  I. 
(y)  State  Papers  1 285,  Sweetman  p.  4. 
(z)  Ibid  p.  316.  (aa)  Ibid  447  scq. 


History  of  Clonmel.  ii 

The  Irish,  as  has  been  observed,  still  remained  on  their  tribe  lands. 
Except  that  some  fertile  districts  here  and  there  were  occupied  by  the 
Norman  lord,  partly  in  demesne  partly  by  his  tenants,  the  old  order 
continued.  The  chief  was  regularly  elected;  the  land  distribution  under  the 
ancient  law  took  place  periodically;  the  brehon  sat  in  judgment;  the 
shanaghee  constructed  the  tribal  pedigree  ;  the  bard  played  the  old  music ; 
the  traditional  literature  still  flourished.  There  were  in  short  two  nations 
on  the  same  soil,  not  side  by  side  but  intermixed,  one  claiming  it  de  jure  by 
the  legal  fiction  of  conquest,  the  other  holding  it  de  facto  by  every  moral 
right.  Such  a  state  of  things  could  last  only  as  long  as  the  balance  of 
power  was  even,  and  the  balance  was  disturbed  in  the  early  years  of  the 
fourteenth  century  by  the  advent  of  Edward  Bruce. 

In  1318  after  three  years  warfare  and  eighteen  successive  victories  Bruce 
fell  at  Faughard,  near  Dundalk.  But  he  brought  down  with  him  in  his  fall 
the  feudal  government  of  Ireland.  The  Anglo-Norman  forces  were  shattered, 
their  tenantry  dispersed,-  their  castles  even  in  ruins.  The  Irish  now  seized 
the  opportunity  and  what  Bruce  had  left,  they  destroyed.  North  Tipperary 
for  example  had  been  a  successful  colony  under  the  Butlers.  Along  the  line  of 
the  Shannon  and  among  the  head  waters  of  the  Suir  many  a  castle  had  been 
planted  in  dependence  on  Nenagh  as  the  "  caput  baroniae."  Lord  Edmund 
Butler  being  justiciary  in  1 3 16,  Bruce  invaded  the  district  and  making  Nenagh 
his  headquarters  "  burnt  and  destroyed  all  Butler's  lands "  (bb).  Next  year 
O'Carrol  of  Ely  completed  the  ruin  by  defeating  the  remnant  of  Butler's 
forces,  killing  two  hundred  of  them.  Shortly  after  Bryan  O'Brien  laid  claim 
to  the  whole  district  as  part  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Thomond,  and 
forthwith  proceeded  to  make  good  his  claim  (cc).  In  1322  he  gained  his  first 
great  victory  over  the  English.  The  parliament  at  Kilkenny  on  the  petition  of 
the  commonalty  of  Tipperary  agreed  to  raise  a  subsidy,  and  the  sheriffs  of 
the  county,  Geoflfry  Prendergast  and  John  Landers,  were  ordered  to  organize 
an  army  to  be  commanded  by  John  de  Bermingham,  the  conqueror  of  Bruce  (dd). 
But  O'Brien  maintained  his  ground  and  three  years  later,  moving  south,  he 
destroyed  the  De  Burgh  baronies  of  Clanwilliam  and  reduced  the  towns  of 
Tipperary  and  Athassel  to  ashes.  The  Normans,  now  thoroughly  aroused, 
formed  a  confederacy  under  the  Earl  of  Ulster,  with  O'Connor  King  of 
Connaught  and  Murtough  O'Brien  of  Thomond  as  allies.  O'Brien  at  first 
suffered  a  reverse  at  Thurles  but  soon  inflicted  an  overwhelming  defeat  on 


(bb)  Book  of  Howth  ad  an. 

fee)  In  a  State  Paper  of  Henry  VII. '  Twomont '  included  O'Kynedy  of  Ormonde,  O'Kerowyll  of 
Elye,  O'Meajjher  of  Keryn,  O'Brene  of  Arragh,  O'Molryane  of  Wehen  (ORyan  of  Ownev),  O'Dwyre 
of  Kvlnemanagh,  and  McBrene  of  Ighonaght  (Coonagh).— Book  of  Howth  p.  255. 

(dd)  Pat.  Rol.  20  Ed.  II. 


12  History  of  Clonmel. 

the  allies,  the  King  of  Connaught  being  left  dead  on  the  field.  The  success 
of  the  Irish  may  be  measured  by  the  fact  that  two  years  later,  in  1332,  they 
cut  into  the  heart  of  the  Dc  Bermingham  country  and  burnt  the  town  of 
Cahir  (ec).  The  sequel  is  related  in  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  date  1337, 
when  an  agreement  was  come  to  that  O'Brien  should  hold  the  land  and  a 
certain  rent  was  to  be  paid  to  De  Burgh— a  covenant  probably  which  neither 
party  took  seriously. 

If,  as  has  been  observed,  there  are  some  indications  in  embryonic 
Clonmel  of  a  Danish  origin,  yet  the  town  as  it  emerges  into  history  is 
unmistakably  Anglo-Norman.  The  four  streets  radiating  from  the  centre 
forming  a  cross,  the  parish  church  occupying  the  north-west  quadrant,  the 
dedications  "Our  Lady  of  Clonmel,"  St.  Nicholas,  patron  of  sailors,  St.  Stephen 
with  its  leper  house,  all  these  are  characteristic  of  the  older  English  towns 
and  of  their  Norman  prototypes.  The  earliest  documentary  reference  to  the 
town  occurs  in  121 5.  That  year  King  John  sent  a  mandate  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Dublin,  justiciary,  to  distrain  William  d'Aencurt  for  £ioo  purchase  money  of 
Clonmel.  The  purchase  had  been  effected  some  years  before  but  payment  had 
not  been  made  (ff).  The  explanation  is  probably  furnished  by  an  entry  in 
the  Close  rolls,  2ist  October,  1221,  when  the  manor  and  ville  of  Clonmel  were 
in  litigation  between  D'Aencurt  and  Richard  de  Burgh.  It  would  appear 
therefore  that  the  grant  to  D'Aencurt  had  been  made  in  ignorance  that 
Clonmel  was  included  in  the  lands  previously  granted  to  William  fitz  Adelm 
de  Burgh,  father  of  Richard. 

To  Richard  de  Burgh,  justiciar}',  the  most  prominent  man  in  Ireland  of 
his  generation,  Clonmel  as  a  municipal  and  commercial  entity  owes  its 
existence.  As  early  as  1225  he  obtained  from  Henry  III.  a  grant  for  a  yearly 
fair  in  the  town  beginning  on  the  feast  of  All  Saints  and  lasting  for  the 
seven  following  days.  In  1242  this  fair  was  changed  to  the  feast  of 
St.  Magdalen  (2ist  July)  and  made  permanent.  The  charter  of  incorporation 
which  he  as  lord  of  the  manor  granted  to  the  burgesses  is  not  now  extant, 
but  its  tenor  may  be  learned  from  similar  ones  by  contemporary  lords. 
Evidence  however  is  not  wanting  as  to  the  state  of  the  town.  On  the  death 
of  De  Burgh  in  1243  an  inquisition  in  accordance  with  feudal  law  was  held 
into  his  property.  From  this  it  appears  that  a  rent  of  £19  6s.  was  payable 
by  the  burgesses.  Now  as  contemporary  charters  show  a  uniform  burgage  rent 
of  twelve  pence,  the  sheriff's  return  would  represent  386  burgesses  and  a  town 
population  therefore  of  2,000.  Surprising  though  these  figures  appear  they 
can  be  tested  from  other  sources.     In  the  charter  of  incorporation  besides  the 


fit'}  .\nna!s  of  Four  Masters,  Clyn,  Koss.  &c.  (fi)  Stale  Papers,  Swcctinan. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i3 

common  of  wood  and  moor  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  there  were  granted 
in  small  allotments  the  burgagery  lands  north  of  the  town.  These  extended  to 
about  850  Irish  acres,  and  taking  the  average  allotment,  the  burgesses  would 
approximate  to  the  above  figure  (gg).  Again,  the  mills  of  Clonmel  as  part  of  the 
dower  of  Egidia  widow  of  De  Burgh  were  valued  at  £8  1 3s.  4d.  yearly.  As  only 
the  corn  of  the  manor  tenants  was  ground,  the  profits  show  the  existence  of  a 
large  community.  De  Burgh's  children  being  minors  his  estates  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  King.  Richard  de  Burgh,  junior,  dying  in  1 250  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother  Walter,  who  does  not  seem  to  have  had  livery  of  Clonmel  and 
Kilsheelan  previous  to  his  exchanging  these  manors  for  the  land  of  Ulster. 
An  entry  in  the  Pipe  roll  for  1276  runs  "Richard  fitz  Ely  accounts  to  the 
Exchequer  for  the  rent  of  Clonmel  and  Kilsylan  and  for  all  the  other 
proceeds  of  these  manors, — which  have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  King  from 
Christmas  in  the  twenty-ninth  year  (Henry  III.,  1244), — up  to  the  next  Feast 
of  St.  Michael."  A  notable  personage  now  appears  on  the  scene.  Otto  de 
Grandison  was  sheriff  of  County  Tipperary  in  1 267  and  the  two  following 
years.  During  this  period  casting  his  eyes  on  the  rich  lands  occupied 
despite  feudal  law  by  the  junior  De  Burgh  families,  De  Grandison  soon 
obtained  a  grant  of  them  for  life.  Subsequently  returning  to  England,  he 
was  attached  to  the  King's  council  until  1289  when  he  went  on  an  embassy 
to  Rome.  Ten  years  later  he  set  out  for  the  Crusade.  He  was  present  at 
the  siege  of  Acre  whence  escaping  in  company  with  the  King  of  Cyprus 
he  was  reported  to  have  perished  in  a  shipwreck.  But  in  1302  he  arrived 
home  safely,  bringing  with  him  a  Roman  order  for  payment  of  3,000  marks, 
losses  incurred  at  the  siege  of  Acre.  Previous  to  his  foreign  peregrinations 
he  succeeded  in  converting  his  freehold  in  Clonmel  into  fee  simple 
absolute. 

Edward,  the  King  has  granted  to  Otto  de  Grandisson  for  his  homage  and  his 
service  to  the  King  during  youth,  and  for  his  expenditure  the  castle,  cantred,  and  entire 
territory  of  Hokmath  ICoonagh  barony,  Co.  Limerick],  the  entire  ville  of  Tipperary  and 
its  appurtenances,  the  castle  and  ville  of  Kilfecle,  the  entire  district  of  Muskerry  and 
the  ville  of  Clonmel,  to  hold  to  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever,  with  knight  services, 
advowsons  of  churches,  &c.,  &c.    Copeford,  26th  July,  1281  (hh). 

The  interest  which  he  and  his  representatives  took  in  the  newly 
acquired  possessions  is  evident  from  several  entries  in  the  State  Papers.  It 
is  probable  that  during  the  minority  of  the  De  Burghs  the  manorial 
jurisdiction    fell   into   abeyance,   De  Grandison  determined  to  protect  his 


(^)  '•'•i^'  hurf(:igc  holdiiiiis  in  Imiistiogue  were  3  acres,  in  Rathcoolc  4  acres,  in  Rathmorc 
some  I,  some  7  acres-  Gale. 

(hh)  V'A\.  Rolls,  Calendar  Hen.  II.     Hen.  VH.  p.  i. 


14  History  of  Clonmel. 

tenants  as  doubtless  also  to  secure  the  perquisites  of  his  court.  In  1 299 
John  de  la  Rokele  and  Walter  fitz  Mathew  Power  by  a  writ  Praecipe  began 
proceedings  against  certain  burgesses  of  Clonmel  in  the  King's  courts.  As 
it  was  a  grievance  to  the  citizens  to  compel  them  to  appear  outside  their 
bailiwick  and  a  violation  of  their  rights  as  freemen  under  Magna  Charta, 
Otto  petitioned  the  King  and  quashed  the  proceedings.  Besides  legal 
protection  the  citizens  obtained  a  further  instalment  of  freedom,  the  right 
to  levy  taxes.  The  King  at  the  instance  of  Otto  de  Grandison  in  1298 
granted  to  "  the  bailiffs  and  good  men  of  Clonmel "  for  the  benefit  of  the 
town  and  the  greater  security  of  the  adjacent  parts,  customs  on  all  articles 
domestic  or  foreign  brought  for  sale  there,  the  grant  to  last  for  ten  years  (it). 
Before  this  had  run  out,  the  need  for  fortifying  the  town  became  increasingly 
evident:  the  water  ditch  and  the  wooden  stockade  afforded  the  citizens 
scant  protection  against  the  marauding  baron  and  the  omnipresent  Irish  (jj). 
In  1319  a  "murage"  grant,  or  grant  to  build  stone  walls  was  made  to  the 
provost  and  bailiffs,  to  be  levied  on  all  merchandise  sold  in  the  town  for 
seven  years.  This  seems  to  have  been  effective  for  no  other  is  discoverable 
in  the  records  for  a  generation.  Meanwhile  the  De  Grandisons  finding  the 
occupation  of  their  Irish  territory  uncongenial  and  the  defence  of  it 
anything  but  easy,  became  absentees.  The  withdrawal  of  the  superior  lord 
unbridled  the  turbulent  sub-feudarii  who  by  this  time,  through  the  logic  of 
circumstances,  were  grown  half  Irish.  The  country  was  soon  consumed  by 
smouldering  civil  war.     A  drastic  remedy  had  to  be  adopted. 

[1316].  Edward  the  King  to  John  Wesda  of  Clonmel,  greeting.  Whereas  all  rents, 
profits,  etc.,  of  the  holdings  of  foreigners  and  strangers  who  do  not  spend  such  in 
defence  of  the  said  lands  whereby  all  their  own  lands  and  those  of  other  faithful  subjects 
are  destroyed  and  wasted  by  malefactors  and  other  disturbers  of  the  peace  and  whereas 
Otho  de  Grandison  is  beyond  the  seas,  etc.,  he  John  Wesda  is  authorized  to  receive 
such  rents  of  the  said  Otho  and  transmit  them  to  Dublin  to  our  Treasury  (kk). 

The  De  Grandisons  returned  and  seem  to  have  satisfactorily  fulfilled 
their  responsibilities.  Under  date  1 326  the  Anglo-Irish  chronicler  records 
"In  the  morning  of  the  vigil  of  Michaelmas  died  at  Clonmel  the  noble  squire 
Theobald  de  Grandison"  (H).  The  town  folk  followed  their  vocations  in  peace, 
their  only  vexation  being  the  trade  jealousy  of  Carrick.  A  curious  instance 
of  this  is  set  forth  in  some  law  pleadings  of  1331.  Henry  Tykenham  sued 
Richard  Ocrethan  (O'Crehan)  and  others.    The  plaintiff  stated  that  the  late 

(ii)  Appendix. 

(ij)  A  memorial  of  this  ditch  long  existed  outside  the  north  gate  of  the  town  ;  the  "  Barior  "  is 
frequently  mentioned  in  early  17th  century  patents  of  land  there. 

(kk)  Order  by  Bdmund  Butler,  Justiciary  and  Council,  Exchequer  Mem.  10,  Ed.  II.  P.R.O. 
Dublin. 

(II)  Annals  of  Ros,  p.  43. 


History  of  Clonmel.  is 

King  (Edward  II.)  by  letters  patent  in  aid  of  enclosing  the  town  of  Carrick 
with  a  stone  wall,  granted  certain  customs  of  things  coming  for  sale  to  said 
town.  Now  the  plaintiff  his  men  and  servants  in  boats  with  merchandizes 
passing  through  the  middle  of  the  water  which  leads  from  Clonmel  to 
Waterford  and  from  Waterford  to  Clonmel,  just  as  if  the  merchandizes  had 
passed  through  the  middle  of  the  town  of  Carrick  to  be  sold  there  which  they 
were  not,  were  greviously  destroyed  and  manifoldly  aggrieved  by  the  said 
Richard  O'Crehan  and  others  being  the  men  of  Carrick,  to  the  great  damage 
of  said  Henry  and  against  the  prohibition  of  the  Lord  the  King,  etc.  (mm). 
But  disturbed  times  came  again  and  the  De  Grandisons,  who  to  judge  from 
the  Papal  Registers  were  intensely  religious,  preferred  their  quiet  home  in 
Hereford.  In  1 338  their  sixty  years  connexion  with  Clonmel  came  to  an  end. 
"At  the  beginning  of  autumn  Maurice  fitz  Thomas  then  Earl  of  Desmond 
bought  Clonmel  and  Kilsheelan  from  William  (recte  Peter)  de  Grandison  for 
one  thousand  one  hundred  marks  (nn). 

Hitherto  Kilmanahan  Castle  had  been  the  northern  outpost  of  the 
Desmond  territory  and  the  Suir  the  natural  boundary.  By  the  new  purchase 
the  Desmonds  encroached  upon  the  Ormond  palatinate  which  had  just  been 
created,  so  that  between  them  and  their  kinsman  the  White  Knight,  the 
districts  of  the  De  Keatings  of  Nicholastown,  De  Prendergasts  of  Newcastle, 
and  De  Berminghams  of  Cahir  were  almost  isolated.  To  this  disturbance  of 
the  scientific  frontier  much  of  the  subsequent  local  history  is  traceable.  The 
ruins  of  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  century  castles  which  stud  the  country  still 
tell  of  the  historic  feud  between  the  Butlers  and  the  Desmonds,  and  in  part 
explain  it,  Clonmel  accordingly  soon  began  to  share  the  varying  fortunes  of 
its  new  lords. 

In  1345  Ralph  de  Ufford,  justiciary,  after  a  successful  campaign  against 
Desmond  occupied  his  principal  castles  and  confiscated  the  estates.  The 
following  year  John  Morris,  seneschal,  was  granted  the  custody  of  Clonmel,  etc. 
with  power  to  remove  constables,  bailiffs,  and  minor  officers  and  appoint 
others  in  their  stead.  The  terrible  plague  known  in  history  as  the  "Black 
Death  "  visited  the  town  in  1349.  This  with  other  calamities,  is  touchingly 
related  in  a  murage  grant  of  1355. 

Whereas  it  has  been  fully  testified  to  the  Council  of  the  King  in  Ireland  that  the 
town  of  Clonmel  is  in  divers  ways  reduced  to  pauperism  by  the  plague  which  was  lately 
in  those  parts  as  also  by  the  numerous  losses  of  different  kinds  which  its  merchants 
have  met  by  sea  and  in  foreign  countries,  the  King  considering  their  losses  and  poverty, 

(mm)  Plea  Rolls,  5  Ed.  III.,  P.R.O.  Grammar  and  sense  slightly  mixed  in  original  as  in 
translation. 

(nn)  Clyn's  Annals,  p.  29. 


16  History  of  Clonmel. 

for  a  fine  of  two  marks  paid  by  the  burgesses  and  commonalty  through  John  Stephens, 
junior,  has  conceded  and  granted  to  the  said  burgesses  and  commonalty  for  the  relief  of 
the  said  town  murage  and  pontage  of  everything  coming  for  sale  there  for  eight  years 
from  date  hereof.  Provided  that  at  the  end  of  that  term  they  render  account  before 
two  liege  men  of  the  said  town  to  be  chosen  for  that  purpose  by  the  commonalty,  as  is 
fitting,  and  no  other  account  to  be  rendered  to  the  lord  the  king,  if  only  the  murage 
and  pontage  receipts  are  honestly  expended  on  the  repair  of  the  walls  and  bridge  of  the 
said  town.     12  day  of  January,  1355. 

Edward  III.  released  the  Earl  from  custody  and  having  pronounced 
D'Uflford's  proceedings  illegal,  restored  the  estates  and  finally  in  1355  made 
Desmond  viceroy.  On  the  death  of  Desmond,  his  countess  Eveleen  had 
livery  of  Clonmel  as  part  of  her  dowry,  and  the  following  year  1359  is 
remarkable  as  the  first  in  which  Clonmel  returned  members  to  Parliament. 
On  i8th  March  a  writ  was  directed  to  the  provost  and  bailiffs  of  Clonmel  to 
send  "  two  of  their  more  discreet  citizens  "  to  the  parliament  which  was  to 
meet  at  Waterford  on  the  Monday  next  after  the  Feast  of  St.  Ambrose. 

Though  the  Desmonds  as  lords  of  the  manor  held  courts  leet  in  the  town, 
yet  the  Ormonds  in  right  of  their  palatinate,  took  cognisance  of  the  graver 
pleas  excepting  the  four  reserved  to  the  King.  But  the  provost  of  the  town 
would  be  subject  to  the  Desmonds  as  his  jurisdiction  was  manorial,  hence 
the  Ormonds  to  counteract  this,  appointed  a  higher  authority  known  as  the 
Superior  or  Sovereign.  The  preamble  therefore  of  the  following  writ  is 
probably  as  truthful  as  such  things  usually  are. 

Edward  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  England  and  France  and  Lord  of  Ireland  to  all 
whom  these  presents  shall  reach,  greet im;.  Whereas  we  considering  how  much  the 
town  of  Clonmel  within  the  liberty  of  our  beloved  and  faithful  cousin  James  le  Bottiler, 
Earl  of  Ormond,  stands  in  need  of  ampler  and  more  powerful  government  than  it  has 
had  hitherto,  especially  in  these  days  when  the  citizens  as  loyal  men  are  seriously  and 
openly  threatened  by  malefactors  and  robbers,  as  is  reported.  We,  therefore  wishing 
to  make  liberal  provision  for  the  safety  and  defence  of  the  said  town  by  our  special 
grace  and  at  the  request  of  our  said  cousin  grant  and  give  license  for  us  and  our  heirs 
to  the  extent  of  our  power,  to  the  provost  and  commonalty  of  the  said  town  that  they 
in  future  whenever  it  shall  please  them,  shall  elect  out  of  their  fellow  burgesses  every 
year,  a  Superior  who  when  elected  shall  make  oath  before  the  provost  and  commonalty 
to  do  each  and  everything  necessary  and  opportune  for  the  safe  and  secure  government 
of  the  said  town  and  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  our  loyal  men  therein,  just  as  the 
superiors  of  the  towns  of  Kilkenny,  Ross,  Wexford  and  Youghal  reasonably  do.  We 
grant  also  to  the  provost  and  commonalty  for  the  time  being  by  these  presents  in 
writing  that  they  be  intendant  and  respondent  to  the  Superior  for  the  time  being  in  all 
things  relating  to  his  office  as  often  as  and  just  as  is  enjoined  him  on  our  part,  the  right 
of  the  royal  liberty  granted  to  our  cousin  and  his  heirs,  being  saved  in  every  wise.  In 
testimony  of  which,  etc.  William  de  Wyndsor,  lord  lieutenant,  Kilkenny,  20  January, 
1371- 

A  few  years  later  the  citizens  obtained  a  grant  of  a  more  valuable 
character,  namely,  freedom  from  pre-emption  and  purveyance.  The  royal 
privilege  of  commandeering  food  and  conveyance  at  a  price  fixed  by  the 


History  of  Clonmel.  it 

purveyor  himself,  had  it  appears,  been  usurped  by  the  feudal  lords  generally. 
This  scarcely  disguised  form  of  robbery  was  ended  in  the  case  of  Clonmel 
by  a  mandatum  dated  12  July,  1376. 

Edward  by  the  grace  of  God,  etc.  Whereas  in  a  Statute  of  Westminster  lately 
promulgated,  it  is  enacted  inter  alia  that  no  corn,  victuals  or  other  goods  belonging  to 
any  prelate,  religious  person,  cleric  or  layman,  be  taken  under  colour  of  "  emption  " 
against  the  will  of  the  owner  or  keeper,  within  any  trading  town,  and  that  no  horses, 
bullocks,  cars,  ships  or  boats  be  taken  for  conveyance  against  the  will  of  the  owner,  and 
if  taken  with  his  consent  he  must  be  satisfied  according  to  agreement,  and  whosoever 
offends  in  the  premises  and  is  convicted  shall  be  imprisoned  during  our  pleasure  and 
that  of  our  Court  according  to  the  amount  of  the  offence.  And  Whereas  on  the  part 
of  our  beloved  the  Superior  and  commonalty  of  Clonmel  within  our  said  land,  it  is 
shown  that  certain  evil  doers  calling  themselves  purveyors  and  servants  of  great  folk 
(magnatum)  and  others,  have  up  to  now  taken  corn  and  other  victuals  from  several 
burgesses  against  their  will  and  did  not  satisfy  them  according  to  the  statute,  the 
superior  and  commonalty  have  humbly  petitioned  us  for  redress,  we  therefore  wishing 
to  keep  the  statute  inviolate,  command  under  the  penalties  expressed  therein  that  the 
superior  and  burgesses  or  any  of  them  be  not  molested  contrary  to  its  tenor. 

The  Ormonds  as  lords  palatine,  in  1385  gave  the  citizens  a  further 
extension  of  liberty.  James  le  Botiller  granted  to  the  sovereign  provost  and 
commonalty  that  their  taxes  should  be  rateably  assessed  by  themselves,  that 
they  should  not  be  compelled  to  serve  on  juries,  etc.,  out  of  the  borough,  and 
that  they  should  have  the  "  office  of  the  market,"  that  is  the  market  tolls  and 
the  court  of  Pie  Poudre  which  adjudicated  on  all  disputes  arising  therein. 

These  several  grants  mark  the  growth  of  popular  freedom  from  the  stage 
when  the  burghers  were  mere  serfs  under  the  feudal  lord  down  to  the  period 
when  some  of  the  "  more  discreet "  of  their  number  sat  in  parliament  as  the 
equals  of  the  barons  themselves.  But  it  must  be  remembered  throughout, 
that  these  franchises  were  only  for  burghers  of  Norman  or  English  blood. 
The  Celtic  Irish  as  belonging  to  a  different  nation  had  no  legal  status ;  the 
law  took  no  cognizance  of  them  and  afforded  no  protection  either  to  their 
lives  or  their  property.  Those  of  them  who  attached  themselves  to  the 
English  as  dependents  or  servants  could  not  be  domiciled  within  the  walls 
but  dwelt  in  a  suburb  outside  which  to  this  day  preserves  the  name  of  "the 
Irish  town."  And  should  any  Irish  even  be  murdered  the  only  question  that 
could  arise  would  be  one  of  compensation  to  their  master — just  as  for  the 
loss  of  so  many  horses  or  cattle.  For  instance  in  the  Pipe  roll  of  1276  the 
sheriff  returns  "David  Toerny  of  Clonmele,  Ixxviii.  s.,  on  account  of  the 
wrongful  death  of  an  Irishman  belonging  to  the  Lord  Edward,"  to  be  paid 
to  the  said  lord.  Sometimes,  but  at  rare  intervals,  an  Irish  family  obtained 
letters  of  naturalization  by  which  they  were  enabled  to  inhabit  and  trade. 
Such  a  family  were  the  Moroneys  who  for  three  hundred  years  played  a 
prominent  part  in  the  town  and  only  disappeared  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

C 


18  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  King  grants  to  O'Molrony  O'Griffy  chief  of  his  race,  to  Molrony  his  son, 
to  Neill  and  Desmond  brothers  of  the  said  0*Molrony,  that  they  and  all  their 
descendants  be  of  free  state  and  free  from  all  Irish  slavery,  that  they  use  English  law 
and  freely  acquire  lands,  goods  and  cattle,  because  they  have  become  faithful  subjects 
and  reformed  themselves  and  their  people  to  the  King's  peace  and  loyalty.  Clonmel, 
6  December,  1375  (00), 

Again, 

The  King  grants  to  Terence  son  of  Charles  O'Connor  who  is  of  Irish  nationality, 
that  he  and  his  descendants  be  of  free  state.    Clonmel,  17  June,  1408  (pp). 

The  charter  of  Henry  V.  to  Clonmel  sets  forth  the  exclusively  English 
character  of  the  inhabitants  as  the  reason  for  granting  them  a  Hundred 
Court  and  exempting  them  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  seneschal  of  the 
liberty. 

Clonmel  is  inhabited  by  English  merchants  and  burgesses  who  have  lately 
constructed  great  walls,  towers  and  fortifications  around  the  said  town,  and  who 
observing  English  law  are  a  great  succour  to  the  government  and  to  those  who  resort 
to  that  place,  but  whereas  they,  the  said  inhabitants,  are  greatly  oppressed  by  assess- 
ments as  well  of  the  Irish  as  of  the  English  of  the  County  Tipperary  around  the  said 
town,  etc 

An  entry  on  the  Patent  roll  of  1408,  illustrates  still  more  vividly  the 
relations  of  the  burghers  to  the  native  Irish. 

The  King  grants  to  John  Folyot,  a  merchant  of  Clonmel,  that  he  and  his  servants 
for  the  next  three  years  carry  on  trading  intercourse  with  the  Irish  enemy  of  Ormond 
and  Ely  in  Munster,  as  well  in  time  of  war  as  in  time  of  peace  (qq). 

It  is  not  therefore  a  matter  ^f  surprise  if  occasionally  the  Irish  enemy 
dealt  with  these  merchants  in  a  prompt,  business  like  way  of  their  own. 

The  King  commands  all  sheriffs,  etc,  to  arrest  Walter  Ormon,  Richard  Rery, 
Griffin  mac  Walter  mac  Edmund,  Henry  McEon,  outlaws  in  county  Waterford  at  the 
prosecution  of  Arnold  de  Hanse  for  the  death  of  Martin  de  Hanse,  merchant.  Clonmel, 
8  March,  1303. 

From  all  this  it  may  be  gathered  that  life  in  medieval  Clonmel  was 
neither  empty  nor  colourless.  The  burghers*  ordinary  portion  was  that  of 
the  apostle — perils  from  the  deep  and  perils  from  robbers.  Outside  the 
walls  they  and  all  they  had  were  at  the  mercy  of  every  enemy  whom  they 
were  not  strong  enough  to  resist  or  fortunate  enough  to  escape.  Within, 
they  had  to  take  turn  in  watch  and  ward  at  the  gates  and  walls,  and 
on  holidays  instead  of  rest  every  man  between  sixty  and  sixteen  practiced 


(00)  Pat.  Rot.  79,  Ed.  III.  121-2. 
(pp)  Pat.  Rot.  10,  Hen.  IV.  77. 
(qq)  Ibid. 


History  of  Clonmel.  19 

at  the  butts  how  to  shoot  straight  (rr).  The  return  too  of  the  merchant  was 
a  notable  event  for  he  told  of  episodes  of  chivalry,  of  the  people  he  had 
met,  of  the  churches  he  had  seen  and  the  pilgrimages  he  had  made.  The 
friar  brought  from  the  chapter  of  his  order  not  only  the  news  of 
ecclesiastical  appointments  and  changes  of  discipline  bat  a  full  budget  of 
gossip  got  from  his  fellow  capitulars.  An  old  inhabitant  at  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century  could  relate  many  a  stirring  scene  in  the  town  itself. 
He  would  tell  how  in  1331  the  lord  of  Cahir,  William  De  Bermingham  was 
pounced  on  in  Clonmel  by  the  judiciary  De  Lucy,  and  the  year  after 
someone  recognized  the  ghastly  head  of  the  unfortunate  nobleman  spiked 
over  the  gate  of  Dublin  Castle.  He  would  tell  also  how  in  1338  William  De 
Wall,  sheriff  of  Tipperary,  with  thirteen  of  his  kinsmen  were  murdered  just 
outside  the  walls  of  the  town  by  the  Powers  with  whom  they  were  holding 
parley.  And  in  1346  that  Ralph  Kelly  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  Maurice 
Rochfort  Bishop  of  Limerick,  Richard  Walsh  Bishop  of  Emly,  and  John 
Lynch  Bishop  of  Lismore,  one  day  in  the  middle  of  the  High  Street  vested 
in  full  pontificals  solemnly  excommunicated  all  who,  contrary  to  the 
liberties  of  the  Church,  paid  the  subsidy  to  the  Crown.  Our  inhabitant  in 
extreme  old  age  would  have  seen  the  Anglo-Irish  parliament  assemble 
in  the  ancient  church  of  Our  Lady  on  the  Monday  after  the  feast  of 
St.  Peter  1381.  Alexander  Bishop  of  Ossory,  and  Sir  Thomas  de  Mortimer 
were  there  with  the  King's  commission,  and  there  also  were  the  ecclesiastical 
peers  the  bishops  of  the  Pale,  the  abbots  of  Mellifont  and  Dunbrody,  the 
priors  of  Athassel  and  Kells,  and  many  another.  The  lay  barons  too 
mustered,  Butlers  and  Fitzgeralds,  Freynes  and  Cusacks,  Poers  and  Barrys. 
The  cities  of  the  Pale  sent  their  representatives  in  aldermanic  array, 
rivalling  Solomon  in  his  glory.  Indeed  the  barbaric  splendour  of  this 
feudal  parliament  afforded  such  a  spectacle  as  Clonmel  has  never  since 
beheld ^^5/  Life  therefore  was  full  of  incident;  the  character  of  the 
burghers  strenuous  and  healthy,  and  if  chronic  warfare  quenched  the 
more  humane  instincts,  it  brought  the  ennobling  compensations,  personal 
loyalty,  mutual  trust  and  the  equality  of  comradeship. 

But  there  were  great  drawbacks.  Sanitation  and  hygiene  were  absolutely 
unknown.  Not  perhaps  a  dozen  houses  were  built  of  stone,  the  rest  were 
frame  work  and  shingle.  Open  sewers  drained  the  streets,  and  when 
the  universal  mud   and  offal  became  impassable,  an  additional  layer  of 


(rr)  5  Ed.  IV.,  c.  4,  "  An  Act  for  having  a  Constable  in  every  town  and  a  pair  of  Butts  for 
shooting ;  and  that  every  man  between  sixty  and  sixteen  shall  shoot  every  Holiday  at  the  same 
Butts."     In  some  towns,  e.g.,  Kilkenny  ''  the  Butts"  still  survive  in  the  local  nomenclature. 

(ss)  Clynn's  Annals /ass/m,  Harris'  Ware,  Patent  Rolls  5  Ric.  II. 


20  History  of  Clonmel. 

rushes  or  straw  was  spread  over  the  whole.  Food  also  was  of  the  coarsest 
kind,  only  in  summer  was  it  to  be  obtained  fresh.  After  Michaelmas 
all  cattle  and  swine  that  could  not  be  foddered  through  the  winter  were 
slaughtered  and  barrelled  and  there  were  no  winter  vegetables^///  The 
consequences  are  obvious.  Fever  was  endemic  and  when  such  visitations 
of  Providence  as  the  plagues  of  1349  and  1376  came,  priest  and  congregation 
were  swept  away  together  (uu).  Few  realize  the  history  that  lies  behind  the 
Irish  name  of  St.  Nicholas'  CeAmpuU  ha  puige  "The  Church  of  the  Plague." 
The  general  use  also  of  salted  food  produced  aggravated  scorbutic 
affections  and  it  is  probable  that  most  of  the  '  leprosy '  of  the  middle  ages 
was  a  virulent  form  of  scurvy.  The  hospital  for  the  lepers  adjoined  the 
chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  well  removed  from  the  town ;  its  last  memorial  is  the 
local  name  "  'Spittle  lands."  (w) 

Such  was  Clonmel  for  the  first  three  centuries  of  its  existence. 
Aggressively  hostile  to  the  Celtic  population,  neither  influencing  nor  being 
influenced  by  them,  a  "garrison  town  "  in  the  most  literal  sense,  it  kept  its 
English  identity  unimpaired  amid  the  active  solvents  of  language  and 
marriage  which  destroyed  the  feudal  system  everywhere  about  it. 


(tt)  The  Annalists,  v.g.,  Penbridge  and  the  Book  of  Howth  carefully  record  the  price  of  salt  for 
different  years. 

(uh)  Friar  Clynn,  of  Carrick-on-Suir,  writes  in  1349  "Scarcely  one  alone  ever  died  in  a  house. 
Commonly  husband,  wife,  children  and  servants  went  the  same  way  of  death,  and  the  penitent  and 
the  confessor  were  carried  together  to  the  grave." 

(i*v)  The  'Spittle  lands  are  still  the  property  of  the  Corporation. 


Ohapxe^r  III. 


CLONMEL  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

CHE  Anglo-Nomian  supremacy  of  Tipperary  which  had  been  complete 
in  the  thirteenth  century  was  disputed  in  the  fourteenth.  In  the 
fifteenth  century  it  gave  way  absolutely  to  the  Celtic.  The  Irish 
language  was  used  universally,  even  Geraldines  and  Butlers  were 
proud  of  their  skill  in  the  vernacular  literature  fwwj.  The  Brehon  code 
regulated  all  disputes ;  the  lord  became  a  chief,  tanistry  was  substituted  for 
primogeniture,  and  instead  of  feudal  homage  there  was  the  equality  of  clan- 
ship. The  Anglo-Irish  then  indeed  and  long  after,  considered  themselves 
English,  but  it  was  only  after  the  fashion  of  the  modern  Australians.  They 
appealed  to  the  executive  when  they  were  oppressed ;  they  made  a  parade  of 
their  English  lineage,  and  their  former  services  against  the  King's  Irish 
enemy,  but  the  t^uth  was  that  in  essentials  they  were  themselves  become  "as 
Irish  as  O'Hanlon's  breeches "  (xxj.  Amongst  the  Irish  Kern  brought 
to  the  siege  of  Boulogne  in  1544  by  lords  Ormond  and  Cahir  were  Purcells, 
Fannings,  Fitzwilliams,  Cantwells,  Archers,  Keatings,  Dobbyns,  Whites, 
Rothes,  Walls,  and  a  host  of  others. 

Yet  not  in  all  respects  Irish.     For  the  younger  sons  of  the  great  families 
who  had  found  it  convenient  to  reject  the  primogeniture,  the  female  heirs, 


fwivj  A  D.  13<;8.  "Gerald  Earl  of  Desmond,  the  most  distinguished  of  the  English  of  Ireland 
and  also  of  many  of  the  Irish  for  his  attainments  and  knowledge  of  the  Irish  language,  iwetry,  history 
and  general  literature  died  after  the  victory  of  penance."  "  Theobald  the  son  of  Pierce,  the  son  of 
Edmund  Butler  lord  of  Cahir  and  the  cantred  of  Clonniel,  a  man  of  great  benevolence  and  bounty, 
had  the  greatest  collection  of  poems  of  any  of  the  Normans  of  Ireland" — Four  Masters. 

(x.v)  **  Other  great  houses  there  bee  of  the  English  in  Ireland  which  have  degendred  from  their 
auncient  dignities  and  are  now  growne  as  Irish  as  Ohanlan's  breeche  as  the  proverbe  there  is  " — 
Spenser's  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  p.  no. 


22  History  of  Clonmel. 

the  wardship  and  marriage  of  feudalism,  exacted  with  unchanging  tenacity 
the  feudal  services  (yy).  The  unhappy  freeholders  and  tenants  in 
consequence  were  crushed  beneath  a  load  of  oppressions,  feudal  and  Irish. 
They  gave  aids,  reliefs  and  the  rest  to  lord  Cahir  or  lord  Dunboyne  as 
their  liege  lord,  and  then  he  came  in  his  role  of  Irish  chief  with  his 
dependents  "  coshering  "  on  them  and  ate  up  everything  they  had  left.  In 
1542  a  body  of  them  petitioned  King  Henry  VIII.  and  told  a  story  piteous  in 
its  quaint  details. 

The  petitioners  were  Thomas  Prendergast  of  Newcastle,  James  Keating 
of  Moortown,  James  Walsh,  Rathronan,  James  Oge  Wall  of  Finglas,  Richard 
son  of  William  Butler  of  Kilcash,  Geoff ry  Mocklerof  Mocklerstown,  St.  John 
of  St.  Johnstown,  William  Power,  Rathcoole,  John  Comyn  of  Kilconnell, 
Richard  fitz  Theobald  of  Ballylynch,  Richard  son  of  William  and  grandson 
of  John  Butler  of  Cabbragh,  James  Oge  Butler  of  Lismalin,  Geofifry  Fanning, 
Ballingarry,  James  LafTan  Graystown,  Pierce  fitz  Richard  Butler  of  Moy- 
kelly  and  John  O'Neill  of  Maynestown. 

They  and  their  ancestors,  they  said,  provided  a  retinue  by  which  the 
Earls  of  Ormond  as  lords  of  the  liberty  of  Tipperary  right  well  governed  and 
defended  the  said  county.  On  the  departure  of  the  White  Earl  to  England 
in  1430  he  divided  the  county  into  certain  districts  among  his  kinsfolk 
assigning  to  each  of  them  a  proportion  of  the  agreed  retinue.  These 
kinsfolk  "entered  into  such  a  wrongfull  inordynate  pride  and  malicious 
division  between  them  selfs  that  they  fell  suddenly  out  of  their  good 
obedience  to  be  murderers  and  mansleers  of  either  other."  Though  the  Earl 
on  his  return  restored  the  county  to  its  "  prestynate  estate,"  his  sons  as  Earls 
of  Wiltshire  resided  wholly  in  England.  During  this  period  again  the 
Ormond  kinsfolk  partly  by  joining  in  the  Irish  wars,  partly  by  internecine 
strife  "  brought  the  countrie  not  oonely  into  disobedience  but  also  in  effect, 
into  utter  desolation  and  waste  saving  a  few  castells  and  so  contynued  till 
about  1524."  The  late  Earl  of  Ormond  "  to  the  great  daunger  of  his  person 
at  sundry  tymes  began  to  styrr  soo  with  Syr  Edmunde  Butler  [of  Cahir]  and 
Syr  James  Butler  [of  Kiltinane]  being  then  men  of  good  power  and  strongely 
allied  with  the  Brenes  [O'Briens]  as  with  the  Desmonds  that  he  readoptid 
vnto  him  agayn  moche  of  the  power  of  the  same  retynue  that  were  so 
commytted  by  his  auncestors  vnto  the  auncestors  of  the  said  Syr  Edmonde 
and  Syr  James."    The  Kiltinane  Butlers  were  soon  brought  into  subjection 


(yy)  Tliorold  Rogers  ckiiiuiistratcd,  iur  tlic  lirsl  time  I  think,  the  pai't  phiyed  in  English  history 
by  *'  the  younger  sons."  Along  this  line  probably  we  shall  find  the  explanation  how,  e.g.,  the  Burkes 
of  Clanwilliam  only  three  generations  removed  from  FitzAdelm  and  claiming  kinship  with  Edward 
III.,  ranked  themselves  as  Irish  chiefs. 


History  of  Clonmel.  23 

but  not  so  with  the  lords  of  Cahir.  Edmund  Butler  cousin  german  of  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  earls  of  Desmond  and  married  to  a  daughter  of  lord 
Power,  despised  the  orders  of  the  lords  deputy  though  sworn  for  performance 
thereof.  His  son  Sir  Thomas  Butler  "  slakith  not  to  sesse  [cess]  and  exacte 
many  kinds  of  inordynate  exactions  and  taxes  daily." 

First  the  said  Sir  Thomas  takith  of  every  freholder  coddies  [night  suppers]  at 
Xrimas  and  Ester  or  certan  sommes  of  money  in  liewe  thereof  at  his  pleasyr. 

He  sessith  them  dailly  with  the  kepers  of  his  hounds  and  stoodes  and  withe  hount 
and  hounds  of  dy vers  kyndes. 

He  sessith  dailly  your  said  complaynaunts  with  all  manner  kynde  of  coyne  and 
lyueray  (food  for  man  and  horse]  for  horsemen  horsses  and  horskepers  at  his  will  and 
pleasyr. 

He  sessith  them  with  such  persones  as  he  commandeth  nedeles  to  kepe  garisons 
and  castells  within  the  said  countie  that  is  to  say  with  the  chardge  of  eight  in  the 
Reghill  [Rehill  castle]  eight  in  graciscastell  [Castlegrace]  twelve  in  the  Cahir  and  four 
in  Ardcollum  [Dovehill]  the  like  whereof  neither  therle  of  Ormounde  ne  noon  other  of 
your  graces  obedient  subiects  vse. 

He  sessith  them  dailly  with  the  chardges  of  all  manner  kynde  of  labourers  for  the 
buylding  and  repayring  of  his  castells  houses  mylls  making  of  hedges  and  ditches 
about  his  gardeyns  and  orcheyards  and  other  inclosures  at  his  will  and  pleasyr. 

He  leviethe  and  takithe  of  them  at  every  Xrimas  £8  13  4  for  the  payment  of  suche 
wynes  as  he  providethe  for  his  house  against  the  said  feast. 

He  sessith  them  with  the  cariage  as  well  of  all  stones,  tymbre  and  other  necessaries 
to  any  worke  he  hath  as  also  of  all  suche  corne  wyne  pailles  of  butter  and  all  other 
things  that  he  woll  have  caried  for  the  necessitie  or  provision  of  his  house  or  houses. 

He  takith  towards  the  mariage  of  every  of  his  daughters  a  shepe  of  every  flocke 
and  a  cowe  of  every  sixty  kyne,  he  levieth  in  every  carrue  of  land  [about  160  acres] 
comenly  callid  collup  within  the  Cantrede  of  Clomell  [Iffa  and  Offa  East]  a  bushell  of 
otes  callid  sommer  otes. 

He  sessith  them  with  a  certaine  retynue  called  Kernetye  to  the  numbre  of  twenty 
five  contynually  upon  that  porcion  called  the  Cantrede  of  Clomell  which  retynue  were 
graunted  oonly  to  therles  of  Ormounde  for  the  ministration  of  justice  and  executing  of 
suche  processe  as  shulde  be  by  the  seneschall  and  other  officers  of  the  libertie. 

He  sessith  them  also  with  twelve  serjaunts  for  the  levying  of  gages  [pledges]  for 
these  extortions  to  every  of  the  whiche  serjaunts  they  are  chardged  to  give  oflFrings 
twys  a  yere  where  of  old  therle  of  Ormounde  used  to  have  but  two  serjaunts  oonly  for 
the  executing  of  Justice. 

Whereby  and  by  dyvers  other  unlawfull  chardges  used  by  the  said  Sir  Thomas 
your  pore  complaynaunts  are  so  utterly  empouerisshed  that  they  be  not  hable  to  here 
your  Majestys  subsidy  and  oonles  your  moaste  gracious  remedy e  bee  unto  them 
provided  right  briefly  your  said  complaynaunts  may  not  contynue  after  the  sorte  but 
ifayne  to  leve  all  their  freholds  waste  (zz). 


(zz)  Original,  Kilkenny  Castle,-  Gilbert,  National  MSS.  These  charjjes  are  jset  forth  with 
additional  detail  in  a  '*  Vcrclyt  of  the  Gcntlyllmen  and  Comyners  of  Typary  "  in  1537.  "Itm,  they 
present  that  the  coshyr  wherwith  they  ar  moste  greveid  and  desolateid  [is]  by  the  niultytude  of 
people  whiche  the  said  Thomas  bryngyth  to  them  and  every  of  them  of  habylytie  by  the  whiche  they 
ar  wasteid  and  ther  substaunce  whiche  many  daN'es  and  nights  finde  them  [i.e.,  which  they  take 
many  days  and  nights  to  procure]  is  in  two  days  and  nights  spent  and  this  is  useid  four  tymes  in 
the  yere  of  men  haveing  any  substaunce." 

"  I tm  they  present  that  the  saide  Thomas  useid  dyverse  Juges  and  Sergeants  in  his  countrey 
oppressing  the  people  of  ther  owne  wille,  and  thes  are  the  names  of  the  Juges  Rery  McClaneshe 
Dyne  McClaneshe  Thomas  McClaneshe  and  these  ar  the  names  of  the  sergeaunts  Edmd  Mke 
Donogho  Darby  Mke  Edmund,  John  Duff  haveing  after  hym  six  Sergeaunts  and  dyvers  other 
sergeaunts." 


24  History  of  Clonmel. 

Such  was  Tipperary  during  the  fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth  centuries, 
a  theatre  of  anarchy  and  disorder  that — to  use  the  words  of  a  contemporary — 
would  have  wrecked  the  kingdom  of  Beelzebub  himself.  How  far  the 
burghers  of  Clonmel  were  able  to  maintain  their  civic  independence  and 
trade,  we  are  fortunately  able  to  judge  from  a  State  Paper  preserved  in  the 
London  Record  Office.  In  1537  a  Royal  Commission  was  issued  to  inquire 
into  the  state  of  Ireland.  The  Commissioners,  Antony  St  Leger,  George 
Poulet,  T.  Mayne,  and  William  Berners  opened  an  "  inquest  "  in  Clonmel,  the 
October  of  that  year,  when  the  following  report  was  made. 

The  Verdyt  of  the  Heddes  and  Comyners  of  the  Towne  of 
Clonmell  [October  18,  1537]— 


Bennet  White,  Jur 

[at] 

Richard  fytz  Thomas  White 

) 

Walter  Poer 

William  Fagan 

Jur. 

John  Molreny 

Richard  fytz  John 

White 

) 

Tybalde  Whyte 

John  Stryche 

] 

William  Laynach 

Jamys  White 

^Jur. 

Cornell  Brathe 

Waltyr  Walle 

1 

John  Corre 

[jur. 


I 


Jur. 

) 

Nicholas  Merthye\ 
Moryce  Quyrke     Ijur. 
Jamys  Quyrke       j 

This  Inquyre  is  for  thes  two  yeres  past  above  the  date  above  wry  tin  and  so  we 
gyve  our  verdyct. 

We  fynde  and  present  that  when  tyme  as  pleasith  the  Erie  of  Ossorye  the  lorde 
Jamys  Butler  and  Syr  Thomas  Butler  Knight  to  be  at  any  buyldeing  of  any  castell  or 
works  they  do  assesse  ther  tennts  under  ther  governaunce  to  have  workemen  and  horseis 
to  labor  without  gyveyng  of  meate  or  paying  any  money  and  they  set  ther  masons  and 
carpinters  to  coyne  upon  the  tenants  every  holly  dayes  fa). 

Itm  they  fynde  when  it  pleasith  the  said  lords  and  gentillmen  to  have  any  tayllors 
for  to  have  worke  or  garments  to  be  made  they  used  to  sett  them  at  coyne  upon  ther 
tennants  in  holly  dayes. 

Itm  they  fynde  that  idell  men  and  vacabounds  goyth  in  the  countrye  and  takeith 
meate  and  dryncke  paying  no  money  therfor.  Itm  they  fynde  that  all  lords  and  others 
haveing  domynion  within  this  Quarter  useith  to  have  Iryshe  judges  [Brehons]  for  ther 
advantage. 

The  citizens  therefore  of  those  days  said  little  about  the  patronage  of 
the  nobility  and  gentry,  but  on  the  other  hand  made  grave  charges  of 
interference  with  their  trade. 

Itm,  they  fynde  that  Shane  FitzTybbalde  [Burke]  of  Mowskry  [Clanwilliam] 
makyth  his  proclamations  that  no  market  may  be  solde  nor  shalle  not  be  solde  out  of 
his  shyre  but  to  Jamys  White  and  Edmund  Quirke  and  then  paying  every  of  them  a 
fyne  ten  shillings  yerely. 

(a)  "  Every  whole  day"  is  still  used  in  Clonmel  dialect,  and  is  a  translation  of  the  Irish  5^6 
uile  Ia  ^  every  day. 


History  of  Clonmel.  25 

Itm  they  fynde  that  Donyll  McKraghe  of  the  Mountayn  [Mountain  Castle)  hathe 
ordyned  and  establysheid  that  none  of  his  tennants  shalle  selle  nor  bye  any  hyds  but 
to  himselfe  at  a  certaine  pryce  for  his  owne  avantage. 

Itm  they  fynde  that  Sir  Thomas  Butler  Knight,  Nycholas  Keteing  of  Nycholas 
Town,  Jamys  Keteing  of  the  Mortown,  Jamys  Englyshe  of  Whytechurche,  the  Pryor 
of  the  Kagher  [Cahir]  the  Pryor  of  our  Lady  Abbey  [Ardfinnan]  John  Mawclerkeof 
Dounes  Towne,  Thomas  Prendergaste  of  the  New  Castell,  Robert  McShane 
Prendergaste,  Robert  Keteyng  of  Ardfinan  and  all  others  within  this  shire  in  the 
cantrede  of  Clonmell  that  have  any  towne  or  villadge  under  his  govemaunce  with  one 
assent  and  assembleing,  before  Sir  Thomas  Butler  as  govemer  of  them  hath  affyrmed 
and  establyshed  and  enacteid  that  none  under  their  govemaunce  nor  jurysdycon  shalle 
sell  or  bring  any  woUe  fleshe  or  other  merchandyse  oute  or  fro  any  towne  or  vyllege 
to  market  towne  of  the  Kings  wythoute  speciall  lycence.  And  so  this  acte  made  by 
commandyment  and  penaltye  to  be  leved  of  the  seller  wythoute  grace. 

But  besides  this  boycotting  of  the  markets  of  the  town,  there  was  also 
the  grievance  of  forestalling.  Certain  persons  styled  "  gray  merchants " 
went  through  the  country  buying  "hides,  felles  [skins]  checkers,  fleges, 
yarne,  linnen  cloth,  woole  and  flockes  "  secretly  and  not  in  open  market, 
with  the  evil  intent  to  sell  them  again  (b), 

Itm  they  fynde  that  Jamys  White  merchaunte  useith  and  hathe  graye  merchaunts 
regrateing  the  market,  Thomas  White  and  John  Merthye  useyth  the  same. 

Itm  they  fynde  that  dyverse  of  Waterforde  and  others  goen  from  vyllage  to 
vyllage  so  that  the  markets  be  hynderid  and  lost  in  this  Quarter,  that  no  vytaylle  nor 
merchandyse  may  be  gotyn  for  any  money  praying  your  dyscrete  wysedoms  of  a 
remydy  breifely. 

From  the  next  item  it  would  appear  that  the  navigation  of  the  Suir 
extended  to  Cahir. 

Itm  of  the  werys  [weirs]  made  from  Clonmell  to  the  Carry k  they  fynde  the  greate 
daunger  and  enormyties  of  them  that  both  men  and  goods  byn  dayly  in  daunger  of 
loseing,  and  by  west  toun  into  the  cahyrd  (c). 

In  spite  of  all  law  Carrick  folk  continued  to  levy  toll  on  the  Clonmel  trade. 

Itm,  they  fynd  that  Carryk  takeith  unlawfull  customes  dayly  contrarye  to  all 
goode  order  and  right  of  all  suche  bootys  [boats]  with  merchandyseis  not  chargeid  nor 
dyschargeid  within  the  fruncheis  of  that  towne,  whiche  the  Kings  deputye  awardeid 
agayne  them,  whiche  one  Fitz  William  as  custymer  to  the  lorde  of  Ossery  polleyth  and 
takeyth  dayly  the  said  wrongfull  customes. 

(b)  This  practice  was  prohibited  under  severe  penalties  by  the  Acts  T^i^  Hen.  VIII.  and  2 
Elizabeth. 

(c)  An  Act  was  passed,  33  Henry  VI 11.,  recitin^^  that  whereas  certitn  persons  "of  their  own 
wilfulness  and  benefile  ''  had  erected  weirs,  en^^ines  and  other  obstacles  whereby  cottes  boats  and 
vessels  laden  with  merchandize  were  impeded,  said  weirs  etc.  might  be  levelled  by  any  one  of  the 
King's  subjects  in  the  presence  of  the  sheriff,  "  that  sutVicient  gaps  be  m<ide  in  all  milldams  and 
seven  feet  at  each  side  of  said  river  where  they  must  needs  draw  the  said  boates  with  strength  of 
horses  or  men  by  land.'*     Notwithstanding  this  a  jury  of  Clonmel  in  1576  again  presented  : 

That  all  the'weares  on  the  r>'ver  of  the  Suir  by  Clonemell  do  stopp  the  concorse  of  boats  and 
fyshes  to  come  alonge  the  ryver  and  specially  the  weare  that  is  called  Crowek  weir. 

That  all  the  weyres  uppon  the  shoure  frome  Korke  Heny  to  the  Carige  be  hurtful  I  to  the 
common  weltb. 


26  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  "heads  and  commoners"  of  the  town  had,  however,  still  more 
serious  causes  of  complaint. 

Itm,  the  saide  jurye  fynde  that  this  present  year  the  eight  daye  of  Julye  Waltyr 
Butler  of  Polkyre  [Poulakerry]  and  Shane  Bretnaghe  [Walsh]  Waltyr  Bretnaghe  of 
Rochystown  is  sonne  with  a  Rowte  of  kerne  and  thevys  [a  body  of  armed  Irish  and 
thieves]  by  nyght  forceibly  toke  oute  of  a  bote  laden  with  merchandyseis  in  the  r3rver 
besyde  the  Key  of  Clonmell  a  fardell  of  clothe  and  merchaundyse  valued  at  sixteen 
pounds  costs  and  all. 

And  no  wonder  if  merchandize  was  plundered  on  the  very  quay  itself  for 

The  sayde  jurye  fynde  that  thofficers  of  the  lybertie  hath  not  executed  the  Kings 
lawes  agaynste  Waltyr  Butler  whiche  was  endytied  in  the  assyse,  whereof  growith 
muche  inconvenyensye  and  injuryedonby  the  said  Waltyr  Butler  of  Polkyr  which  ewas 
wyth  them,  and  mought  be  taken  yf  the  senyshall  and  shryfe  wolde  have  don  ther  office 
and  duetye. 

Perhaps  the  reason  why  the  seneschal  did  not  arrest  Butler  was  that 
there  were  others  as  bad. 

Itm  they  present  that  one  Richard  Rothe  Butler  of  pollekere  is  a  common  extorcyenor 
and  hath  taken  and  ymprisoned  ofte  and  divers  tymes  the  Kings  subiects  and  comitted 
infynite  heynous  offences  against  the  Kinge  and  his  lawes  and  his  brother  Water 
Butler  as  great  an  extorcyoner. 

A  few  special  cases  will  illustrate  the  state  of  Clonmel  at  this  period 
better  than  any  number  of  general  presentments. 

To  the  right  honorable  the  Kings  high  commissioners  of  this  lande  of  Ireland. 

Greveusly  complayning  sheweth  unto  yor  honorable  wisdomes  the  Kings  trewe 
subiect  your  trewe  oratrix  Mawde  Goldyng  borne  woman  of  the  citie  of  Waterford. 
That  whereas  your  said  oratrix  laboring  to  comme  by  her  lyving  in  trewthe  hath  gonne 
and  rowed  bote  towards  the  towne  of  Clonmell  in  the  Kings  river.  And  one  of  the 
servants  of  Edmond  Butler  decessed  called  Derby  Fitz  Edmond  which  was  then  the 
said  Edmond  Butlers  sergeaunt  and  nowe  servant  to  Sir  Thomas  Butler  Knight  the 
said  Edmonds  sonne  have  riotously  taken  your  said  complaynaunt  forsebly  oute  of  the 
bote  and  took  her  prisoner  and  tooke  with  hir  a  marke  sterling  in  money  and  a  crosse 
worthe  six  shillings  eight  pence  and  kepte  hir  prisoner  half  a  yere  and  more.  And 
afterwaid  he  paied  for  her  raunsom  to  the  said  Edmond  Butler  a  pipe  of  wyne  worthe 
eleven  marks  Irishe  and  two  shillings  in  sterling  to  the  said  Sir  Thomas  Butler  besids 
your  saide  complaynaunts  costs  and  losyng  of  her  profits  during  the  said  ymprison- 
ment.  And  also  the  said  complaynaunts  mother  decessed  was  taken  in  the  Kings 
highwaye  riding  towards  Clonmell  forsaid  by  the  said  Derbyes  father  called  Edmond 
Fitz  Donagh  being  then  also  sergeaunt  to  Edmond  Butler  and  nowe  servant  to  Thomas 
Butler  forsaid  and  took  them  of  your  said  complaynaunts  mother  apprice  horse  [a  high 
priced  horse].  And  all  this  done  to  your  said  complaynaunt  and  to  her  mother  [stood] 
fer  five  yeres  gayne.  The  premisses  consydered  therefore  that  it  may  please  your 
honorable  wisdomes  to  cause  and  lawfully  compell  the  forsaid  Sir  Thomas  Butler  sonne 
and  heire  to  the  said  Edmond  Butler  which  Sir  Thomas  hathe  the  saide  malefactors 
and  extorcynors  in  his  service  and  domynion  to  satysfye  your  said  complaynaunt  and 
her  mother  of  the  forsaid  damages  susteyned  els  to  showe  sufficient  warraunt  to  barre 
your  said  complaynaunt  of  the  said  exclamacons  [claims]  as  shall  stande  with  right 
la  we  and  conscience  and  this  in  the  way  of  Justice  and  charitie. 

[At  foot]  Wee  (the  gentyllmen  and  comyners  of  the  contye  of  Tipar)  knowe  and 
testefy  that  the  said  Mawde  Goldyng  of  the  citie  of  Waterford  was  taken  by  the  said 
Derby  Fitz  Edmond  officer  of  Edmond  Butler  in  the  Kings  hyway  as  to  fore  written 
and  this  without  any  lawfull  cause. 


History  of  Clonmel.  27 

The  following  case  is  a  similar  one  of  highway  robbery,  but  of  a  more 
aggravated  sort. 

To  the  right  worshipfull  the  Kings  highneS  Commissioners. 

In  most  humble  wise  sheweth  unto  your  worshipfull  masterships  your  daily  orator 
and  poor  bedeman  Richard  Graunte  of  Fetherd  burgess,  that  where  as  he  was  in  the 
service  of  Sir  John  Arundell  of  the  countie  of  Comewall  and  was  willing  to  see  his 
frends  and  the  count rey  where  he  was  borne.  Where  upon  he  took  shipping  and 
arived  at  Dungarvan  and  there  about  two  yeres  nowe  passed  met  withe  Edmond 
Mawrice  gent  who  for  a  certayn  some  of  money  agreed  upon  sauffly  to  conducte  the 
said  Richard  and  certayn  goods  which  the  said  Richard  had  then  in  his  possession  to 
Clonmel.  After  which  conduccyon  and  hire  the  same  Richard  upon  the  truste  he  had 
in  the  same  Edmond  went  hymselfe  with  his  goods  toward  Clonmell  wyth  the  said 
Edmond  Mawrice  which  said  goods  amounte  to  the  value  of  forty  pounds.  And  the 
said  Edmond  notwithstanding  the  confydance  and  truste  which  the  said  Richard  had 
in  hym  in  the  way  bitwene  Dongarvan  aforsaid  and  Clonmell  dyd  with  force  and 
armes  assaute  the  said  Richard  and  hym  dyd  beate  and  grevously  wounde  and  the 
same  goods  then  being  in  the  possession  of  the  said  Richard  dyd  felonously  steale  and 
here  awaye  and  after  the  same  robery  dyd  convey  the  same  goods  to  the  towne  of 
Rekyll  [Rehill].  And  the  said  Edmond  with  other  company  to  your  orator  unknowen 
dyd  bringe  your  said  orator  with  force  to  the  said  towne  of  Rekyll  where  Sir  Thomas 
Butler  Master  to  the  said  Edmond  then  inhabited  and  the  said  Sir  Thomas  Butler 
imprisoned  your  orator  by  the  space  of  half  a  yere  and  compelled  him  to  give  him  eight 
pounds  and  ten  shillings  Irishe  for  a  raunsome  or  fyne  for  the  payment  of  which 
raunsome  your  said  orator  was  enforsed  to  mortgage  his  lands  to  his  utter  undoing. 
In  consyderacon  of  all  the  premises  may  it  please  etc 

In  addition  to  highway  robbery,  there  was  systematic  plunder  under  the 
forms  of  law. 

To  the  right  honorable  the  Kyngs  hyhnes  commissioners  of  this  land  of  Ireland. 

Grevously  complayning  sheweth  unto  your  honorable  wisdomes  the  Kings  trewe 
subjects  your  trewe  orators  James  Braye  and  Ric,  Wedlok  merchaunts  and  borne  in 
the  towne  of  Clonmel  where  as  they  went  by  the  Kings  highwaye  accompanyed  with 
other  yonge  men  half  a  myle  oute  of  the  towne  of  Clonmell  one  John  Duff  sergeaunt 
to  Edmond  Butler  deceased  and  nowe  to  Sir  Thomas  Butler  .Knight  [met  them.  They 
were]  fellow  with  Water  Flemyng  merchaunt  of  the  towne  of  Cosshill  as  he  went  by 
the  said  highe  waie  with  a  pipe  of  wyne  in  a  carte  and  [Duff]  wold  have  arested  the 
forsaid  wyne  and  horses.  The  forsaid  merchaunt  of  Cassell  owing  no  dewty  unto  the 
foresaid  sergeaunt  nor  to  his  lord  or  master  defended  hym  [self]  and  his  goods  and 
took  it  to  his  towne.  Then  the  forsaid  sergeaunt  retorned  into  the  towne  of  Clonmell 
and  complayned  to  the  suffrayn  that  the  said  complaynaunts  had  forfeit  the  forsaide 
merchaundises  and  goods.  The  soveraign  belevyng  this  open  false  sergeaunt 
compelled  your  forsaid  complaynaunts  to  abide  the  judgment  of  four  men  chosen  by 
the  forsaid  Edmund  Butler  and  by  the  suffrayn  to  whome  Edmond  Butler  said  openly 
that  his  Judges  [Brehons]  should  here  [hear]  and  agre  with  them  of  the  towne.  The 
forsaid  Judges  without  deliberacon  awarded  that  your  fomamed  complaynaunts  shuld 
paie  unto  the  forsaid  Edmond  Butler  ten  pounds  and  to  themselfs  three  pounds  and  to 
the  forsaid  sergeaunt  for  his  fee  twenty  shillings  and  then  sent  your  complaynaunts  to 
Edmond  Butlers  place  where  they  were  kept  in  prisone  twelve  weeks  and  then  paied 
fifteen  shillings  four  pence  for  jaylors  fee  and  other  besids  the  forsaid  somes  one  of 
your  forsaid  complaynaunts  hath  attached  the  forsaid  Judges  to  the  lawe  which  been 
named  William  Fagan  burgeys,  John  Haiyhan  clerke  and  the  matter  was  brought  tofore  a 
quest  whose  names  followen  vz.  Th.  White,  Ric  White  fitz  John,  Ric.  White  fitz  Thomas 
burgesses,  Robert  Butler,  Edmond  Braye,  James  White  fitz  Henry  merchaunt  men  who 
were  sworne  after  the  use  of  the  towne  dyd  heare  and  receave  your  complaynaunts 


28  History  of  Clonmel. 

true  evydences  and  then  dyd  not  agree,  your  forsaid  complaynaunts  supposyng  that 
the  forsaid  three  burgesses  were  not  eqall  [impartial]  for  they  went  abrod  and  brought 
no  verdite.  And  thus  your  complaynaunts  and  true  orators  can  have  no  right  syn  the 
twenty  fourth  yere  of  the  Kynge  our  soveraign  lorde  the  Kings  reign  unto  this  tyme. 
It  maye  therefore  please  your  honorable  wisedomes  to  see  a  lawfull  ordre  in  this 
matter  and  thus  in  the  waie  of  Justice  and  charitie. 

[At  foot]  We  knowe  that  the  said  James  Braye  and  Richard  Wodloke  of  the 
Towne  of  Clonmell  and  Water  Flemyng  of  Casseyll  were  interupted  by  the  said  John 
Dufs  servants  when  they  passed  in  the  Kings  highwaie  and  this  unlawfully  doon  not 
accordyng  to  the  Kings  will. 

Among  the  robbers  in  high  station  not  the  least  conspicuous  was  Edmund 
Butler,  Archbishop  of  Cashel.  An  illegitimate  son  of  Pierce,  Earl  of  Ormond, 
he  was  educated  at  Oxford,  and  subsequently  through  family  influence 
probably,  was  appointed  prior  of  Athassel.  From  this  was  but  a  short  step 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Cashel.  But  the  mitre  no  more  made  the  archbishop 
than  the  habit  makes  the  monk,  and  Butler  only  difi'ered  from  the  rest  of  the 
family  in  his  deeper  shade  of  rapacity.  Living  with  his  notorious  sister,  the 
lady  Catherine  Power  in  Kilmeaden  Castle,  he  levied  blackmail  on  the  traders 
of  the  Suir.  The  Clonmel  jurors  presented  him  and  "his  folowers"  for 
committing  riot.     In  Waterford 

We  finde  that  tharchebysshop  of  Casshell  with  a  companye  and  specially  Phylip 
Hennebre  toke  a  bootye  of  Clonmell  men  and  goods  wythin  this  ryver. 

Again 

Itm  they  present  that  Edmond  Archbishop  of  Cashell  riotously  and  with  a 
company  of  malyfactors  being  in  a  bote  on  the  river  of  Waterford  anno  twenty  fourth 
King  Henry  VIII  qui  nunc  est  hath  spoyled  and  robbed  a  bote  of  Clonmell  charged 
with  clothe  sylke  and  safron  and  other  merchaundises  to  the  value  by  estymacyon  aboot 
one  hundreth  pounds  sterling  and  took  and  ymprisoned  the  owners  of  parcell  of  the 
said  goods  and  kepte  them  in  prisone  tyll  they  made  fyne  and  raunsome  and  is  an 
open  mayntayner  and  bearer  of  causes  [lawsuits]  and  manassed  to  trouble  them  that 
wold  tell  trothe  and  useth  coyne  and  lyvery  in  all  thies  parts  that  he  paieth  no  money 
for  horsmete  nor  mannesmeate  [food  for  man  or  horse]. 

A  particular  case  of  oppression  is  set  forth  in  the  following  petition. 

To  the  Kings  highnes  commissioners  within  this  lande  of  Irelande. 

Grevously  complaynyng  shewith  unto  your  discute  wisdomes  and  high  auctorities 
your  poore  humble  and  daily  orator  Robert  Donyll  freman  and  dweller  within  the  Kings 
towne  of  Clonmell  within  the  said  lande.  That  when  as  he  laboring  trewly  for  his 
living  in  England  cam  home  with  his  living  and  at  his  goying  towards  his  dwelling 
place  of  Clonmell  aforsaid  in  the  river  of  Waterford  agaynst  [opposite]  Kylmydan 
within  foure  myles  of  the  saide  citie  cam  the  Archiebishop  of  Casshell  with  force  and 
tooke  riotously  your  poore  suppliaunt  (with  many  others)  with  his  goods  to  the  value 
of  eight  pounds  and  more  and  ymprisoned  hym  the  space  of  nine  weks  to  the  utter 
undoing  of  your  saide  poore  suppliaunt  his  wif  and  children.  And  this  contrary  to 
lawe  and  right  as  ye  shal  be  credybly  hereafter  enformed  by  suffiaint  recorde. 

It  may  therfore  please  you  of  your  chary  table  goodnes  to  see  your  poore  suppliaunt 
restored  to  his  trewly  begotten  goods  and  the  damages  that  he  hath  susteyned  by  reason 


History  of  Clonmei^  29 

of  the  saide  ryot  and  this  in  the  waie  of  charitie  seeing  that  your  said  suppliaunt  is  not 
able  otherwise  (as  by  lawe)  to  obtaigne  his  goods.  And  your  said  suppliaunt  shall  praye 
to  God  for  your  prosperous  estate  longe  to  endure. 

The  some  of  the  goods  taken  by  the  said  Archiebishop  from  your  suppliaunt  the 
seventeenth  daie  of  August  in  the  twenty  fourth  yere  of  the  Kings  reign  that  nowe  is 
eight  pounds  six  shillings  eight  pence. 

This  Byll  is  founde  to  be  trewe  by  the  verdyt  of  the  hedde  and  commyns  of  the 
towne  of  Clonmell  aforesaide. 

The  honest  burghers  of  Clonmel  having  detailed  to  the  King's 
Commissioners  the  robberies  and  outrages  of  which  they  were  the  victims, 
might  have  requested  his  Majesty  to  shorten  by  the  head  a  few  of  the 
neighbouring  gentry.  They  contented  themselves  with  abstract  advice ; 
perhaps  even  then  the  unreality  of  royal  commissions  was  felt. 

The  advyce  for  the  redresse  of  the  enormyties  aforesaid  divysed  by  the  saide  Jurye. 

Our  best  advise  after  our  symple  dyscrecyons  and  most  diligent  and  faithfull  maner 
please  it  your  right  discrete  wisdomeis  accepted,  of  the  good  ordering  of  the  lande  of 
Ireland,  if  by  your  wisdomes  maye  fynde  the  meanes. 

That  first  coyne  and  livery  be  put  bake  and  the  Inglish  lords  and  trewe  subjects  of 
Ireland  be  brought  at  one  peace  and  that  none  may  be  at  no  severall  peases  with  eny 
of  the  Irishe  naycons  but  with  such  Irishe  nacions  as  is  trewe  and  faithfull  to  the  Kynge 
and  to  his  subjects  and  that  then  all  Irishe  naycons  under  the  Kyngs  lawes  be  obedyent 
to  the  Statutes  and  lawes  proclaymed,  affyrmed  by  the  Kings  deputie  and  his  counsell 
and  that  the  bigge  Irishe  sheets  be  dampned  [be  condemned]  and  put  bake  and  brought 
to  lesse  making  and  facyon  (d).  And  when  tyme  is  and  may  be  by  leasure  after  your 
discrecyons  that  all  Inglish  nacyons  of  Inglishe  and  Irishe  be  brought  to  one  apparell 
as  nigh  to  the  Inglishe  maner  and  facyon  as  may  be,  and  that  every  man  be  so  charged 
to  socor  ne  favor  no  thieves  nor  Irishe  rebelles,  and  that  every  lord  within  his  dominacon 
be  charged  to  have  weapon  after  the  best  manner  according  as  he  maye  occupie  best, 
and  every  man  after  his  degree  answere  the  crye  [hue  and  cry]  and  defende  his 
neighbour  the  Kings  subjects  and  that  every  gentylman  answere  for  his  servant  in  the 
countrey  that  useth  Irishe  manners. 

God  save  our  soveraign  lorde  Kynge  Henry  the  eight. 

The  advice  of  the  burghers  and  the  recommendations  of  the  royal 
commissioners,  notwithstanding,  the  "enormities"  continued,  and  two 
generations  later  the  state  of  Tipperary  was  worse  than  ever.  On  llth 
October,  1563,  Pierce  Lord  Cahir  wrote  that  the  brothers  of  lord  Ormond 
invaded  his  district  and  plundered  his  tenants  of  cattle,  household  goods  and 
clothing  to  the  value  of  a  thousand  pounds  sterling.  In  January,  1566, 
Theobald  Hackett  of  Meldrum,  with  divers  others  malefactors,  burnt  thirty 
houses  in  Sheepstown,  one  hundred  pounds  worth  of  household  goods, 
"  besydes  the  burninge  of  a  womane  and  a  mane  child."    The  same  year, 


(di  "  Linnen  shirts  the  rich  doe  weare  for  wantones  and  bravery  with  wide  hanging  sleeves 
playted,  thirtie  yards  are  little  enough  for  one  of  them.  They  have  now  left  their  saffron  and  learne 
to  wash  their  shirts  fourc  or  five  times  in  a  veare."  Campion.  Historie,  1571,  Dublin  Edition,  1810, 
p.  24. 


30  History  of  Clonmel. 

Philip  Comyn  fitz  George  burnt  eight  ricks  of  corn  belonging  to  Edmond 
Coniyn,  of  Kilconnell.  Connor  Fox  of  Monroe,  burnt  nine  houses,  one 
hundred  sheep  and  swine,  and  twenty  pounds  value  of  house  stuff  belonging 
to  Teige  OTogarty  of  Duagh.  In  1568  Edmond,  son  of  the  White  Knight, 
with  others  "vilonusly  burned  and  spoyled  the  barrony  of  Cahir  to  the 
number  of  sixteen  townlands."  Coyne  and  livery  was  universal.  Sir  Edmond 
Butler's  and  the  lord  of  Ormond's  men  cessed  the  country  with  cuddies, 
horsemen,  galloglass,  '*  goners  and  doggs."  So  did  the  sheriff  of  the  liberty, 
and  the  Clonmel  jury  of  1 576  reported  the  same  of  the  president  of  Munster 
himself. 

At  intervals  war  broke  out  between  the  Geraldines  and  the  Butlers,  and 
then  indeed  the  combatants  in  the  elegant  phraseology  of  Cox  "  played  the 
devils'*  in  the  district.  In  1516  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  lord  deputy,  having 
defeated  the  O'Carrolls  marched  on  Clonmel,  then  controlled  by  Sir  James 
Butler,  natural  son  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond.  He  "  attempted  the  town  with  so 
much  celerity  that  the  townsmen  (being  surprized)  immediately  surrendered 
upon  conditions.  The  deputy  returned  loaden  with  hostages,  prey  and 
glory."  (e).  An  end  seemed  to  be  put  to  the  feud  by  the  marriage  of  Joan, 
daughter  of  the  eleventh  Earl  of  Desmond,  with  James,  heir  to  the  earldom  of 
Ormond,  the  manors  of  Clonmel,  Kilsheelan  and  Kilfeacle  being  settled  on 
Butler  as  her  dowry.  But  as  Ormond  refused  to  acknowledge  James  Fitz  John 
as  next  Earl  of  Desmond,  the  latter  felt  justified  in  repudiating  the  marriage 
settlement  made  by  his  kinsman  the  eleventh  earl.  In  his  attempt  to  recover 
these  manors  he  was  supported  by  the  lord  deputy  Bellingham,  whose  policy 
was  to  keep  the  Irish  divided.  Ormond  complained  bitterly  of  Bellingham's 
action.  "I  am  credably  informed,"  he  wrote,  "the  Lord  Deputie  hath 
counsailid  James  of  Desmond  to  make  werr  upon  mee  for  suche  landes  as  my 
sonn  James  hath  in  his  wife's  right  and  have  procurid  Sir  Thomas  Butler  [of 
Cahir]  to  be  of  the  same  mynde  and  to  take  his  parte  "  (f).  On  the  death  of 
James,  Earl  of  Ormond,  his  countess  Joan  married  Gerald,  Earl  of  Desmond,  so 
that  the  rivals  then  stood  towards  one  another  in  the  relation  of  step-son  and 
step-father.  Yet  peace  was  as  far  off  as  ever.  For  when  the  ownership  of 
the  manors  was  settled,  the  controversy  about  the  regalities  sprang  up.  In 
1558  the  question  at  issue  was  "the  boundyng  of  the  countie  of  Tipperary, 
how  farre  the  liberties  doo  extend  and  whether  the  manors  of  Clomell, 
Kilfeakill  and  Kilsheelan  being  within  the  said  countie  ought  to  answer 
to  the  said  lybertie.    The  erle  of  Ormonde  clayming  by  his  patente  of  graunte 

(c)  Cox.  Hibernia  Anglicana,  p.  206. 

(f)  Ormond  to  Cowley,  Jnly  20,  1538,  Journal  A.S.,  1873,  p.  511. 


History  of  Clonmel.  31 

that  the  same  extende  in  all  places  within  the  same  countie  withoute  anye 
exception,  and  the  erle  of  Desmonde  supposing  that  the  boundes  of  the  said 
countie  extende  not  so  fair  as  the  said  earle  of  Ormonde  pretendith  to  have 
lybertie  and  the  said  manors  ought  not  to  answer  the  sayde  liberty."  (g). 
Though  the  earls  were  bound  to  the  peace  in  the  sum  of  £2,000  each,  yet  two 
years  later  they  were  as  busy  as  ever  in  murderous  cattle  lifting.  By  orders 
made  by  the  lieutenant  and  council  at  Waterford,  1st  August,  1 560,  John 
Butler,  Piers  Butler  and  Edmund  Commins,  of  Tolomane,  were  delivered  as 
hostages  for  the  good  conduct  of  Ormond,  John  fitz  James  of  Desmond,  the 
White  Knight  and  John  Browne,  for  Desmond,  the  manors  of  Blackcastle  and 
Kilmanahan  being  put  in  pledge  by  the  respective  earls  (h).  The  legal 
victory  was  gained  by  Ormond,  6th  July,  1 562,  when  an  order  of  the  queen 
confirmed  to  him  "  the  right,  title  and  inheritance  of  the  royalties,  knights' 
fees  and  other  liberties  and  things  as  well  in  the  manors  of  Clonmel, 
Kilfekille  and  Kilsheelan,  as  elsewhere  in  Tipperary."  (i).  But  Desmond  was 
by  no  means  prepared  to  acquiesce  in  this  arrangement  of  Elizabeth  with 
Ormond  "  her  black  husband  "  as  she  fondly  styled  him.  In  November, 
1563,  hostilities  began  again  by  a  cattle  raid  on  Kilfeacle.  Ormond  retaliated 
and  three  months  later  a  pitched  battle  was  fought  at  Affane  where  Desmond 
was  routed  and  brought  a  wounded  prisoner  to  Clonmel.  The  September 
following  Piers  Butler  scoured  the  barony  of  Glenaheira  carrying  off  six 
hundred  cattle  belonging  to  Shane  McGrath,  of  Kilmanahan  Castle.  While 
Desmond  and  his  brother  Sir  John  Fitz  Gerald  were  prisoners  in  London, 
they  found  a  redoubtable  champion  in  Rory  McGrath,  the  son  of  Shane.  He 
maintained  his  position  in  Kilmanahan  against  all  comers,  and  for  some  years 
kept  Clonmel  almost  in  a  state  of  siege.  Though  Sir  John  Fitz  Gerald  wrote 
from  London  in  1 569  to  have  him  expelled  from  Kilmanahan  and  Philip  Crah 
appointed,  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  letter  for  the  reason  probably,  it  was 
shrewdly  suspected  not  to  convey  Fitz  Gerald's  real  wishes.  Ormond  offered 
a  garrison  to  defend  the  town,  but  the  expense  of  maintenance  made  the 
citizens  decline  the  offer.  They  subsequently  paid  dearly  for  their  parsimony 
for  one  day  Rory  came  as  usual  cattle  lifting  from  the  meadows  about  the 
town.  The  citizens  were  reluctant  to  leave  the  shelter  of  the  walls,  but  the 
hot-headed  sovereign  threatened  to  denounce  them  as  traitors  to  the  Queen. 
A  pursuit  party  was  therefore  formed.  Rory  drew  them  into  the  hills  where 
falling  upon  them  one  of  the  first  slain  was  the  sovereign  himself.  Two 
years  later,  in  1574,  Rory  captured  the  Butler  castle  of  Derrinlaur  by  means 


f^)  Hist.  MSS.  15  Rep.  III.,  57. 

(h)  Ibid.  pp.  98-99. 

(ii  State  Papers,  Hamilton,  p.  198. 


32  History  of  Clonmel. 

of  which  he  was  enabled  to  intercept  the  traffic  of  the  town,  (j)  The 
war  between  Geraldines  and  Butlers  however  was  nearing  the  end. 
In  August,  1574,  the  deputy  Fitzwilliam  in  accordance  with  Elizabeth's 
instructions  proceeded  against  Desmond.  Derrinlaur  was  besieged  and 
after  the  walls  had  been  mined  the  garrison  sallying  forth  were  massacred  in 
detail.  A  week  later,  August  26th,  Kilmanahan  surrendered  and  Desmond 
came  to  Clonmel  where  he  made  a  humble  submission  which  he  followed 
up  by  a  letter  to  Elizabeth  "  praying  for  one  drop  of  grace  to  assuage  the 
flame  of  his  tormented  mind  "  (k). 

By  this  time  mere  faction  quarrels  were  giving  place  to  larger  and  more 
fundamental  issues.  The  policy  of  conciliating  the  chiefs  and  nobles,  at 
best  an  experiment,  had  been  abandoned  at  the  death  of  King  Henry,  its 
author.  The  alternative  one  of  reconquest  was  now  gradually  taking  shape. 
Celts  and  Anglo-Irish  felt  their  independence  threatened  and  their  estates,  as 
a  consequence,  at  the  mercy  of  English  adventurers.  Writers  of  the  imperialist 
school  such  as  Cox  and  Bagwell  (I)  are  wont  to  describe  the  wars  of  the 
Desmonds  and  O'Neills  as  "rebellions"  organized  by  Roman  ecclesiastics 
against  a  constituted  government.  And  O'Sullivan  Beare  elevates  them  to 
the  plane  of  crusades  in  behalf  of  the  Catholic  faith  (m).  The  truth  is  that 
the  chieftainries  and  lordships  could  be  brought  under  English  rule  only  by 
armed  force.  Reformation  therefore,  civil  and  religious,  made  a  serviceable 
pretext  for  reconquest ;  while  on  the  other  hand  Catholicism  afforded  a 
common  base  of  action  for  Celts  and  Anglo-Irish.  Moreover  it  gained  for 
them  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  Catholic  powers  abroad  then  in  the 
vortex  of  the  counter  Reformation.  But  so  far  from  those  wars  being  in 
their  spring  and  motive  religious,  the  fact  is  the  masses  of  the  people  never 
came  in  contact  with  Protestantism  at  all,  and  furthermore  their  leaders,  the 


(j)  The  Majji"aths  were  one  of  the  powerful  Irish  families  whose  supjx^rt  the  Desmonds  enlisted 
by  marriage  and  gossipred.  Curiously  enough  they  survived  the  wreck  of  the  Desmonds,  and  went 
down  only  in  the  Cromwellian  cataclysm.  In  the  '*  Book  of  Distribution  "  of  the  Co.  Waterford  of 
that  period  they  appear  as  owners  in  fee  of  a  considerable  part  of  Kilronan  parish.  The  townlands  of 
Ballymacarbcry,  Curtiswood,  Cullenagh,  Sillyheene  and  Baunfown  belonged  to  Patrick,  Rory,  James 
and  John  Magrath,  all  "  Irish  Papists,"  and  forfeiting  proprietors  accordingly.  Their  kinsman, 
Pierce  Magrath,  also  an  "  Irish  Papist,"  forfeited  Sledy,  or  Curraghncsledy  as  it  was  called,  with 
other  lands  and  a  considerable  part  of  Dungarvan  town.  Among  the  grantees  however  of  Sledy 
were  Richard  and  Thomas  Osb«)rne.  The  former  touched  by  the  beauty  and  misfortunes  of  Mary, 
daughter  of  the  old  owner,  married  her  and  thus  Magrath  ended  his  days  in  the  quaint  Tudor  house 
his  father  erected.  Osborne's  brother  Nicholas  settled  in  Tickencorr,  the  former  home  of  Alexander 
Power,  which  at  the  Cromwellian  distribution  had  passed  to  Sir  Thomas  Stanley.  The  fourth  in 
descent  from  Nicholas  was  Sir  William  Osborne,  the  friend  of  Grattan  and  his  consistent  supporter 
in  the  cause  of  Irish  independence.  The  present  Duchess  of  St.  Albans  is  great  granddaughter  of 
Sir  William. 

(k)  Carew  Papers  and  State  Papers  Eli/alM^th,  passim. 

(I J  Hibernia  Anglicana,  London,  1689.     Ireland  under  the  Tudors,  London,  1 885-1 890. 

(mj  Historiae  Cath.  Iberniae  Compendium,  Lisbon,  162 1. 


History  of  Clonmel.  33 

chiefs  and  several  of  the  bishops,  during  the  conciliatory  period  of  Henry 
Vin.  renounced  "  the  usurped  authority  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,"  and  shared 
in  the  plunder  of  the  monasteries. 

The  history  of  Clonmel  during  this  period  is  characteristic  of  that  of  the 
country  generally.  The  harbinger  of  the  Reformation  in  Ireland  was  Piers, 
Earl  of  Ossory.  In  1534  before  leaving  London,  knowing  as  Carte  states 
"  that  Henry  VIII.  was  not  a  prince  to  be  disobeyed  with  safety,"  he  entered 
into  an  indenture  that  as  governor  of  Kilkenny,  Tipperary  and  Waterford, 
he  would  join  with  the  king's  deputy  in  reducing  Dfesmond  and  would  resist 
the  Pope.  Ossory  was  followed  the  next  year  by  George  Browne,  appointed 
by  the  king  to  the  archbishopric  of  Dublin  in  order  to  carry  out  his  majesty's 
pleasure  "  that  his  subjects  in  Ireland  should  obey  his  commands  in  spiritual 
matters  and  renounce  their  allegiance  to  the  see  of  Rome."  Browne  fulfilled 
the  instructions  "  almost  to  the  danger  and  hazard  of  his  temporal  life,"  and 
appealed  for  a  Parliament  to  pass  an  Act  of  Supremacy  (n).  Parliament 
was  called  but  the  representatives  of  the  clergy  refusing  to  accede  to  the 
royal  wishes,  were  excluded  by  an  order  under  the  great  seal.  Accordingly 
in  1536  Brabazon  the  vice-treasurer  was  able  to  write  to  his  master  Cromwell : 
"  The  Common  House  is  marvellous  good  for  the  King's  causes  and  all  the 
learned  men  within  the  same  be  very  good ;  so  that  I  think  all  causes 
concerning  the  King's  grace  will  take  good  effect."  The  learned  men  passed 
a  series  of  acts  declaring  the  King,  his  heirs  and  successors,  supreme  head  of 
the  church  of  Ireland,  forbidding  payment  of  Peter's  Pence,  or  other 
acknowledgment  of  Roman  jurisdiction,  and  dissolving  the  religious  houses. 
Legislation  apart,  the  Reformation  made  halting  progress  ;  for  the  king  wrote 
to  Browne,  7th  July,  1537,  to  employ  himself  diligently  in  good  furtherance 
of  the  n  yal  affairs,  slyly  reminding  him  not  to  forget  that  he  might  be 
removed  and  another  man  of  more  virtue  and  honesty  put  in  his  place. 
Browne  replied  that  the  king's  monitions  "made  him  tremble  in  body  for 
fear  of  incurring  his  majesty's  displeasure,"  and  pleaded  his  labours  in 
expounding  the  true  gospel  "  utterly  despising  the  usurped  power  of  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  being  a  thing  not  a  little  rooted  among  the  inhabitants  here."  Yet  a 
year  later  the  whole  body  of  Reformers  continued  to  sit  around  the  Dublin 
Council  table.  On  5th  April,  1 538,  Agard  wrote  to  Cromwell :  "  Excepte  it  be 
the  Archebyschope  of  Dublyn  which  dothe  here  in  preching  sett  forthe 
Codes  Worde  with  dew  obedyence  to  ther  Prynce,  and  my  good  Lorde 
Butler  [Ossory],  the  Master  of  the  RoUes  [Sir  John  Alen]  Mr  Thezaurer 
[William  Brabazon]  and  on  or  two  mow  which  are  of  a  smalle  repytachosn 

(n)  state  Papers,  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  ii.,  passim. 


34  History  of  Clonmel. 

here,  is  ellys  noon  from  the  hyeste  maye  abyde  the  hering  of  hitt."  But 
another  cause  was  now  at  work  which  soon  compelled  the  highest  to  abide 
the  hearing  of  the  word.  The  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  was  in  the  air, 
and  the  greed  for  their  broad  lands  put  into  the  Reformation  a  driving 
force  it  hitherto  lacked.  The  highest,  as  well  ecclesiastics  as  laymen,  kept 
a  hungry  look  out.  To  take  a  local  instance,  Nicholas  Comyn,  Bishop  of 
Waterford,  wrote  to  Cromwell  in  November  for  a  share  in  the  temporalities 
of  Innislounaght  when  that  abbey  should  be  dissolved.  But  another  had 
already  marked  the  plsfce  for  his  own — no  less  a  person  than  the  Deputy 
himself.  Lord  Leonard  Grey. 

A  few  days  before  Christmas,  the  Privy  Council  (Browne,  Alen, 
Brabazon  and  Aylmer)  set  out  on  a  visitation  half  episcopal,  half  gaol 
delivery.  They  visited  Carlow,  Kilkenny,  Wexford  and  Ross.  The  "Kinge's 
Supremycia,  togeder  with  the  plucking  downe  of  ydoUes  and  the  extinguishing 
of  the  Bishop  of  Romes  auctoritie,"  were  duly  preached  and  several 
malefactors  put  to  death  in  each  place.  In  Waterford  after  "  publishing  the 
Kinge's  injunctions  and  the  residue  of  his  plesur  likewise,"  there  were  "  put 
to  execution  fower  felones  accompanyed  with  another  thefe,  a  frier  whom  we 
commaunded  to  be  hanged  in  his  habite  and  so  to  remayne  upon  thegallowes 
for  a  mirror  to  all  other  his  bredern  to  live  trulie."  The  Council  then 
proceeded  to  Clonmel. 

At  the  writing  hereof  we  werne  at  Clonmell  [l8  January  1 539]  where  we  kepe 
cessions  this  dale  and  on  Soneday  tharchebishop  of  Dublin  will  preche  here  likewise 
as  he  d^  in  other  places  befor  mentioned  in  the  presence  of  all  the  Bishops  of  Munster; 
who  upon  our  commandment  been  repaired  hither  for  the  most  parte  alredie  and  or 
[before]  they  departe  they  shall  be  sworne  to  the  Supremacie  of  the  King,  and  against 
the  Bishop  of  Rome. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  as  the  list  of  bishops  present  in  Clonmel  is  not 
now  forthcoming,  we  are  left  altogether  to  inferential  evidence.  One  thing 
is  certain  that  all  the  Munster  bishops  did  not  obey  the  summons,  while  on 
the  other  hand  some  from  outside  the  province  attended.  The  archbishops 
of  Tuam  and  Cashel,  Bodkin  and  Butler,  were  unquestionably  among  the 
number  present.  The  former  had  already  the  previous  July  taken  the  oath 
of  supremacy  in  Galway :  the  latter,  like  his  father  Ossory,  was  probably 
ready  to  profess  Mahometanism  if  it  were  the  King's  religion.  James  Quinn, 
bishop  of  Limerick,  had  six  months  before  sworn  to  maintain  the  King's 
supremacy.  Dominick  Tirrey,  bishop  of  Cork  and  Cloyne,  had  been  installed 
by  Henry  in  opposition  to  the  papal  nominee,  Lewis  McNamara,  a  Franciscan  : 
who  the  others  were  is  a  matter  of  mere  conjecture.  But  the  event  is  the 
most  important  in  the  history  of  Protestantism  in  Ireland  during  the  sixteenth 
century.     On  8th  February,  1539,  the  Council  wrote  to  Cromwell. 


History  of  Clonmel.  35 

At  Clomell  was  with  us  twoo  Archebusshops  and  eight  Busshops  in  whose 
presence  my  Lord  of  Dublin  preached  in  advauncying  the  Kinges  Supremacy  and  the 
extinguishment  of  the  Busshop  of  Rome.  And  his  sermon  fynyshed  all  the  said 
Bisshops  in  all  thoppen  audience  took  the  othe  mencioned  in  thActes  of  Parliament 
bothe  touching  the  Kinges  Succession  and  Supremacy  befor  me,  the  Kinges  Chaunceller ; 
and  divers  others  ther  present  ded  the  lieke 

Your  Lordships  most  bounden  Orators 

John  Allen  Ke,  Chaunceler 
Georgius,  Dublin 
WiLLM  Brabazon 
Gerald  Aylmer,  Justice  (0), 

The  Bishop  of  Rome  extinguished,  the  Reformation  proceeded  apace. 
Six  weeks  later  Lord  Chancellor  Alen  came  to  Clonmel  to  receive  the 
surrender  of  the  religious  houses  from  their  respective  heads.  The  patent  of 
his  commission  stated  that  "  the  houses  of  regulars  in  Ireland  are  at  present 
in  such  a  state  that  in  them  the  praise  of  God  and  the  welfare  of  man  are 
next  to  nothing  regarded;  the  regulars  and  nuns  dwelling  there  being  so 
addicted  partly  to  their  own  superstitious  ceremonies,  partly  to  the  pernicious 
worship  of  idols  and  to  the  pestiferous  doctrines  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  that 
unless  an  effectual  remedy  be  promptly  provided  not  only  the  weak  lower 
order  but  the  whole  Irish  people  may  be  speedily  infected  to  their  total 
destruction  by  the  example  of  these  persons  "  (p).  It  will  be  seen  that  unlike 
in  England,  no  wholesale  charges  of  immorality  are  made,  and  it  is  certain 
the  Privy  Council  would  be  only  too  glad  if  such  were  available  for  the 
preamble  (q).  The  first  house  surrendered  to  Alen  was  the  Franciscan.  On 
the  "twenty  eight  day  of  March  in  the  thirty  first  year  of  the  King  [1539] 
Robert  Travers,  guardian  or  custos,  with  his  brethren  in  virtue  of  the  Royal 
Commission,  etc.,  left  the  said  monastery  so  that  it  is  totally  dissolved." 
Within  the  next  fortnight  the  Cistercian  abbey  of  Innislounaght,  the 
Augustinian  priory  of  Cahir,  the  Carmelite  house  of  Lady  Abbey  near 
Ardfinnan,  and  the  Brigitine  convent  of  Mollough  at  Newcastle  were  all 
surrendered.  The  people  of  Clonmel  viewed  with  no  little  satisfaction  the 
dissolution  of  some  of  these  houses ;  for  of  late  they  had  been  a  reproach  not 
only  to  religion,  but  to  decency  itself.  Inquiries  into  the  monastic  property 
were  forthwith  held,  and  the  following  year  pensions  chargeable  on  the 

(0)  state  Papers  Henry  VIIL,  vol.  iii.,  p.  117.  Some,  as  in  the  case  of  Gardiner  and  Bonner 
in  England,  did  not  consider  the  rejection  of  papal  supremacy  inconsistent  with  the  Catholic  creed. 
Nicholas  Comyn,  bishop  of  Waterford,  who  was  almost  certainly  present,  is  extravagantly  eulogized 
by  Lynch  the  historian  of  the  Irish  Catholic  bishops.  Others,  such  as  Brown  himself,  would  (if  we 
can  trust  the  correspondence  of  the  period)  go  down  the  slippery  slope  to  rationalism. 

(p)  Morrin  Chancery  Rolls,  I.  55. 

(q)  How  little  the  Irish  Reformers  were  concerned  with  morals  is  clear  from  the  case  of  James 
Butler,  last  abbot  of  Innislounaght.  Here  was  a  scion  of  the  Butler  family  thrust  into  the  abbacy, 
who  with  his  brethren  stank  in  the  nostrils  of  Munster.  Yet  the  commissioners  assigned  them 
substantial  pensions,  and  subsequently  conferred  on  the  ex-abbot  the  vicarage  of  St.  Patrick's  Well. 


36  History  of  Clonmel. 

property  were  settled  on  the  former  members  of  the  communities.  But  there 
was  one  important  exception.  The  Franciscans  had  actively  opposed  the 
royal  supremacy  ;  their  piety  and  their  zeal  had  won  them  the  affections  of 
the  people.    For  them  therefore  there  were  no  pensions. 

During  the  next  thirty  years  nothing  more  was  heard  of  the  Reformation 
in  Clonmel,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  question  of  religion  was  raised 
by  the  Lords  Deputy  or  other  functionaries  who  visited  the  town.  The 
municipal  council,  in  whom  at  the  dissolution  of  Athassel  priory,  the  advow- 
son  of  St.  Mary's  was  vested,  regularly  appointed  a  Catholic  priest  to  the 
living.  Foundations  for  the  celebration  of  Masses  were  made  as  if 
Edward  VI.  and  Elizabeth  never  existed.  The  whole  population,  from  Ormond 
the  lord  of  the  liberty  down,  remained  Catholic.  Meanwhile  the  religious 
struggle  was  stirring  the  world  to  its  depths.  The  bull  of  Pius  V.  in  1569 
excommunicating  Elizabeth  and  releasing  her  subjects  from  their  allegiance 
was  the  gage  of  battle  in  Ireland  as  in  England.  Henceforward  the  Desmonds 
and  O'Briens,  the  O'Moores  and  O'Neills,  had  the  sanction  of  religion  in  their 
effort  to  maintain  their  independence  and  estates.  Their  fight  was  now  Pro 
Arts  et  Facts.  The  mixed  motives,  temporal  and  eternal,  which  actuated  both 
parties  in  the  struggle  are  well  expressed  in  a  speech  of  "the  great  rebel," 
Gerald,  sixteenth  Earl  of  Desmond.  "  Our  rulers,"  said  he,  "  ever  since  they 
renounced  the  Catholic  religion  scorned  to  regard  the  nobles  of  this  land 
who  have  remained  true  to  their  faith ;  they  have  no  part  in  the  councils  of 
the  realm.  As  for  the  people,  are  they  not  harassed  and  ground  down  by 
imposts  such  as  our  ancestors  never  knew  ?  Spies  and  informers  are  sent 
among  them,  and  on  the  misrepresentations  of  these  hirelings  Queen 
Elizabeth  has  formed  her  estimate  of  the  Irish  people.  We  are  trampled  on 
by  a  gang  of  mailed  marauders  who  despise  us.  Look  at  the  sacred  order 
of  the  priesthood,  is  it  not  despised  by  those  innovators  who  have  come 
among  us  to  banish  the  rightful  owners  from  their  ancestral  estates,"  etc.  (r). 

The  position  of  the  priests  was  especially  difficult.  Educated  abroad 
owing  to  the  destruction  of  the  monastic  schools,  they  were  regarded  by 
principle  and  training  "  traitors  "  and  "  rebels  "  in  the  pay  of  Spain.  They 
were  watched  for  at  every  port,  and  the  commander  of  the  Queen's  forces  or 
the  president  of  the  province  "  upon  vehement  suspicion  "  might  put  them 
to  torture  or  hang  them  by  martial  law.  Still  they  came.  Cormac  O'Fergus 
reached  Cork  from  Lisbon  Easter  Sunday,  1 571.  After  several  adventures 
we  find  him  in  Clonmel  where  he  celebrated  Mass  in  secret  and  preached 
twice.    A  few  days  later  he  was  captured  (s).      Sir  William  Drury   had 

fr)  O'Daly's  Geraldines,  p.  118. 

fs)  The  writer  hopes  to  be  soon  in  a  position  to  publish  the  original  authorities  from  the  State 
Paper  Office  and  the  Bodleian. 


History  of  Clonmel.  37 

scarcely  assumed  the  presidency  of  Munster  when  he  complained  to 
Walsingham  "  the  students  of  Ireland  that  come  from  Louvain  are  the  merest 
traitors  and  breeders  of  treachery  that  liveth.  Whereof  they  are  in  these 
parts  about  Waterford  and  Clonmel  four  principal  prelates.  John  White  is 
worshipped  like  a  God  between  Kilkenny  and  Waterford  and  Clonmel.  He 
suborneth  all  the  dwellers  of  those  parts  to  detest  the  true  religion  stablished 
by  her  Majesty."  A  principal  prelate  of  a  still  more  dangerous  character 
was  Edmund  Tanner,  Bishop  of  Cork  and  Cloyne.  Soon  after  his  landing  in 
1575  Drury  had  him  arrested  together  with  his  chaplain,  and  both  were 
lodged  in  Clonmel  gaol.  A  strange  incident  now  happened.  While  in 
prison  Tanner  was  visited  by  a  schismatic  bishop — probably  Patrick  Walsh, 
Bishop  of  Waterford  and  Lismore.  "Discussions  and  conferences"  took 
place  between  them  with  the  result  that  Tanner  reconciled  the  other  to  the 
Catholic  church.  Drury  possibly  thought  such  a  man  as  dangerous  in  prison 
as  out  of  it,  and  through  the  influence  of  Lord  Barrymore  released  him  (t). 
The  government  correspondence  of  the  period  is  full  of  reports  of  spies  set 
to  watch  the  priests.  "There  is  one  Sir  Teage  O'Swyllyvan  an  earnest 
Precher  of  popery  still  preching  from  howse  to  howse  in  Waterford 
Clomell  and  Fidreth  "  (u),  "  There  is  one  Sir  William  Ocherohy  a  semynary 
[priest]  lately  come  from  Roome  and  now  dwelling  att  Clomell  Cassell  and 

ffidder Sir  Garrett  Reken  preist  at  Clomell Sir 

Walter  preist  dwelling  att  Clomell."  The  following  year  1593  several  of 
these  were  still  at  large  and  others  had  come.  "  Sir  Teage  O  Suilevan  a 
preacher  soiourning  betweene  Waterford  and  Clonmell  in  his  sermons 
curseinge  all  peopele  that  exercise  authoritie  in  her  maiesties  name.  Sir 
William  Trehie  (come  from  Spaine  and  borne  in  Cashell  most  commonly 
soiourning  at  Clonmell)  ....  Sir  piers  Kely  orderd  [ordained]  by  Dr. 
Crahe  and  still  soiourning  betweene  Waterford  Clonmell  and  Cashell  .  .  . 
Sir  Garrett  Rollea  a  man  in  very  greate  compte  in  Clonmell  .  .  .  Sir 
Walter  a  priest  of  Tomond  now  resideing  at  Clonmell "  (v).  But  none 
attracted  more  attention  from  the  spies  than  the  parish  priest  of  Clonmel, 
Father  Richard  Morris,  who  seems  to  have  reached  the  town  about  1 580.    In 


(t)  *'  Barrymore,"  said  Ormond.  *'  is  an  arrant  papist  who  a  long  time  kept  in  his  house  Dr. 
Tanner  made  bishop  here  by  the  Pope,  who  died  in  my  Lord  of  Upper  Ossory's  house  being  secretly 
kept  there.  Believe  me  Mr.  Secretary  you  shall  find  my  Lord  of  Upper  Ossory  as  bad  a  man  as 
may  be." — Ormond  to  Walsingham,  July  21st,  1580.  Fr.  Holling  who  in  1596  wrote  a  short  sketch 
of  Tanner  gives  the  particulars,  but  discreetly  withheld  the  names  lest  he  should  compromise  the 
Catholic  lords  and  their  friends. 

(u)  "  Sir  "  before  the  name  of  a  priest  indicated  he  had  not  graduated  in  a  University.  Fuller, 
Church  History,  p.  352. 

(v)  O'SuUivan  after  many  escapes  died  near  Kilcrea,  17th  December,  1597.  Contemporary 
accounts  of  him  survive  from  the  pens  of  Mooney,  the  Franciscan  provincial,  and  O'Sullivan  Beare. 


38  History  of  Clonmel. 

1590  he  was  reported  as  "  a  prieste  that  useth  Clonmel."  He  next  appears  in 
a  more  odious  form  as  **  a  prieste  reconcyled  to  Papestry."  We  find  him 
subsequently  in  a  list  sent  by  Miler  McGrath,  the  Protestant  Archbishop  of 
Cashel,  "  Sir  Richard  Moris  who  confessed  before  the  now  Lord  Justice  Chefe 
of  England  Sir  John  poppam  that  he  was  within  this  two  yeares  in  conference 
with  doctor  Crah  "  [Catholic  bishop  of  Cork  and  Cloyne].  Morris  had  earned 
the  unsparing  hatred  of  McGrath;  like  others  he  had  probably  girded  too 
indiscreetly  at  Amy  O'Meara,  the  Archbishop's  partner  (w).  Sir  John  Perrot, 
the  brusque  soldier  who  filled  the  office  of  deputy,  however,  had  little  faith  in 
Miler,  and  was  adverse  to  religious  persecution.  When  in  1 591  Perrot  was 
charged  with  high  treason,  one  of  the  counts  was  "That  one  Richard  Morrice, 
a  Priest,  a  notorious  Traitor  being  a  passer  from  Ireland  to  Vicount 
Baltinglass  in  Spain  and  from  thence  to  Rome  to  confer  of  Rebellions  and 
Invasion  for  England  and  Ireland.  Sir  John  Perrot  knowing  the  said  Morrice 
to  be  a  most  dangerous  person  to  the  State  would  not  give  order  for  the 
taking  of  the  said  Morrice  as  he  should  have  done  but  the  Bishop  of  Cashell 
caused  him  to  be  apprehended  of  his  own  authority  and  sent  him  to  Mr. 
Poor  the  sheriff  to  be  sent  to  the  Castle  of  Dublin  whereupon  the  friends  of 
the  said  Morrice  told  them  that  Morrice  had  better  friends  than  they  all  had 
and  shortly  after  Morrice  was  discharged  and  never  more  called  in  question. 
And  all  this  was  confirmed  by  the  oath  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cashell  and  the 
said  Poore  viva  voce"  If  Perrot,  a  strong,  just  man  would  not  soil  his  hands 
with  "the  Queen's  business"  of  this  sort,  others  had  less  scruples.  Among 
the  "  younger  sons  "  who  were  then  pushing  their  fortunes  in  Ireland,  one  of 
the  most  notable  was  John  Norris,  son  of  Lord  Norris  of  Rycot.  He  had 
taken  part  in  a  filibustering  expedition  to  Flanders  some  years  before,  and 
was  able  to  boast  that  he  had  stabled  his  horses  in  St.  Godule,  Brussells.  But 
though  ambitious  of  fame,  Ireland  offered  in  the  Desmond  forfeitures  more 
solid  rewards,  and  in  1584  he  obtained  the  presidency  of  Munster.  Secretary 
Fenton  was  instructed  to  provide  the  president  with  an  estate,  and  that 
official  selected  Askeaton,  one  of  Desmond's  principal  houses.  Captain 
Barkley,  however,  had  taken  possession,  so  that  Norris  in  disgust  again 
volunteered  for  the  Low  Countries  "not  to  be  drowned  in  this  forgetful 
corner."  At  this  juncture  an  opportunity  occurred  of  giving  signal  proof  of 
his  Protestantism,  and  he  availed  himself  of  it.  Some  eighteen  months  before 
while  the  hapless  Earl  of  Desmond  was  being  run  to  earth.  Lord  Roche  wrote 
to  Ormond  that  he  had  captured  the  Earl's  chaplain,   Desmond  himself 

(w)  The  argitmenlum  ad  fe  mi  nam  was  a  favourite  one  at  the  period.     Father  Eugene  O'Duft'y's 
lampoon  on  the  Archbishop  was  published  many  years  ago  by  J.  D.  White,  of  Cashel. 


History  of  Clonmel.  39 

escaping  narrowly  (x).  Ormond  at  once  announced  the  good  tidings  to 
Burghley.  Captain  Robarts  was  despatched  to  bring  in  the  priest  "  and  my 
servant  Pat  Graunte  with  him  to  be  chained  in  hand  lock  with  the  priest  that 
no  man  may  see  him  or  speak  unto  him.  I  would  this  chaplain  and  I  were 
for  one  hour  with  you  in  your  chamber,  that  3^ou  might  know  the  secrets  of 
his  heart  which  by  fair  means  or  foul  he  must  open  unto  me  "  (y).  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  chaplain  had  any  secrets  to  disclose,  and  henceforward  he 
disappears  from  the  correspondence  of  Ormond  and  Burleigh.  His  awful 
fate,  however,  we  learn  from  other  sources. 

I  am  sending  you  something  of  the  greatest  value — the  glorious  piartyrdom  of  my 
intimate  friend  Maurice  Kenrechtin.  He  was  a  very  holy  priest-  you  knew  him,  and 
was  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Desmond  for  which  reason  he  was  arrested  and  brought  to 
your  native  town  of  Clonmel,  and  there  imprisoned  for  more  than  a  year.  On  the  eve 
of  Easter  Sunday  in  the  year  1585  Victor  White  one  of  the  principal  men  of  the  town 
a  pious  Catholic  obtained  from  the  governor  of  the  gaol  the  favour  of  having  the  priest 
spend  the  night  at  his  house.  But  the  governor  secretly  advised  the  President  of 
Munster  an  English  heretic  who  was  then  in  town,  that  if  he  wanted  to  catch  the 
principal  men  of  the  place  hearing  mass  he  could  easily  do  so  at  the  house  of  Victor 
White  early  next  morning,  bargaining  at  the  same  time  for  the  price  of  his  shameful 
treachery.  At  the  hour  appointed  the  soldiers  rushed  on  the  house.  They  seized 
Victor,  the  rest  hearing  the  noise  got  away  through  the  back  doors  and  windows.  A 
married  lady  however  fell  and  broke  her  arm.  The  soldiers  found  the  chalice  and  other 
things  belonging  to  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  They  searched  everywhere  for  the  priest — he 
had  not  begun  mass  —and  came  to  a  heap  of  straw  under  which  the  poor  man  lay. 
Prodding  the  straw  they  struck  him  in  the  thigh  but  he  bore  it  in  silence  through  fear. 
Shortly  after  he  escaped  out  of  the  town.  But  Victor  who  could  never  be  brought  to 
the  heretic  conventicles  though  he  had  suffered  much,  would  not  betray  the  priest  and 
was  therefore  imprisoned.  And  he  would  no  doubt  have  suffered  the  extreme  penalty 
of  the  law  if  Maurice  hearing  of  his  peril  had  not  freely  surrendered  to  the  President. 
Truly  Christian  friendship !  The  President  after  much  invective  passed  sentence  of 
death.  But  if  he  renounced  our  Catholic  faith  and  acknowledged  the  Queen  as  head  of 
the  church  his  life  would  be  spared.  The  *  Minister  of  the  Word '  also  tried  in  vain 
with  much  argument  to  seduce  the  martyr.  Neither  would  he  on  any  account  give  the 
name  of  any  person  who  had  heard  mass  or  received  sacraments.  At  length  he  was 
dragged  at  the  horse's  tail  to  the  scaffold  where  he  learnedly  and  devoutly  exhorted  the 
people  to  constancy  in  the  faith.  He  was  cut  down  when  half  alive  and  beheaded,  the 
*  Minister '  fixed  an  inscription  on  the  head.  The  Catholics  by  entreaty  and  money 
saved  the  body  from  being  treated  with  indignity  and  rendered  the  highest  burial 
honours  they  could. 

Farewell  in  the  Lx)rd  and  may  you  be  followers  of  the  heroic  Maurice  Kinrechtan. 
At  least  prepare  your  souls  for  it. 

Yours  most  affectionately 

Robert  Rochfort. 
From  the  College  of  St.  Anthony, 
20  March  1586  (z), 

(x)  Roche  to  Ormond,  Castktown,  19th  September,  1583.  His  men  overtook  the  Earl's 
chaplain  and  took  all  their  bags  bottles  four  beeves  and  other  stuff.  Desmond  and  his  followers 
narrowly  escaped. 

(y)  Ormond  to  Burleigh,  Carrick,  23rd  September,  1583. 

(z)  Analecta  Sacra,  etc.  Bishop  Rothe,  Cologne,  161 7.  Rothe  gives  a  lengthy  biography  but 
an  earlier  one  by  Fr.  John  Holing  (ob.  1599)  from  which  Rothe's  account  is  partly  derived  is 
preferable.  From  this  the  following  particulars  are  taken.  *'  Maurice  Kimracha,  a  native  of 
Kilmallock,  a  priest  and  Batchelor  of  Theology-,  underwent  many  trials  in  the  war  against  the 


40  History  of  Clonmel. 

This  terrible  episode  created  no  mere  passing  sensation;  it  sank  into 
the  minds  of  the  people.  They  regarded  Kinrechtan  as  a  martyr,  and  his 
grave  in  the  Franciscan  Church  would  have  become  a  place  of  pilgrimage 
did  not  the  friars,  to  escape  persecution,  strive  to  conceal  it  The  court  off 
Lough  Street  in  which  Victor  White's  house  was  situate  was  known  down  to 
the  Cromwellian  period  as  "  Martyr  Lane."  When  at  length  the  Catholics 
rose  to  power  the  body  was  exhumed,  and  in  1647  it  was  conveyed  amid 
great  religious  honours  to  its  final  resting  place  in  Askeaton  Abbey. 

Though  the  attempts  to  impose  Protestantism  on  the  inhabitants  put 
their  loyalty  to  a  severe  strain,  yet  throughout  the  sixteenth  century  they 
remained  staunch  supporters  of  Elizabeth.  In  1 583  Sir  Henry  Sydney 
reported  to  Walsingham  "Marching  through  the  County  of  Tipperary  I 
encamped  by  Chlomnell  a  walled  town  standing  upon  the  river  of  Sure,  the 
people  good  and  loyal."  Again  in  1600  while  Hugh  O'Neill,  de  facto  master 
of  Ireland,  lay  at  Holy  Cross  there  was  no  question  of  surrendering  "the 
Queen's  unpaid  garrison."  Furthermore  the  citizens  placed  at  her  disposal 
their  goods  and  their  money.  Lord  Grey  in  1 582  petitioned  the  Privy  Council 
for  payment  to  the  people  of  Clonmel  of  moneys  owed  them  by  Captain 
James,  Captain  Lower  and  Captain  Morgan;  the  same  year  the  Sovereign 
Geoffry  White  authorized  payment  to  Alderman  Pierce  Sherlock  of  further 
sums.  In  1583  Burghley  was  petitioned  for  £36  due  to  the  town  by  Captain 
Zouche  deceased.  Four  years  later  a  sum  of  eight  score  odd  pounds  was 
spent  on  powder  and  munition  for  the  defence  of  the  town.  As  the  Queen's 
exchequer  was  depleted  there  was  no  little  difficulty  in  recovering  these 
moneys.  In  1587  permission  was  sought  to  import  2,000  quarters  of  wheat  in 
lieu  of  Captain  Zouche's  debt  (aa).  Again  licence  was  asked  to  import  100 
tuns  of  wine  free,  or  a  grant  of  lands  of  £40  yearly  value,  as  a  set  off  for  other 
debts.    Among  the  citizens  who  especially  distinguished  themselves  in  the 


heretics,  animating  the  Catholfc  soldiers  and  administering  the  sacraments He  was  long 

kept  in  prison  where  with  much  patience  and  perseverance  he  continued  Catholics  in  the  faith  and 
moved  many  to  repentance  by  pious  exhortation  and  gave  to  all  an  example  of  the  true  Catholic 

religion Having  he<ird  the  death  sentence  he  quietly  thanked  God  and  exhorted  all 

to  profess  the  Catholic  faith  and  obedience  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  While  he  was  brought  to 
execution  he  spoke  with  such  piety  and  wisdom  that  many  were  moved  to  tears  and  at  the  sight  of 
the  scaffold  he  threw  himself  on  his  knees  in  constant  prayer  amid  the  scoffs  of  the  heretics.  At  the 
place  itself,  having  asked  the  prayers  of  the  people  and  given  them  his  blessing  he  was  hanged. 
While  half  alive  he  was  beheaded  and  the  whole  night  the  soldiers  kept  watch  upon  the  quartered 
body  lest  it  should  be  taken  away  by  the  Catholics.  The  following  day  the  four  quarters  were  set 
up  on  the  market  cross  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  the  head  on  a  loftier  eminence  to  be  seen  by  all. 
Thus  he  underwent  his  glorious  martyrdom  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1585  on  the  30th  day  of  April. 
Some  days  later  the  Catholics  purchased  the  body  and  gave  it  honorable  burial  in  Clonmel  where  he 
suffered.  All  this  I  heard  from  three  trustworthy  persons  who  were  present — one  of  whom  was 
engaged  in  arranging  the  altar,  the  other  two  were  natives  of  the  town.  I  knew  them,  as  also 
White  and  the  priest  himself." — Spicil,  Ossor.  I.,  pp.  89-91. 

(aa)  This  famine  was  artificial ;  the  English  soldiery  systematically  destroyed  the  growing  cTops 
for  the  purpose  of  starving  out  the  Irish,  preliminary  to  settling  the  new  plantations. 


History  of  Clonmel.  4i 

service  of  the  Queen  were  John  Aylward  who  was  rewarded  with  a  lease  of 
Grenane  Castle,  and  Edward  Gough  who  received  a  knighthood  at  Kinsale 
from  Mountjoy.  Thus  Clonmel  earned  the  encomiums  of  Elizabeth's  successor. 
"  An  ancient  borough  fortified  from  the  time  of  its  foundation  by  forts  and 
walls  erected  by  English  liege  men,  whose  inhabitants  are  sprung  from  an 
old  race  using  English  habits,  customs  and  laws,  and  who  duly  rendered 
praiseworthy  service  to  Englishmen  with  the  loss  of  their  blood  and  life"  fbb) 


(bbj  Charter  of  James  I.  1608.  As  the  whole  population  were  constructive  rebels,  people  secured 
their  civic  rights  against  martial  law  by  obtaining  '  Pardons,'  The  following  Clonmel  names  appear 
in  the  Fiants  of  Elizabeth,  1571— Edmond  O'Higgins,  1573 — David  White  fitz  Pierce  and  Sabina  his 
wife,  Nicholas  White  fitz  Pierce  merchant,  Richard  White  fitz  James  yeoman,  William  son  of  Hugh 
O'Coury  fisherman,  Robert  Casie  weaver.  Each  of  these  to  pay  a  fine  of  one  fat  cow.  1576 — John 
Aylward  gentleman,  Darby  Lynch  husbandman,  Thomas  Brennock  merchant,  Thomas  Nunan 
merchant — both  pardoned  at  the  suit  of  John  Danyell  the  Earl  of  Ormond's  man.  1577 — James  and 
John  Brennock  merchants,  Edward  Quirke  and  Peter  White — to  pay  a  fine  of  a  cow  each.  1583 
— Thomas  White  fitz  Walter  and  Katherine  his  wife.  15QI — Robert  Condon.  1598 — Ellen  Clanchy, 
John  O'Grady.  1601 — Pierce  White  fitz  David,  Thomas  Butler  fitz  Pierce,  Thomas  Butler  fitz  Edmund, 
James  Butler  fitz  Edmund,  Teig  O'Casey  tailor.  1603— John  White  late  sheriff  of  Co.  Waterford, 
Solomon  White,  Garret  Wall  merchant. 


Ohapxer  IV. 


CLONMEL  1603-1641. 

CHE  earlier  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  ones  of  unexampled 
prosperity  in  the  South.  Racial  feuds  were  rapidly  dying  out; 
the  Anglo-Irish  and  the  Celtic  Irish  menaced  alike  by  the  new 
English  party  began  to  grow  together  as  one  nation.  For  the  first 
time  the  benefits  of  the  law  came  within  reach  of  the  common  people.  The 
judges  went  circuit;  the  presidency  court,  the  sessions  and  courts  baron 
administered  upon  the  whole  fair  justice,  and  life  and  property  became 
tolerably  secure.  With  the  advent  of  peace,  trade  and  industry  rapidly 
increased.  To  this  the  numerous  "  undertakers"  contributed  not  a  little.  They 
with  characteristic  energy  prospected  for  silver  in  Tipperary  and  gold  in  Kerry, 
opened  iron  mines  at  Cappoquin,  at  Araglen,  at  Toomgraney  and  Macroom. 
They  made  pipe  staves  from  the  native  oak  for  which  a  ready  market  was 
found  in  the  wine  ports  of  France  and  Spain.  Agriculture  also  emerged  from 
the  patriarchal  stage ;  corn  and  cattle  were  raised  much  in  excess  of  domestic 
needs — a  phenomenon  carefully  noted  by  contemporaries.  Licence  was 
granted  to  export  grain  to  England  when  its  price  did  not  exceed  ten  shillings 
a  Bristol  barrel,  while  some  beginning  of  the  live  stock  trade  was  made. 
"  There  is  a  marvellous  change  "  wrote  in  1630  a  close  observer  "  upon  the 
state  of  affairs  which  old  inhabitants  can  remember.  Buildings  and  farming 
are  improving,  each  man  striving  to  excel  other  in  fair  buildings  and  good 
furniture  and  in  husbanding,  enclosing  and  improving  their  lands."  (ccj 
The  fine  Tudor  mansions  (Burntcourt,  Loughmoe  and  Tickencorr  in  our  own 
neighbourhood)  still  witness  to  the  taste  and  prosperity  of  the  period. 


(ccJ  Cork  to  Dorchester,  State  Papers  ad  aim. 


History  of  Clonmel.  43 

In  the  towns  especially  the  progress  was  most  marked.  Trade  had  not  yet 
been  focussed  in  great  distributing  centres;  each  town  was  an  independent 
commercial  unit  and  its  burghers  had  direct  business  relations  not  merely 
local  but  foreign.  The  Clonmel  '  merchant  venturer '  collected  his  stock  of 
tallow,  hides,  salt  beef  and  pork  which  he  sent  by  boat  to  Waterford  or 
overland  to  Youghal  (dd).  Then  having  sold  his  merchandize  in  some  Spanish 
or  French  port  he  purchased  wine,  salt,  hemp  for  cordage,  silk,  tapestry  or 
other  fine  stuffs  for  the  return  voyage.  To  us  it  is  strange  to  meet  with  James 
White  and  Bennet  White,  merchants  of  Clonmel  in  far  off  Cadiz  in  1609  (ee), 
but  in  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  possible  to  find  in  the  town  men  who 
had  seen  the  whole  western  seaboard  of  Europe.  Some  indeed  never  returned 
from  their  perilous  voyage,  and  to  guard  against  such  contingency  wills 
were  made  before  setting  out.  Garrett  fitz  Edmond  Wall  for  instance  in  1606 
"being  bound  in  a  voyadg  beyonde  ye  seas  and  doubting  of  any  mischance  " 
bequeathed  his  estate  to  his  wife  and  daughter.  Five  months  later  the  will 
was  proved  (jf).  But  not  only  was  commerce  active  but  there  was — for  the 
time — considerable  manufacturing  industry.  The  increased  growing  of  corn 
brought  with  it  flour  milling.  Instead  of  the  solitary  manor  mill  to  which  all 
citizens  had  perforce  to  bring  their  corn,  we  find  in  contemporary  patents  one 
in  Bridge  Street  and  four  in  the  south  suburbs.  Further  the  prohibition  on 
the  export  of  wool  had  the  effect  of  stimulating  its  manufacture  at  home. 
Waterford  had  already  earned  celebrity  for  its  rugs,  mantles  and  freize, 
Clonmel  followed,  for  about  1614  Benedict  White  fitz  John  set  up  in  Suir 
Island  a  mill  for  the  tucking  and  finishing  of  coarse  woollen  stuffs.  Through 
the  town  were  various  kilns,  doubtless  for  the  drying  of  grain,  while  more 
than  once  there  is  mention  of  brewhouses  and  malthouses  (gg).  This  industry 
indeed  was  restricted  by  the  Act  3  &  4  Philip  and  Mary,  Cap.  7,  which 
prohibited  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  beer,  strong  waters  and  the  like,  but 
licences  appear  to  have  been  freely  granted.  In  1614  the  following  were 
licensed  to  keep  taverns  in  Clonmel. 

James  White  merchant  and  Victor  White  his  son. 

Patrick  Wall  merchant  and  Anne  Wall  his  daughter. 

Richard  White  merchant. 

John  White  merchant. 

Richard  Wall  merchant. 

Thomas  Donoghowe  (hh). 

(dd)  In  the  Youghal  records  is  a  sort  of  commercial  treaty  by  which  one  of  the  Whites  was 
enabled  to  ship  his  wares  free  of  the  port  dues  there. 

(ec)  State  Papers  sub  ann.  fgg)  Inquisitions  Jas.  I.  passim, 

(fj  Prerogative  Wills  P.R.O.  Dublin.  (hh)  Pat.  Rolls  Jas.  I.  ii. 


44  History  of  Clonmel. 

Four  years  later  the  law  was  practically  suspended  by  a  grant  as  ample 
in  its  scope  as  it  is  curious  in  its  time  limit. 

Granted  to  the  Mayor,  Bailiffs,  Free  burgesses  and  Commons  of  Clonmel  licence  to 
keep  taverns  and  sell  wine  and  ardent  spirits  in  the  said  town  and  half  a  mile  round 
the  same  during  the  lives  of  Nicholas  Mulronie  Merchant  and  of  Jeffrey  Barron  son  of 
Laurence  Barron  of  the  same  town  Merchant  (ii). 

The  result  is  instructive.  In  July  1623  the  Irish  Council  reported  "  that 
the  grant  of  licensing  the  sale  of  wine,  aqua  vitae  (whisky)  and  ale  proving 
beneficial  only  to  some  private  persons,  and  ale  houses  since  that  grant  being 
multiplied,  being  one  occasion  of  the  dearth  of  corn  here,  [such  grants]  should 
be  called  in  "  (jj).  The  recommendation  was  followed  and  the  trade  again 
brought  within  due  control. 

However  the  brewing  and  woollen  industries  may  have  fared  subsequently 
under  Falkland  and  Strafford,  the  humbler  shopkeepers  of  the  town  appear 
to  have  reached  a  fair  standard  of  comfort.  The  following  affords  a  view  of 
the  household  arrangements  of  Henry  White  fitz  Thomas,  draper,  who  died 
in  1614. 

An  inventary  of  my  goodes  and  chattels 

fiirst  a  big  olde  measinge  pan.  A  silver  standinge  cupp  or  noil.  A  newe  table 
boord.  A  new  carpeleade.  A  prasneath.  ffowre  pewter  dishes.  Two  pattingers. 
A  flocke  bed,  a  paire  of  sheets,  ffifty  five  settes,  three  shaggs,  ffovrte  ordynaries,  one 
hundred  and  thirty  yards  frize,  six  peeces  of  checkes,  eighteen  poundes  in  moneye, 
tenn  barrells  oaten  malte,  three  barrells  barley  malte.  There  is  alsoe  due  to  me  of  Mr 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry  8  li  sterlinge  as  by  our  mutuall  deede  indated  more  at  large 
may  appeare.  Itm  I  have  in  shopp  wares  by  myne  estimation  ye  value  of  40  shillings 
sterlinge.    Itm  a  cheste  price  seven  shill.  ster.  (kk). 

Perhaps  the  best  evidence  of  the  prosperity  of  Clonmel  at  this  period  is 
the  large  amount  of  money  advanced  by  the  several  merchants  on  landed 
security — then  the  only  investment  obtainable.  In  the  patent  and  close  rolls  of 
James  I.  and  Charles  I.  are  mortgages  of  extensive  estates  made  to  Patrick 
White  fitz  Thomas,  James  White  fitz  Robert,  John  Bray  fitz  John,  Laurence 
Barron  and  others  (II),  As  the  interest  on  these  mortgages  varied  from  15  to 
30  per  cent,  foreclosure  was  the  sequel ;  the  mortgage  therefore  was  but  the 
transition  stage  to  landed  proprietorship.  Accordingly  in  the  next  generation 
the  representatives  of  these  merchants  appear  in  the  "Book  of  Distribution  " 
as  forfeiting  landowners  (mm).  Their  wills  also,  many  of  which  are  extant, 
supply  further  information  on  the  point  and  give  invaluable  glimpses  into 
their  social  state  and  civilization. 


(ii)  Ibid.  16  Jas.  I.,  i  April.  (jj)  State  Papers  Jas.  I.  (kk)  Prerogative  Wills,  P.R.O. 

(11)  In  the  will  of  the  last  named  no  fewer  than  seventeen  mortgages  are  recited — many  being 
of  whole  townlands. 

(mm)  For  example:  Michael  White  fitz  Bennetof  Mylerstown,  Edmond  Bray  and  Nicholas  Belts  of 
Orchardstown,  Francis  White,  Chancellorstown,  John  Flynn,  Derrygrath,  &c.,  &c. 


History  of  Clonmel.  45 

Catherine  White  fitz  Thomas  in  1625 — 

I  doe  leave  and  bequeath  unto  my  daughter  Bess  my  best  chaine  and  my  best 
Juell.  I  distribute  the  rest  of  my  Juells,  chaines,  Ringes  with  all  my  bodilie  aparell 
upon  my  brothers,  sisters  and  their  children,  my  foster  mother  and  my  nurse  and  some 
poor  kinder  women  of  myne. 

John  Bray  fitz  John  in  1632 — 

Itm.  I  doe  will,  legacie  and  bequeath  to  my  said  son  John  Bray  my  siluer  saultes, 
my  siluer  taster,  sixe  siluer  spoones,  two  highe  bedsteeds  with  their  truckles  and 
furniture,  all  my  tables  carpletts,  cussions,  stooles,  formes,  chaires,  cupboords,  chests, 
my  harpe.  Tables,  the  great  Crucifix  or  picture  I  lent  Mr  Richard  Wadding  of 
Waterford  deceased  and  all  my  books.  My  sd  son  John  Bray  shall  have  and  receave 
the  gould  Jeuel  bequeathed  by  my  father  unto  me  which  now  my  sister  Ann  Bray  hath 
after  the  decease  of  my  said  sister. 

James  White  fitz  Robert  in  1622 — 

I  will  and  devise  to  my  said  wife  Catherine  Power  all  my  pewter,  brass,  lynen, 
candlesticks,  householdstuff,  catle,  her  Jeuells  ringes  and  chaine  of  gould  and  all  my 
goods  and  chatells  my  plate  only  excepted. 

Richard  Leynach  in  1628 — 

I  doe  leaue  unto  my  wife  Mary  Brenock  without  devision  all  my  plate,  brass, 
pewter,  buttry,  dyaper  lynnen,  beddinge  and  all  other  household  stuff  that  I  haue 
whatsoever  and  she  to  take  charge  of  my  soule. 

Laurence  Barron  in  1622 — 

The  House  I  have  nowe  adwyld  [dwelt]  I  doe  leave  to  my  wyfe  during  her  naturall 
lyf  chaste  viduitie  and  dwelling  in  Clonmel  otherwise  but  a  third  parte  of  the  valuation 
of  the  rent  thereof.  Itm  I  doe  leaue  all  my  aparell  to  my  brother  Richard  Barron. 
Itm  I  doe  leave  to  my  brother  Robert  Barron  to  helpe  him  to  stocke  8  li.  ster.  when  it 
is  seen  that  he  is  hable  to  enioye  it  or  otherwise  to  serue  his  necessary  wants.  Itm 
to  my  sister  Beale  20  nobles.  Itm  to  my  sister  Alson  20  nobles  for  mayntenance  of 
her  child.  Itm  to  my  sister  Austin  is  three  daughters  fyve  poundes  a  peece  to  their 
preferment  when  they  be  marryed.  I  doe  leave  to  my  nepheu  James  Wale  is  soun  5  li 
when  he  is  hable  to  remburse  it  in  marchandize.  I  leave  my  best  goulden  (sic)  to  Mr 
Walle.  I  leave  my  signett  and  ye  small  three  tume  Ringe  I  weare  to  my  uncle  John 
Whit  in  remembrance  of  my  loue. 

Edward  Butler  in  1619— 

A  note  and  true  inventry  of  goods  chatties  and  household  stuff  remayning. 
Twentie  poundes  worth  parcells  in  wool  ware  and  woole,  fower  gerrans,  twelf  tunns  of 
salt,  two  hundred  flemish  hupes,  one  hundred  Anysides.  Two  hundred  half  Lucoryes, 
half  hundred  English  hupes,  one  bruing  paune  two  smale  paunes,  one  brass  potte,  five 
chests  one  trunke  fine  brass  candlesticks,  two  coops  of  platte,  two  Juells  of  gould  two 
ringes  of  gould,  two  cupperts,  tenn  poundes  worth  of  triffiing  in  merchant  ware,  twelve 
poundes  in  money,  seaven  hundred  sheepskins,  two  Spanis  tables  three  quarter  hundred 
Riess  three  barrells  of  beare  malt  twelve  peeter  dishes,  two  pattingers,  two  smale 
savcers  with  other  smale  trifilings.  I  bequeath  third  part  of  said  goods  to  my  wife  the 
third  to  my  children  the  third  for  my  soule.  I  bequeath  unto  my  brother  Richard 
Butler  my  new  fustean  doublett,  unto  my  brother  in  law  Richard  Neale  my  new  cloake, 
my  brother  Walter  Butler  my  best  felt  [hat]  my  eldest  daughter  Ellice  fouertine  cowes 
smale  and  greate,  and  the  great  brass  potte,  my  eldest  son  John  a  silver  goblett  of  platte 
parcell  gilt  weing  xiii  unces  and  the  great  drawing  board  and  a  new  carplett. 

These  and  many  similar  ones  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Record  Office  call 
up  a  pleasing  picture  of  old  Clonmel.    They  speak  of  lives  gracious  and 


46  History  of  Clonmel. 

refined,  of  love  of  kindred,  of  manifold  charity,  of  tranquil  enjoyment  of  this 
world  and  serene  hope  for  the  next.  But  the  old  Anglo-Irish  burghers  had 
nm  their  course ;  they  accumulated  wealth,  they  built  houses,  they  made 
settlements  and  entails  little  thinking  that  their  grand-children  would  be 
homeless  and  their  names  traceable  only  in  forgotten  archives.  Yet  even  in 
their  lifetime  they  might  have  discerned  the  beginnings  of  the  storm. 

The  Desmond  colonies  in  Munster  and  the  Ulster  Plantation  had  one 
vital  consequence,  probably  unforseen  by  those  who  planned  them.  Hitherto 
the  representatives  of  English  supremacy  in  this  country  were  the  Anglo-Irish 
country  gentlemen  and  burghers.  They  composed  the  parliaments  of  Elizabeth 
and  swelled  her  armies.  At  an  earlier  period  they  had  loyally  dissolved  the 
monasteries  and  had  even  discarded  the  papal  legates.  When  Europe  was 
divided  by  religion  into  hostile  camps  they  remained  throughout  on  the  side 
of  the  Queen,  fought  for  her  against  the  Desmonds  and  massacred  the 
fugitives  of  Kinsale.  Yet  withal  they  were  convinced  Catholics  and  the 
diplomatic  Elizabeth  thought  well  to  raise  no  questions  of  conscience  but 
left  them  for  the  most  part  freedom  of  worship.  With  the  advent  of  the  new 
settlers  the  whole  political  situation  changed.  The  Catholics  need  no  longer 
be  reckoned  with.  England  had  now  a  party  secured  by  the  strong  ties  of 
self  interest,  whose  religion  was  a  guarantee  against  continental  intrigue, 
whose  existence  in  fact  depended  on  maintaining  and  extending  English 
influence.  Accordingly  all  power  soon  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
new  colonists.  They  manned  the  executive,  they  dominated  parliament, 
they  gradually  filled  every  office  of  trust  and  emolument  to  the  almost  entire 
exclusion  of  the  hereditary  ruling  class.  Raised  on  the  ruin  of  Celts  and 
Anglo-Irish  alike,  they  looked  on  both  with  equal  distrust.  They  were 
Protestants  of  the  Calvinist  type,  and  regarded  with  scorn  and  hatred  the 
great  Catholic  population  around  them.  If  the  temper  of  the  age  had  been 
one  of  toleration  and  compromise  they  would  not  have  sought  peace,  for 
turbulence  led  to  forfeitures  and  forfeitures  fell  to  them.  Such  were  the  men 
who  then  obtained  power,  who  under  the  forms  of  law  carried  on  relentless 
warfare  on  the  religion  and  property  of  the  people  they  ruled  (nn). 

(tin J  '*  It  is  certainly  very  unhappy  for  a  nation  at  any  time  to  be  governed  by  strangers  who 
cannot  be  supposc(^  to  have  any  natural  love  for  the  country  and  whose  particular  advantage  doth 
not  depend  on  the  general  good  of  the  nation  ;  but  in  a  time  of  jealousies  and  distractions  when  a 
mutual  confidence  between  the  governors  and  the  people  committed  to  their  charge  is  absolutely 
necessary,  the  consequences  flowing  from  such  a  circumstance  must  be  very  fatal.  This  was  the 
very  case  of  Ireland  at  that  time  ;  the  governors  were  the  likeliest  persons  in  it  to  get  by  the  troubles 
of  the  Kingdom  and  to  raise  their  own  fortunes  by  the  ruin  of  those  of  private  gentlemen.  There  is 
too  much  reason  to  think  that  as  the  lords  justices  wished  the  rebellion  to  spread  and  more 
gentlemen  of  estates  to  be  involved  in  it  that  the  forfeitures  might  be  the  greater  and  a  general 
plantation  be  carried  on  by  a  new  set  of  English  Protestants  to  the  ruin  and  expulsion  of  all  the  old 
English  and  natives  that  were  Roman  Catholics." — Carte's  Ormond  T.,  p.  183. 


History  of  Clonmel.  47 

What  took  place  in  Clonmel  is  only  an  example  of  the  proceedings  in 
the  towns  generally.  From  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James  I.  the  open 
and  ostentatious  Catholicism  of  the  people  was  a  subject  of  sore  complaint. 
Sir  Henry  Brouncker  a  few  months  after  his  appointment  to  the  presidency 
of  Munster,  reported  to  Cecil  that  the  towns  in  his  province  were  swarming 
with  priests,  mass  being  said  almost  publicly  in  the  best  houses  even  in  the 
hearing  of  all  men  (00).  Saxey,  chief  justice  of  the  presidency  court,  was 
equally  distressed  by  the  presence  of  Jesuits  who,  he  said,  numerous  as 
locusts  were  everywhere  harboured  by  the  noblemen  and  chief  gentry  of  the 
country  but  especially  by  the  cities  and  walled  towns  (pp).  But  how  to  deal 
with  the  evil  was  the  difficulty.  For  as  yet  there  was  no  statute  of  the  Irish 
parliament  by  which  the  Catholic  clergy  might  be  banished ;  there  was 
indeed  the  English  statute,  27  Elizabeth,  but  the  crown  lawyers  construed  it 
in  vain.  No  one  had  ever  contended  that  an  act  of  the  parliament  of 
England  bound  Ireland  unless  expressly  named.  The  matter  however  was 
urgent,  and  Justice  Saxey  advised  the  Privy  Council  to  seize  on  the  persons 
of  the  priests  and  deport  them  to  England  where  there  was  enough  law  to 
deal  with  them.  Besides,  he  argued,  did  not  the  "queen's  dominions"  in 
Act  27  Elizabeth  include  Ireland  (qq).  Sir  John  Davis,  the  attorney-general, 
took  a  more  hopeful  view.  "The  priests,"  he  wrote,  "would  with  all  their 
hearts  leave  this  miserable  country  and  would  be  glad  to  hear  of  a 
proclamation  of  banishment  that  they  might  have  a  good  excuse  to  depart ; 
they  that  go  up  and  down  the  [county  of  the]  Cross  of  Tipperary  get  nothing 
but  bacon  and  oatmeal,  the  people  are  so  poor  "  (rr).  The  experiment  was 
tried.  On  14th  August,  1604,  Brouncker  issued  a  proclamation  that  all 
Jesuits,  seminaries  [seminary  priests],  and  massing  priests  depart  the  province 
before  the  last  day  of  September,  any  person  receiving  or  relieving  them  to 
be  imprisoned  during  his  majesty's  pleasure  and  fined  in  the  sum  of  £40. 
Further,  a  reward  of  ^40  was  offered  for  the  body  of  every  Jesuit  brought 
unto  the  lord  president,  £6  3s,  4d.  for  every  seminary  and  £s  for  every 
massing  priest  (ss).  But  no  priests  were  taken  and  none  departed.  Some 
months  later  a  spy  returned  a  list  of  the  priests  still  in  Munster  which 
included  among  others  Richard  White  priest  in  Clonmel,  Fathers  Mulroney 
and  Leinagh  Jesuits  in  the  same,  Redmond  Nash  priest  in  Fethard,  Thomas 
Geflferay  priest  in  Kilcash,  Walter  Wall  Jesuit  in  Carrick-on-Suir  (tt).  The 
royal  authority  was  now  invoked ;  a  proclamation  was  made  in  which  the 
King  declared  his  high  displeasure  at  the  report  that  he  purposed  to  grant 


(00)  state  Papers  Jas.  I.,  p.  193.  (rr)  Ibid,  p.  162. 

(pp)  Ibid,  p.  218.  (ss)  Ibid,  p.  190. 

(qq)  Ibid,  p.  219.  (tt)  Ibid,  p.  380. 


48  History  of  Clonmel. 

liberty  of  conscience  or  toleration  of  religion  to  his  subjects  in  that  Kingdom. 
On  the  contrary  he  admonished  them  to  hear  divine  service  in  the  churches 
on  Sundays  and  holidays  upon  the  penalties  contained  in  the  statutes.  All 
Jesuits,  seminary  and  other  priests  to  depart  out  of  the  Kingdom  before  the 
lOth  December,  1605,  and  sheriffs,  justices  of  peace,  and  other  loyal  subjects 
to  use  their  best  diligence  to  apprehend  offenders  (uu).  From  a  letter  sent  to 
Aquaviva,  the  Jesuit  general,  we  learn  how  the  proclamation  was  received  in 
Clonmel : — 

At  Clonmel  there  was  a  consultation  about  the  proclamation.  The  citizens  resolved 
not  to  publish  it.  When  Miler  [McGrath  Protestant  archbishop  of  Cashel]  was  going 
to  the  market  place,  a  troop  of  horse  burst  into  the  town  to  keep  down  the  people  if 
they  offered  any  opposition.  Such  horror  was  there  of  this  proclamation  that  even  the 
little  boys  remained  indoors  (w). 

Active  measures  were  at  once  taken  ;  troops  of  horse  scoured  the  country; 
the  houses  of  the  gentry  and  opulent  burghers  were  raided  and  some  twenty 
priests  were  captured.  The  majority  went  into  hiding  or  disguised 
themselves  as  grooms,  as  surgeons,  as  servants,  as  "  esquires  with  sword  and 
lance,"  or  again  as  fools  and  strolling  players  (ww).  On  17th  January,  1607, 
one  of  the  Clonmel  Jesuits,  Nicholas  Leynach,  wrote  "  We  are  dispersed  and 
like  night  robbers  we  long  for  darkness,  no  place  is  safe  for  us  on  account  of 
the  number  of  our  pursuers.  A  and  W  [Andrew  Morony  and  Walter  Wall] 
are  well  and  are  selling  their  wares  "  (xx).  Nine  months  later  they  apparently 
were  still  "  selling  their  wares,"  for  on  6th  September  the  Earl  of  Thomond, 
president  of  Munster,  wrote  to  Salisbury  "  We  have  taken  the  best  course 
that  we  might  in  placing  some  horse  among  them  [the  recusant  Catholics] 
and  appointing  good  officers  at  Clonmell  and  Cashell  where  most  of  the 
resort  of  the  Jesuits  and  seminaries  is,  hoping  by  that  means  to  have  taken 
some  of  them  ;  but  all  in  vain,  they  are  so  befriended  that  hardly  any  of  them 
can  be  apprehended  "  (yy).  The  priest  hunting  was  kept  up  many  years  later. 
In  161 5,  for  instance,  a  report  of  a  spy  now  in  the  British  Museum  reads: — 

Fr.  Richard  White  priest,  gen'all  vicar  of  the  diocess  of  Lismore. 
In  ye  Diocess  Fr.  Thomas  Sheyne  a  Jesuite  and  a  precher  now  resideing  in  Edward 
of  Lismore        Whites  house  in  Clonmel. 

Fr.  Andrew  Mulronie  a  Jesuite. 

Fr.  Nicholas  Leynagh,   a  Jesuite  residing  in  his  brothers,   Nicholas 
Leynagh's,  house. 

Thomas  Magrath  had  a  father  a  fryer  authorized  by  the  pope  to 
discharge  ye  faculties  of  a  bishop  (zz). 


(uu)  lb.,  303. 

(w)  Letter  27th  Nov.,  1606,  "  Henry  Fitzsimon,  S.J.,"  Dublin,  1881. 

(WW)  Some  curious  instances  may  be  seen  in  State  Papers  439,  476,  Fitzsimmons*  Life,  117, 
144,  152. 

(xx)  Fitzsimmons'  Life,  p.  166. 

(yy)  State  Papers  IL,  258.  (zz)  Addit  MSB.,  No.  19,836. 


History  of  Clonmel.  49 

The  Catholic  lay  folk  of  the  town  underwent  a  persecution  in  severity 
and  duration  only  little  less  than  that  to  which  the  priests  were  subjected. 
In  the  last  week  of  Lent,  1606,  Sir  Nicholas  Walsh,  Sir  John  Davis  and  Sir 
Henry  Brouncker  joined  in  a  commission  of  assizes  and  general  gaol  delivery, 
arrived  in  Clonmel.  We  have  a  report  of  the  proceedings  at  first  hand  in  a 
letter  of  Davis  to  Salisbury. 

We  came  to  Clonemell  a  well  built  and  well  kept  town  upon  the  river  of  Sure  in 
the  county  of  the  liberty  of  Tipperary.  In  this  county  we  gave  in  charge  to  the  jury 
all  matters  not  determinable  by  the  Earl's  charter  viz.,  all  treasons  and  all  other  offences 
which  have  been  made  capital  or  otherwise  penal  since  46  Ed.  III.  in  which  year  the 
Earl's  charter  doth  bear  date  ....  my  Lord  President  (whose  zeal  in  matters  of 
religion  tempered  with  good  moderation  doeth  merit  very  much  consideration)  was 
desirous  that  a  priest  one  James  Morice  [the  parish  priest  of  Clonmel]  who  was  lately 
before  apprehended  should  have  been  indicted  for  publishing  a  slanderous  and  seditious 
bull  though  without  all  question  it  be  a  forged  and  counterfeit  thing  as  you  may 
perceive  by  the  copy  which  I  have  presumed  to  send  you  herewith.  Before  we  would 
conceive  any  indictment  hereupon  we  thought  meet  to  examine  the  evidence  which  we 
found  not  to  be  ripe  enough  because  the  parties  that  should  make  the  direct  proof 
were  not  present  and  therefore  we  deferred  this  business  till  another  session.  This 
town  being  in  the  liberty  is  more  haunted  with  Jesuits  and  priests  than  any  other  town 
or  city  within  this  province  which  is  the  cause  we  found  the  burgesses  more  obstinate 
here  than  elsewhere.  For  whereas  my  Lord  President  did  justly  offer  to  the  principal 
inhabitants  that  he  would  spare  to  proceed  against  them  if  they  would  yield  to  a 
conference  [with  the  Protestant  vicar]  for  a  time  and  become  bound  in  the  meantime 
not  to  receive  any  Jesuit  or  priest  into  their  houses,  they  peremptorily  refused  both, 
whereupon  the  chief  of  them  were  bound  to  appear  at  Cork  before  the  Lord  President 
and  Council  presently  after  Easter  there  to  be  censured  with  good  round  fines  and 
imprisonment  {a). 

A  more  summary  process  was  adopted  towards  the  mass  of  the  people, 
viz.,  indictment  under  the  Act  2  Elizabeth,  for  absence  from  the  Protestant 
church  on  Sundays. 

Of  the  multitude  we  caused  200  to  be  indicted  but  with  much  ado  was  the  grand 
inquest  [grand  jury]  drawn  to  find  the  bill  and  yet  for  the  most  part  they  were 
gentlemen  of  the  country.  The  Jesuits  and  priests  of  name  that  have  lately  frequented 
the  town  are  Nicholas  Lennagh  Jesuit,  Andrew  Mulrony  Jesuit,  Richard  White  priest, 
Gerrard  Miagh  priest,  William  Crokin  priest  Amongst  these  Nicholas  Lennagh  hath 
special  credit  and  authority ;  and  which  is  to  be  noted  before  that  horrible  treason  was 
to  have  been  executed  in  England  [the  Gunpowder  Plot]  he  charged  the  people  to  say 
three  Ave  Marias  for  the  good  sucess  of  a  great  matter  which  what  it  was  they  should 
not  know  until  it  was  effected  and  brought  to  pass.  If  our  bishops  and  others  that 
have  cure  of  souls  were  but  half  as  diligent  in  their  several  charges  as  these  men  are 
in  the  places  where  they  haunt,  the  people  would  not  receive  and  nourish  them  as  now 
they  do  (b). 

The  great  matter  for  which  the  people  were  charged  to  pray,  we  learn 
from  the  Jesuit  correspondence,  was  the  salvation  of  the  dying  Earl  of 
Ormond  Davis  having  concluded  the  business  of  the  assizes  went  to  spend 
the  Easter  holidays  with  the  old  nobleman  at  Carrick-on-Suir  Castle.    He 

(aj  Stole  Papers,  475-6.  (bj  Ibid. 


50  History  of  Clonmel. 

noted  how  the  earl  not  being  able  to  sit  up  during  the  festivity  "  had  his 
robes  laid  upon  his  bed  as  the  manner  is."  He  might  also  have  noted  a 
polite  if  somewhat  shy  dependant  resorting  to  the  castle  and  well  received 
there.  This  was  the  Jesuit,  Father  Walter  Wall,  who  the  previous  year  had 
reconciled  Ormond  to  the  Catholic  church,  and  had  been  told  off  to  remain 
until  the  end. 

The  persecution  continued  unabated  through  the  year.  Towards  the  end 
of  August  Brouncker  again  visited  the  town  and  tried  to  force  the  sovereign 
and  principal  burgesses  to  accompany  him  to  the  Protestant  service.  They 
stubbornly  refused.  John  White  fitz  Geoffry  was  accordingly  deprived  of 
the  sovereignty,  while  on  29th  September  Samuel  Newse,  sergeant-at-arms, 
compelled  those  put  under  trial  at  the  spring  assizes  to  surrender  in  Cork. 
In  this  instance  the  accounts  we  have  are  from  the  Catholic  side.  Fr.  Bryan 
Kearney  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  the  Jesuits. 

A  cousin  of  his  grace  [Lombard,  Catholic  Primate  of  Armagh]  the  brother  of  Fr. 
Thomas  White  S.J.  was  deprived  of  the  sovereignty  of  Clonmel  because  he  would  not 
go  to  church  with  the  president  {c).  So  also  was  Mr.  John  Bray  and  Mr.  Edmund 
Wall.  These  with  nine  other  Clonmel  and  Cashel  citizens  are  kept  in  Cork  gaol  ever 
since  to  the  very  great  loss  of  their  business  {d). 

A  fuller  relation  is  furnished  by  Christopher  Holliwood,  Jesuit  superior 
at  the  time. 

The  principal  inhabitants  and  the  chief  magistrate  of  Clonmel  were  summoned 
before  the  president  and  strongly  urged  to  obey  the  proclamation.  They  point  blank 
refused  and  declared  they  had  rather  lose  all  they  had  even  their  lives.  They  were 
twice  summoned  to  Cork  but  disobeyed  and  when  the  sergeant  at  arms  compeU^  them 
in  the  King's  name  to  go,  they  were  insulted,  called  traitors,  fined  and  lodged  in  prison 
where  they  are  still  confined.  The  heroism  of  the  mayor  [sovereign]  shone  out 
conspicuously  as  did  that  of  another  who  lost  his  position  for  the  cause ;  a  great  friend 
of  ours  who  is  the  head  man  of  the  whole  place  also  signalized  himself.  The  property 
of  these  men  as  well  as  of  the  people  of  Cashel  has  been  confiscated  and  the  rest  of  the 
town  folk  are  so  intimidated  that  there  is  no  business  going  on  in  the  place,  (e). 

How  long  the  burghers  were  kept  in  prison  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing.  In  July  the  following  year,  1607,  the  Earl  of  Thomond  and  Sir 
Richard  Morrison  were  empowered  to  release  the  recusant  Catholics  upon 
their  own  recognizances.  "  All  of  them,"  wrote  Chichester,  "  were  accordingly 
set  at  liberty  except  fourteen  whereof  eight  are  of  Clonmel,  four  of  Cork  and 
two  of  Kinsale  who  are  still  restrained  because  they  obstinately  refuse  to 
enter  into  that  bond  "  (fj. 

(c)  This  was  John  White,  whose  mother  Anastasia  Comerford,  of  VVaterford,  was  aunt  of 
Lombard. 

^//^  Hibemia  Ignatiana,  rtf/ aw«.     Ed.  E.  Hogan,  Dublin,  188 1.  ^c^  Ibid. 

(f)  State  Papers  II.,  246.  The  outbreaks  of  persecution  were  only  limited  by  diplomatic 
urgency  as  when  the  Spanish  marriage  negociations  were  on  foot. 


History  of  Clonmel.  51 

But  these  were  only  the  beginning  of  sorrows.  While  the  Ormonds 
retained  the  Palatinate,  the  Catholics  of  Tipperary  experienced  merely 
occasional  outbursts.  When,  however,  James  I.  seized  on  the  liberties  and 
imprisoned  Walter,  eleventh  Esir\,(g)  they  felt  the  full  stress  of  the  storm. 
The  King's  judges  now  came  circuit  to  Clonmel,  and  at  each  assizes  the  Act 
2  Elizabeth  was  given  in  charge.  By  this  Act  everyone  was  bound  to  attend 
the  Protestant  service  in  his  parish  church  every  Sunday  and  holiday.  The 
penalty  for  absence  was  I2d.  which  in  practice  came  to  lOs,  through  the  cost 
of  the  levy.  The  names  of  the  recusants — those  who  refused  to  go  to 
church — were  furnished  by  the  Protestant  ministers,  and  bills  of  indictment 
were  framed  thereon.  But  the  Grand  Jurors  being  at  this  period  all  Catholics, 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  persecution  of  their  co-religionists  and  threw  out 
the  bills.  The  law  was  now  set  in  motion  against  the  Jurors  themselves. 
Proceedings  were  taken  in  the  Court  of  Castle  or  Star  Chamber  in  Dublin 
before  the  Lord  Deputy,  a  few  Protestant  bishops  and  lawyers.  The  result 
we  gather  from  a  register  of  the  Court  which  has  only  recently  come  to 
light  (hi 

1612  November  20.  Edmund  Butler  of  Cloghicullyn  and  Jeffrey  Mockler  of 
Ballynatten  being  the  leaders  of  a  Grand  Jury  impanelled  at  Cashell  Co.  Crosse 
Tipperary  last  July  before  Lord  Chief  Justice  Walshe  and  Sergeant  John  Beare  Justices 
of  Assize — to  pay  a  fine  of  forty  pounds  apiece  and  the  rest  of  the  Jury  thirty  pounds 
apiece  English  money  and  all  of  them  to  be  imprisoned  during  pleasure  for  refusing  to 
present  recusants. 

The  foreman,  Butler  of  CloughcuUy,  as  uncle  of  the  then  Lord  Cahir  and 
direct  ancestor  of  the  present  Lady  Charteris,  might  have  paid  the  fiine 
without  difficulty,  but  to  many  of  the  poorer  gentlemen  it  meant  half  their 
income. 

1613  May  7.  James  Braye,  William  Brenocke,  Walter  O'Mulryan  and  Thomas 
White  members  of  a  Jury  impanelled  in  February  last  at  Clonmell  in  the  county  of  the 
liberty  of  Tipperary  before  Chief  Baron  Methwolde  and  Garrald  Leather  esq.,  Justice 
of  Common  Pleas  as  Justices  of  Assize — to  pay  a  fine  of  £40  English  apiece  and  to  be 
imprisoned  during  pleasure  for  refusing  to  join  with  the  rest  of  the  jury  in  presenting 
as  recusants  those  inhabitants  of  Clonmell  certified  as  such  by  the  minister  of  the 
parish. 

May  7. — Pierce  Butler  of  Knockgraffon,  Richard  Purcell  of  Loughmoe  and  John 
Tobin  of  Killogh  members  of  a  Jury  impanelled  at  Clonmel  in  February  last  before 
Chief  Baron  Methwolde  and  Justice  Leather— to  pay  a  fine  of  £200  English  apiece  and 
the  rest  of  the  jury  £40  apiece  and  all  of  them  to  be  imprisoned  at  pleasure  for  refusing 
to  present  as  recusants  divers  of  the  parishioners  of  Lisronagh  upon  the  testimony  of 
one  Dybsall,  a  minister,  having  no  other  reason  to  give  but  that  it  was  against  their 
conscience  which  answer  this  Court  did  absolutely  reject  and  disallow. 

(gji  Called  for  his  piety  "  Walter  of  the  Rosary." 

(h)  Manuscripts  of  the  Earl  of  Egmont,  vol.  i. — Hist.  MSS.  Comsn. 


52  History  of  Clonmel. 

1616  November  22.  William  Mansell  of  Cattellyastowne,  Rory  O'Kennedy  of 
Killeny,  Gefifry  Mockler  of  Mocklerstown,  Nicholas  Sause  of  Sawcestown,  John 
O'Meagher  of  Clonekenny  and  Edmond  Com)m  of  Tulloghmayne — members  of  a  grand 
jury  impanelled  at  Clonmell  before  Sir  John  Blennerhasset  and  Richard  Bolton 
esquire — to  pay  a  fine  of  £20  English  apiece  and  to  be  imprisoned  at  pleasure  for 
refusing  to  present  recusants. 

November  22.  Thomas  Butler  of  Moretowne  and  Thomas  Stapleton  of  Lynes- 
town — grand  jurors  impanelled  at  Cashell,  Co.  Crosse  Tipperary,  before  Baron 
Blenerhasset  and  Richard  Bolton  esq — to  pay  a  fine  of  £20  apiece  and  John  O'Dwyer 
of  Dundrum  also  of  the  said  jury  also  to  pay  a  fine  of  £\\  for  refusing  to  present 
recusants. 

Occasionally  as  the  jurors  were  unable  to  pay  the  fines,  the  following 
ingenious  method  of  punishment  was  devised. 

1617  July  4.  Richard  Wall,  John  McKeogh,  Owen  Boy  McKeogh  and  James  Glynn 
Co.  Crosse  Tipperary — members  of  a  grand  jury  impanelled  at  Cashell  before  Sir  John 
Blenerhasset  and  Justice  Sparke — to  pay  fines  of  £5  apiece,  be  imprisoned  during 
pleasure,  and  to  make  full  acknowledgment  of  their  offence  with  papers  on  their  heads 
in  the  four  courts  of  Dublin,  and  at  the  next  general  Assizes  in  Co.  Crosse  Tipperary 
for  refusing  to  join  with  the  rest  of  the  jury  to  present  recusants. 

We  further  order  that  in  regard  of  their  poverty  the  Lord  Deputy  remits  the  fines. 

1617.  July  4  Edmond  O'Hedyn,  Phillip  English,  Piers  Comyn  and  John  Mother  of 
the  county  of  the  liberty  of  Tipperary,  being  grand  jurors  impanelled  in  the  said  county 
in  this  year  1617  before  Sir  John  Blenerhasset  and  Justice  Sparke — to  pay  a  fine  of  5 
marks  apiece,  and  to  be  imprisoned  during  pleasure  for  the  like  offience,  the  fine  having 
been  lessened  in  regard  of  the  service  the  said  persons  had  done  in  causing  to  be 
apprehended  a  notorious  murderqr. 

16 17  Nov.  7.  Boetius  McEgan  of  Sesseraghkell  Co.  Cross  Tipperary  being  one  of  a 
grand  jury  impanelled  before  Chief  Baron  Methwolde  and  Sir  John  Blenerhasset  at  Cashell 
in  September  last — to  pay  a  fine  of  £\0  and  to  be  imprisoned  during  pleasure  for 
refusing  to  present  recusants. 

November  12.  Piers  Butler  Fitz  Walter  of  Nodstown(i)  Piers  Hackett  of 
Ballytrasny  and  John  O'Kennedy  of  Lackine,  members  of  a  grand  jury  impanelled 
before  the  above  named  justices  at  Clonmell  in  September  last — to  pay  fines  of  ^^30 
apiece,  and  John  Keating  of  Nicholstowne,  Teige  O'Mullryan  of  Lysnesilly,  Rory 
O'Kennedy  of  Ballyneclogh,  James  Mamell  of  Lysnemrocke  and  Edmond  O'Hedyne  of 
Mojmard  all  Co.  Tipperary,  being  likewise  members  of  the  said  jury,  fines  of  £20  apiece 
and  all  of  them  to  be  imprisoned  during  pleasure  for  refusing  to  present  recusants. 

1618  May  8.  Piers  Com)me,  Richard  Prendergast,  James,  Theobald,  William  and 
Thomas  Butler  of  the  county  of  the  liberty  of  Tipperary,  members  of  a  jury  impanelled 
before  the  Chief  Baron  of  Exchequer  and  Baron  Blenerhasset  in  the  said  County,  to  pay 
fines  of  £50  sterling  apiece,  to  be  imprisoned  during  pleasure  and  to  give  bonds  for  the 
public  acknowledgment  of  their  guilt  for  the  like  offence. 

May  8.  Nicholas  Boyton,  Redmond  Racket  and  Richard  Butler  members  of  a 
grand  jury  sworn  before  the  Chief  Baron  and  Baron  Blenerhasset  at  Cashell  Co.  Cross 
Tipperary — to  pay  fines — Boyton  (being  the  ringleader)  lOO  marks  sterling  and  the 
other  two  £50  sterling  apiece — ^to  be  imprisoned  during  pleasure  and  to  give  bond  for 
the  public  acknowledgment  of  their  guilt  for  refusing  to  present  recusants. 

By  another  section  of  the  Act  2  Elizabeth,  all  judges,  justicers,  mayors  or 
other  lay  or  temporal  oflScers  on  entering  office  were  to  take  an  oath  before 

(i)  Grandson  of  James,  9th  Earl  of  Ormond. 


History  of  Clonmel.  53 

persons  duly  constituted  for  that  purpose,  testifying  that  the  King  was  the 
only  supreme  governor  of  the  realm,  as  well  in  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  as 
in  temporal  things,  and  utterly  renouncing  all  foreign  jurisdiction.  As  the 
Catholic  magistracy  would  not  put  this  law  in  operation,  the  Coiut  of  Castle 
Chamber  proceeded  to  enforce  it. 

1616  May  8.  Bennet  White,  Mayor  of  Clonmell,  to  be  fined  £20  and  imprisoned 
during  pleasure  for  executing  his  office  without  having  taken  the  oath  of  supremacy. 

November  13.  Piers  Bray  late  bailiff  of  Clonmell,  to  be  fined  £lO  English  money 
for  executing  the  office  of  bailiff  without  having  taken  the  oath  of  supremacy. 

The  High  Sheriff  for  that  year  was  more  fortunate. 

November  20.  Upon  information  that  William  O'Mara  sheriff  of  Co.  Tipperary 
has  exercised  his  office  without  taking  the  oath  of  supremacy  etc. 

Decree  remitting  the  offence  as  it  appears  that  the  sheriff  of  Co.  Tipperary  hath 
been  nominated  and  appointed  by  the  Earls  of  Ormond  in  former  times  and  none  of 
them  have  had  the  oath  of  supremacy  offered  unto  them. 

.  Towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  James  I.  the  persecution  was  somewhat 
relaxed.  In  1624  Falkland  wrote  to  Secretary  Conway  that  the  news  of  the 
negociation  of  the  Spanish  marriage  had  emboldened  the  towns  to  elect 
recusant  mayors.  "  As  their  confidence,"  he  said,  "  has  made  them  presume 
so  my  doubtfulness  made  me  wink  and  forbear  to  question  them  for  it"  The 
following  year,  however,  as  the  negociations  had  failed  a  commission  was 
sped  to  Sir  Edward  Villiars,  President  of  Munster,  Lords  Cork  and  Kinsale, 
and  the  justices  of  assize  to  administer  the  oath  of  supremacy  to  the  mayors, 
sheriffs,  recorders  and  bailiffs  of  every  city  and  corporate  town  in  Munster 
and  bind  them  with  sufficient  security  to  appear  before  the  Lord  Deputy  and 
Council  (j). 

Besides  religious  persecution  there  was  throughout  this  period  another 
great  and  growing  cause  of  discontent.  The  Ulster  Plantation  had  been 
successful  beyond  all  expectation.  Irish  officials  and  British  statesmen 
congratulated  one  another  that  the  province  in  the  conquest  of  which  in 
Elizabeth's  time  so  much  blood  and  treasure  had  ^een  poured  out  in  vain, 
was  now  a  prosperous  English  settlement.  Plantations  accordingly,  which 
hitherto  had  been  carried  on  sporadically  and  at  rare  intervals,  now  became 
matters  of  settled  policy.  "  Having  found  by  experience,"  wrote  King  James 
to  the  Lord  Deputy  St.  John,  "  that  plantations  in  that  kingdom  are  the  only 
ordinary  means  to  reduce  the  people  to  civility  and  religion,  I  am  the  more 
desirous  to  see  them  proceeded  in  with  due  diligence  and  care  "  (k),  "These 
plantations,"  it  was  urged,  "  tend  to  bring  in  law  and  order,  to  banish  Irish 

(f)  May  30th,  1  Chas.  I.  (k)  State  Papers,  26th  Feb.,  1620. 


54  History  of  Clonmel. 

customs,  to  disappoint  foreign  expectations,  to  assure  the  better  sort  to  the 
Crown  by  valuable  estates  which  they  will  not  willingly  risk  "  (I).  In  l6lO 
the  plantation  was  begun  of  the  part  of  Wexford  lying  between  the  Slaney 
and  the  sea,  and  the  subsequent  years  plantations  followed  in  Longford, 
Queen's  County,  Leitrim,  Westmeath  and  Wicklow.  The  Irish  in  the  several 
territories  were  driven  to  the  hills  or  bogs,  care  being  taken  to  send  abroad 
large  numbers  of  the  able-bodied  to  the  armies  of  Spain,  Germany  and 
Poland  (m).  The  English  were  then  settled  in  the  arable  and  pasture  land 
where,  secured  by  strong  houses,  by  turreted  and  looped  bawns,  they  bade 
defiance  to  the  pauperized,  hunger-broken  natives.  Towards  the  close  of 
1621  the  plantation  of  North  Tipperary  was  projected,  but  as  there  were 
enough  of  plantations  already  on  hand,  for  ten  years  nothing  was  done. 
Meanwhile  the  alluvial  lands  of  the  Shannon  and  the  rich  pastures  of  Nenagh 
were  not  lost  sight  of ;  noblemen  at  court  and  fortune  seekers  in  Ireland 
alike  contending  for  allotments.  The  Earl  of  Carlisle,  Lord  Holland,  the 
Chancellor  of  Scotland,  Lord  Dorchester  were  all  petitioners  for  lands  in 
Upper  and  Lower  Ormond.  Lady  Bingley  appealed  to  the  king,  while  Lord 
Norton,  impatient  at  the  delay,  besought  Secretary  Nicholas  to  go  on  with 
the  plantation  forthwith.  On  the  other  hand  the  old  "  servitors  "  in  Ireland 
who  had  marked  these  lands  for  their  own,  could  not  look  on  with 
indifference.  They  represented  to  the  Privy  Council  that  the  lands  should 
not  be  granted  to  great  men  who  would  not  sit  down  upon  them,  that  very 
few  should  be  allotted  above  500  acres,  and  each  undertaker  should  be  tied 
to  residence  and  building  answerable  to  his  proportion  (n).  Then  Lord 
Esmond  suggested  there  might  be  land  enough  for  all  if  in  addition  to  the 
two  baronies  of  Ormond  there  was  a  plantation  of  Owney  and  Arra, 
Kilnelougarty,  Ikerrin  and  Kilnemanagh.  He  concluded  by  enclosing  a 
list  of  the  ploughlands,  the  approximate  acreage,  and  a  map  of  the  whole. 
Throughout  all  this  dividing  of  the  bear's  skin,  little  notice  was  taken  of  the 
bear's  growl.  Walter  Earl  of  Ormond  complained  bitterly  that  his  family 
had  held  these  lands  since  "  Harry  the  Second's  time "  when  they  were 
granted  to  suppress  the  enemies  of  the  crown.  "I  hope,"  he  added,  "  I  shall 
not  be  the  first  of  the  English  to  be  ranked  with  the  Irish  and  to  be 
replanted  "  (0).  Similarly  Richard  Grace,  descended  from  a  branch  of  the 
family  of  Raymond  le  Gros,  settled  in  Tipperary  from  the  days  of  King 
John,  found  himself  in  1637  ousted  from  his  estate  by  legal  chicane.      He 

(I)  Lord  Deputy  and  Council  to  the  Privy  Council  6th  Feb.,  1620,  Ibid. 

(m)  The  State  Papers  of  the  period  are  full  of  notices  of  the  transport  of  Irish  to  foreign  service. 
(n)  "  Advice  concerning  the  Plantation  of  Upper  and  Lower  Ormond."    This  paper  belongs  to 
the  period  1629- 163 1,  and  is  misplaced  by  the  Editors  among  the  papers  of  James  I.,  pp.  378-9. 
(o)  Ormond  to  Dorchester,  Carrick,  Jan.  5th,  163 1.     State  Papers,  p.  597. 


History  of  Clonmel.  55 

appealed  to  the  king  for  redress.  Lord  Falkland,  he  said,  shortly  before 
death  was  about  petitioning  his  Majesty  in  his  (Grace's)  favour.  His  enemies 
are  all  powerful  and  he  cannot  "  wage "  law  against  them  and  therefore 
prays  the  king  to  order  the  Lord  Strafford  to  do  him  justice  (p).  But  instead 
of  justice  the  dispossessed  Irish  were  treated  to  playful  scorn.  In  August 
1637,  the  Deputy  came  to  Clonmel  in  connexion  with  the  plantation. 

"The  business  we  came  about  is  most  happily  ended  and  his  Majesty  now  entitled 
to  the  two  goodly  countries  of  Ormond  and  Clare,  and  which  beauties  and  seasons  the 
work  exceedingly,  with  all  possible  contentment  and  satisfaction  of  the  people.  In  all 
my  whole  life  did  I  never  see  or  could  possibly  believe  to  have  found  men  with  so  much 
alacrity  divesting  themselves  of  all  property  in  their  estates  and  waiting  to  see  what 
the  king  will  do  for  them.  They  have  all  along  to  the  uttermost  of  their  skill  and 
breeding  given  me  very  great  expressions  of  their  esteem  and  affection.  Oratory  hath 
abundantly  magnified  itself  through  these  excellent  pieces  we  have  heard,  one  at 
Carlow,  three  at  Kilkenny,  two  very  deadly  long  ones  at  Clonnmel.  Architecture  and 
invention  not  asleep  as  appeared  in  their  arch  triumphais  with  their  ornaments  and 
inscriptions  "  (q). 

But  loyal  addresses  and  triumphal  arches  had  as  little  effect  in  staying 
the  plantation  as  petitions  for  justice.  Strafford's  visit  only  deepened  the 
discontent,  and  left  to  the  people  the  sole  hope  of  the  sword  (r). 

We  have  now  reached  the  turning  point  in  the  history  of  Clonmel.  The 
Anglo-Norman  colony  of  William  De  Burgh  which  for  four  hundred  years 
amid  hostile  influences  had  preserved  "  English  habits,  customs  and  laws,"^^^ 
was  soon  to  give  way  to  another  colony  opposed  to  it  in  everything  except 
language.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to  note  a  few  aspects  of  the  old  town  which 
still  in  a  large  degree  retained  its  medieval  character. 

If  a  line  be  drawn  through  Dowd's  Lane,  Richmond  Street,  Charles 
Street,  William  Street,  Dispensary  Street  and  New  Street  it  will  roughly 
mark  the  site  of  the  ancient  fortifications.  They  may  be  still  traced  in 
several  places,  especially  in  St.  Mary's  churchyard  where  they  form  the  north 
and  west  boundaries.  At  the  end  of  Dowd's  Lane  on  the  river  edge,  stood  a 
circular  embattled  tower ;  two  other  towers  of  a  similar  character  stood  nearly 
opposite  the  present  Abbey  Street.  A  heavy  quadrangular  structure  called 
"  The  Bastion  "  at  the  Watergate,  a  circular  tower  on  the  old  Quay,  and  the 

(f)  Ibid. 

(q)  Strafford  to  Ix>rd  Conway,  21st  Aug.,  1637.      State  Papers. 

(r)  "  Philip  O'Dwyre  of  Dounedromore  a  gentleman  of  such  quality  and  estate  that  he  could  not 
brook  the  reviling  language  of  Sir  William  St.  I^ger  and  seeing  the  Irish  estates  exposed  to  men  of 
meane  birth  who  aimed  to  raise  estates  by  the  mine  of  innocents  so  that  Sir  W.  Parsons  and  the 
Earl  of  Corke  who  within  this  sixty  years  past  coming  as  naked  lads  here  without  either  friends, 
meanes  or  learning  were  glad  in  the  service  of  one  Kenny  the  Escheator  General  to  earn  their 
livelihood  in  his  menial  service  wherein  they  learnt  those  tricks  acquiring  by  hooke  and  crooke  lands, 
offices  and  livings  that  they  were  shortly  after  the  ablest  men  for  riches  in  the  kingdom." 

"Memorialls  of  the  Warr  begun  n  in  1641  wrote  by  Mr.  Kearney  in  the  Co.  of  Tipperary, 
Feby.  1657."    Carte  Papers,  Ixiv. 

(s)  Charter  of  James  I. 


56  History  of  Clonmel. 

South  Gate  at  the  extremity  of  Bridge  Street  formed  the  defences  of  the  town 
on  that  side  (t).  The  bridge  which  was  carried  in  three  sections  over  "  Great 
Island  "  and  "  Goat  Island  "  was  very  picturesque  with  its  bold  projecting 
piers  and  saw-shaped  battlements.  But  the  narrow  causeway  was  often 
negociable  only  by  means  of  the  pier  recesses  (u).  The  mills  and  mansions 
of  Suir  Island  were  represented  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  a  solitary  row 
of  houses.  The  east  and  north  suburbs  of  the  town  contained  together  about 
three  score  cabins,  the  great  majority  of  those  dwelling  outside  the  walls 
being  resident  in  the  Irishtown. 

The  most  important  thoroughfare  of  old  Clonmel  was  'The  High  Street ' 
which  extended  from  Bridge  Street  to  the  Main  Guard.  At  the  end  stood  the 
Town  Cross  where  proclamations  were  issued,  and  payments  "on  the  nail*' 
made  as  being  the  safest  place  (v).  From  Bridge  Street  to  the  West  Gate  a 
block  of  houses  known  as  'Middle  Row'  filled  the  present  street.  On  either 
side  of  this  were  narrow  lanes;  the  one  on  the  south  which  led  to  the  West 
Gate  being  called  'West  Street  or  'West  Gate  Street/  the  corresponding  one 
being  '  North  Lane.'  From  the  records  of  the  Palatine  court  it  appears  that 
two  'castles'  stood  in  West  Street;  these  probably  were  part  of  the 
fortifications  on  the  river  side.  Gordon  Street  had  no  existence,  and  Peter 
Street  which  at  the  period  contained  a  number  of  good  houses,  was  termed 
'Blind  Street'  from  the  fact  that  there  was  no  gate  in  the  town  wall  at  its 
western  extremity.  The  present  Mary  Street  was  known  in  early  times  as 
'Our  Ladye  Streete,'  'the  Street  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary'  or  more  simply 
'  St  Mary  Street '  (w).  Many  of  the  principal  burghers,  as  at  a  later  period, 
lived  there,  and  in  Our  Lady  Street,  Geoflfry  Barron  and  his  more 
distinguished  brother  Bartholomew,  first  saw  the  light.  The  original  name 
of  Gladstone  Street  was  'Lough  Street,'  the  gate,  which  stood  where  it 
narrows  at  the  north  end,  being  called  'Lough  Gate,'  and  after  the 
Cromwellian  assault  'Breech  Gate.'    It  would  seem  that  Market  Street  at 


(i)  John  le  BotiUer  Earl  of  Ormoiid  by  Charter  dated  at  Carrick  Tuesday  next  before  the  Feast 
of  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  1463  granted  to  the  sovereign,  provost,  burgesses  and 
commons  of  Clonmel,  licence  to  take  customs  of  all  merchandize  coming  for  sale  into  the  town 
provided  they  be  expended  on  the  diligent  care  of  the  Southern  Gate  and  the  repair  of  the  bridge 
and  walls. 

(u)  Through  the  development  of  the  milling  industry  at  the  close  of  the  i8th  century  the  river 
topography  underwent  several  changes.  The  branch  which  runs  from  the  Old  Bridge  by  the  side 
of  the  road  is  artificial.  The  southern  arm  consisted  of  two  branches  one  of  which  took  a  course 
further  south  through  the  present  "  blind  "  arches  thus  forming  the  "  Goaten  Island." 

(v)  The  Anglo-Irish  always  erected  crosses  in  the  market  place  to  remind  those  who 
resorted  there  to  be  conscientious  in  their  dealings.  Sometimes — e.g.,  Kilkenny — the  striicture 
consisted  of  a  large  lantern  on  which  rested  the  cross  proper.  That  of  Clonmel  seems  to  have  been 
a  plain  ashlar  plinth  surmounted  by  a  cap  bearing  the  cross.  The  cap  or  socket  may  still  be  seen 
close  to  its  ancient  location  adjoining  the  steps  at  Duncan  Street. 

(w)  Will  of  Laurence  Barron  1622,  and  Tipperary  Palatine  Fines,  P.R.O. 


'  I 


rl 


.    \  -V    .     I   ' 


\   t' 


<•!  '.'•". -1    .a* 


( »'  '  J 


•,:,••  '        .      \J 


History  of  Clonmel.  57 

that  time  3,  cul  de  sac,  was  originally  'Moreton  Street.'  Subsequent  to  the 
capture  of  Father  Kenrachtin  in  the  house  of  Victor  White  it  was  termed 
'  Martyr  Lane '  fx).  In  Lough  Street  on  the  east  side  lived  the  senior  branch 
of  the  White  family  represented  at  this  period  by  John  White  fitz  Bennet. 
The  narrow  street  leading  to  the  East  Gate  was  styled  '  Sheelane  Street/  a 
memorial  probably  of  the  old  connexion  of  the  town  with  Kilsheelan  as  the 
joint  property  of  Lord  Richard  De  Burgh.  There  is  however  a  spelling  of 
the  name  which  suggests  a  different  origin.  On  4th  May,  1602,  Edmond 
Bray  petitioned  for  the  enrollment  of  a  deed  whereby  Richard  Bray,  burgess, 
conveyed  to  Michael  Bray  eight  tenements  and  a  garden  in  'Zilane '  Street  6^/ 
On  the  south  side  of  High  Street,  the  short  wide  street  to  the  Water-gate 
was  styled  'Boate  Street' — a  common  appellation  in  old  English  towns;  the 
lane  parallel  with  it,  subsequently  called  '  Blue  Anchor  Lane '  after  a  tavern 
there,  was  'the  Shambles  lane.'  Where  Quay  Street  is  now  built  was  in  the 
seventeenth  century  mere  slobland  and  evil  smelling  at  that ;  for  the  town 
sewer — an  open  one,  was  carried  into  the  river  there.  The  section  of  Clonmel 
within  the  walls,  cut  off  by  Boat  Street  and  Sheelan  Street  was  originally 
the  'site,  circuit,  and  precinct'  of  the  Gray  Friars.  Having  been  granted 
at  the  dissolution  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond  and  the  Corporation  in  equal  shares, 
the  latter  during  the  reign  of  James  I.  leased  to  the  Pagans,  Whites  and 
Danills,  several  lots  in  Sheelan  Street  for  building.  The  south  side  of  that 
street  does  not  appear  to  have  been  previously  built  upon. 

Sir  John  Davis,  Attorney  General  for  Ireland  who  spent  some  days  in 
Clonmel  in  1606  describes  it  as  "  a  well  built  and  well  kept  town  "  (z).  Most 
of  the  houses  were  two  storied  and  roofed  with  slate  though  at  intervals  might 
be  seen  thatched  houses,  survivors  of  an  earlier  period.     Even  in  1666  the 

(xf  An  Inquisition  held  at  Cluntnd,  20  March  1622  before  John  Southwell,  found  James  Bray 
seized  inter  alia  of  one  garden  in  Marter  Lane  in  Lough  Street.  There  are  some  interesting 
references  to  this  locality  among  the  records.  An  Inquisition  held  in  Clonmel  1568  before  Edmund 
Butler  found  that  John  Cantwell,  once  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  was  seized  in  fee  of  a  messuage,  a 
garden  and  a  house  within  the  walls.  That  in  March  20,  Ed.  IV.  (1481)  he  granted  said  premises 
to  the  College  of  the  Church  of  Cashel  to  be  held  for  said  college  by  Robert  Sail  his  heirs  and 
assignes.  That  the  said  premises  are  held  in  free  burgage  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond  as  of  his  Manor 
of  Clonmel  for  the  yearly  service  of  2s.  3d.,  and  licence  for  alienation  was  obtained  neither  from  the 
Earl  nor  from  the  King.  That  the  Vicars  Choral  of  the  said  college  drew  the  profits  from  the  date  of 
the  feoffment  until  St.  Patrick's  Eve  1549  since  which  time  Edmund  Bray,  burgess  deceased,  and 
Michael  Bray  his  son  have  done  so  in  virtue  of  a  feoffment  made  by  the  said  vicars  contrary  to  the 
Statute  of  Mortmain.  On  the  5  May  1578  a  grant  of  the  whole  was  made  to  George  Moore  "  in 
consideration  of  his  services  during  the  wars  in  Scotland  and  Ireland."  Moore  seems  to  have 
reconveyed  the  premises  to  Bray.  In  the  grant  they  are  described  as  "  the  messuage  and  garden  lying 
between  the  holding  formerly  of  William  Pagan  on  the  north,  the  holdings  formerly  of  Richard  White, 
Walter  Wall,  Henry  White  and  Peter  Hanraghan  on  the  south,  Logh  Street  on  the  west,  and  the 
common  wall  of  the  town  on  the  east.  The  house  lying  between  the  street  late  of  Moreton  on  the 
north,  the  holding  formerly  of  Lawles  on  the  south,  Logh  Street  on  the  west,  and  the  holding 
formerly  of  Moreton  on  the  east." 

(y)  Morrin  Pat.  Rol.  II.  636. 

(z)  State  Papers  Jas.  I.  i  p.  475. 


58  History  of  Clonmel. 

High  Street  itself  contained  seven  (aa).  Several  houses  especially  in  Lough 
Street  and  Our  Lady  Street  had  gardens  to  the  rere,  while  a  few  of  the 
burghers  raised  edifices  which  in  size  and  character  made  pretension  to  feudal 
castles  (bb).  In  High  Street  to  the  right  of  the  Shambles  Lane  was  a  structure 
the  various  uses  of  which  are  quaintly  set  forth  in  the  Survey  of  1654.  "The 
stone  house  in  the  middle  of  the  Towne  in  the  South  side.  The  upper  part 
whereof  was  formerly  used  for  a  guard  house,  the  middle  part  thereof  was 
continually  used  by  Butchers  to  sell  meat  and  the  Loer  part  thereof  comonly 
used  for  a  Comon  Goale  which  was  alwayse  time  out  of  minde  property 
belonging  to  the  Corporation  and  imployed  to  the  uses  afForesaid."  Opposite 
Bridge  Street  and  forming  the  end  of  Middle  Row  stood  "  the  county  goale 
and  Town  hall  built  over  the  same,"  a  building  round  which  gathered 
many  painful  memories.  Hither  in  1 565 — to  go  no  farther  back,  was  brought 
in  triumph  by  Ormonde,  the  wounded  Earl  of  Desmond.  Two  years  later  by 
a  kind  of  Nemesis,  its  doors  closed  on  Edmund  Butler,  Ormond's  own  brother. 
Towards  the  end  of  1582  Eleanor  the  wife  of  the  ill-fated  Desmond,  entered 
it  and  only  in  January,  1 584  left,  to  suffer  more  extreme  want  and  misery  in 
Dublin  Castle.  From  it  the  following  year  was  led  out  to  execution  Father 
Maurice  Kinrechtan.  Peer  and  priest  alike,  the  champions  of  a  fallen  cause 
and  a  proscribed  religion  shared  its  horrors.  Ascending  St.  Mary's  Street  a 
few  buildings  of  a  different  character  were  to  be  met.  Adjoining  the 
church  was  the  'fFree  school'  where  in  the  early  seventeenth  century  an 
excellent  classical  education  was  given.  The  Jesuits  appear  to  have 
conducted  it  for  a  while,  and  when  distinguished  personages  visited  the  town 
florid  addresses  in  Latin  hexameters  were  read  by  the  pupil%  Straflford  was 
bored  in  1637  by  "  a  deadly  long  one  "  but  eight  years  before,  Falkland  and 
his  companion  Boyle,  Earl  of  Cork,  were  greatly  impressed  by  some  verses 
recited  by  Bartholomew  Barron.  Close  to  the  Free  School  was  "a  stone, 
slate  house,  built  about  1624  by  the  Commons  of  Clonmell,  upon  a  part  of 
their  Common  land,  and  sett  apart  for  an  Hospitall  for  old,  impotent,  decayed 
inhabitants  of  Clonmell."  This  owed  its  existence  to  the  charity  of  James 
White  fitz  Robert  whose  will  dated  29th  June,  1622  contains  the  bequest 
"  Item  I  will,  bequeath  and  demise  of  the  moneyes  due  to  me  of  John  fitz 
Gerald  of  Dromany  in  the  County  of  Waterford  Esqr  towards  the  building  of 
the  poore  house  or  hospitall  in  Clonmell  aforesaid  the  sum  of  fortie  pounds 
ster"^rrA  Nor  were  the  *  impotent  and  decayed'  inmates  forgotten  by  the 
citizens.    For  example,  Sir  James  Goeghe  of  Kilmanahan  in  1628  ordered  his 

(aa)  Ormond  Patent. 

(bb)  Remains  of  these  may  be  seen  to  the  rere  of  Quay  Street  and  Collets  Lane. 

(cc)  Prerogat.  Wills  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  69 

executors  "  to  divide  six  barrells  of  good  conditioned  maite — three  of  oaten 
and  three  of  barley,  and  four  barrells  of  good  wheat  by  just  porcions  at 
Christmas  and  Easter  yearly  to  the  Master  and  poore  of  the  poore  house  of 
Clonmell."  Perhaps  among  the  quaint  charities  of  the  time  the  most 
noteworthy  is  that  contained  in  the  will  of  James  White : — 

Itm,  After  my  wife's  decease  I  doe  will,  leaue  and  devise  to  my  nephew  James  Bray, 
his  heirs,  assignes  for  ever,  my  dwellinge  house  in  Clonmell  with  all  the  shoppes,  sellers, 
and  roomes  thereof  and  the  furnass  of  the  said  house;  the  Garden  in  Our  La:  Streete 
now  John  Stritches  house  and  the  highe  Gardayne  in  the  west  suburbs.  The  said  James 
Bray  his  heirs  and  assignes,  maintayneing  a  light  in  a  fare  [fair]  lanteme  on  dark 
nyghtes,  in  the  comer  of  my  saide  house  for  my  perpetuall  memorie  and  remembraunce. 

Here  we  take  leave  of  Anglo-Norman  Clonmel  and  its  old  world 
inhabitants. 


Ohapxe^r  v. 


WAR   OF  1641  AND  SIEGE  OF  CLONMEU 

eARLY  in  November,  1641,  report  reached  Tipperary  that  the  Irish  of 
Ulster  were  up  in  arms,  and  the  planters  and  their  families  in  full 
flight  to  the  sea  ports  (dd).  When  two  weeks  later  it  was  learned 
that  the  Cavanaghs  in  Wexford  and  the  O'Farrells  in  Longford, 
had  re-possessed  themselves  of  their  old  homes,  the  news  stirred  many  a 
drooping  heart  throughout  the  two  baronies  of  Ormond.  Butlers  and 
O'Kennedys,  Graces  and  Mac  Egans,  rejoiced  that  plantations  were  at  an 
end  and  their  homes  were  now  secure.  Some  of  the  more  adventurous 
spirits  made  a  raid  on  the  cattle  of  one  William  Kingsmill  in  the  parish  of 
Ballysheehan,  north  of  Cashel,  where  he  and  his  brother-in-law  Sir  William 
St.  Leger  had  begun  a  little  settlement  on  their  own  account.  Sir  William 
pursued  the  raiders  with  two  troops  of  horse,  determined  to  create  a  salutary 
terror.  Four  labourers  were  hanged  at  Grange,  eight  at  Galbertstown,  six  at 
Ballymurren.  Captain  Peisley,  Sir  William's  lieutenant  burnt  houses  whole- 
sale and  shot  several  persons  at  Golden  and  Ardmaile.  These  proceedings 
lashed  the  country  into  fury  and  the  people  were  with  difficulty  restrained 


(dd)  The  venerable  historical  tiction,  "  the  Massacre  of  1641  "  is  finally  disposed  of  by  the  last 
volumes  of  the  State  Papers  Calendar,  Ireland,  Chas.  I.  Ed.  Mahafify.  Some  English  were  murdered 
in  Cashel  ;  the  original  Depositions  on  the  affair  were  published  by  J.  D.  White,  of  Cashel.  The 
bulk  of  the  new  settlers  in  Tipperary  were  sent  under  convoy  to  Carrick  and  Clonmel.  "  I  have 
been  present  in  Carrick  in  the  year  1641,  where  I  have  seen  in  the  said  house  of  Carrick  five 
families  men,  women  and  children,  relieved  by  the  Countess  of  Ormond  at  her  own  loss  and  chai'ge, 
being  after  losing  their  goods.  She  sent  for  me  and  employed  me  to  speak  to  those  I  trusted,  to 
conduct  her  to  Kilkenny,  but  altered  her  course  then  to  Clonmell  where  there  was  no  less  than  forty 
of  the  English  for  safeguard  of  their  lives  (which  absolutely  were  men  lost  but  for  her  great  care  of 
them)  and  brought  them  and  such  others  as  she  met,  safe  to  Kilkenny." — Attestation  of  Richard 
Comerford,  of  Dangin  More,  Ormonde  Papers,  2  ser.  ii.,  368. 


History  of  Clonmel.  6i 

from  bursting  into  open  rebellion.  Thomas  Butler  of  Kilconnell,  Richard 
Butler  of  Bansha,  Philip  O'Dwyer  of  Dundrum  and  others,  went  on  1st 
December  to  Clonmel  to  remonstrate  with  the  president.  They  were  told 
they  were  all  rebels  themselves,  that  none  of  them  could  be  trusted  and  that 
some  should  be  hanged  as  an  example  to  the  rest.  In  sullen  discontent  they 
retired  to  their  homes;  they  watched  the  gathering  storm  and  when  late  in 
December  Lords  Gormanstown,  Fingall,  Slane  and  Trimlestown  appeared  in 
arms  they  responded  to  the  call  and  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  people. 
The  scenes  that  followed  were  stirring  and  picturesque.  Word  was  sent 
round  the  tenantry  to  meet  the  master  in  the  castle  bawn.  Some  came  armed 
with  implements  of  husbandry,  some  with  Irish  skians,  a  few  retainers  had 
fowling  pieces,  and  a  brace  of  flint  locks  were  brought  out  of  the  house  where 
they  had  lain  in  rust  since  the  days  of  Elizabeth.  Ball  was  made  from  lead 
stripped  off  the  roof  but  powder  there  was  next  to  none.  The  commissariat 
arrangements  consisted  of  the  herd  of  cattle  which  was  driven  with  the  troop, 
while  for  camping  there  was  the  large  freize  caddow  or  blanket,  which  folded 
on  the  horse,  served  also  as  a  saddle.  Such  was  the  army  of  the  Confederates 
as  it  took  the  field.  One  of  the  English  refugees  thus  describes  the  first  acts 
of  war. 

This  part  remained  two  months  quiet  after  all  the  rest  had  revolted  and  we 
concluded  good  hopes  of  its  continuance  till  about  twelve  days  before  Christmas  when 
rebels  out  of  Leinster  came  in  and  disturbed  our  hoped  security.  The  Lord  President 
was  not  idle  all  this  while  but  having  secured  Cork  (the  most  remarkable  place  of  his 
province)  the  best  he  could  in  the  extreme  want  of  men,  money,  amunition  with 
three  troops  of  horse  and  fifty  musketters  (a  bold  attempt)  he  fell  upon  Waterford  and 
Tipperary  and  within  a  few  days  destroyed  about  6oo  of  the  rebels  without  the  loss  of 
one  man  and  having  visited  the  cities  of  Waterford  and  Cashel  with  the  towns  of 
Clonemell  and  Carrig  he  returned  to  his  house  at  Downeraile  Dec.  23.  But  ere  the 
holidays  were  half  spent  Richard  Butler  brother  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  Purcel  Baron 
Loghmoh,  Philip  O'Dwyer  great  men  in  Tipperary  revolted,  the  city  of  Cashel,  townes 
of  Clonemell  Fedder,  Carrig  etc.  did  the  like  and  suddenly  the  lords  of  Dunboine  and 
Cahir  with  that  whole  country  turned  rebels  (ee). 

It  was  not  without  misgiving  that  the  people  of  Clonmel  entered  upon  the 
war.  But  for  the  disabilities  for  office  and  the  occasional  outbursts  of 
religious  persecution  they  had  few  grievances.  Some  such  as  Henry  White, 
Pierce  Bray  and  James  Fennell,  regarded  with  suspicion  any  alliance  with 
the  native  Irish.  They  had  much  to  lose,  and  therefore  held  entirely  aloof. 
Others,  like  Geoflfry  Barron,  were  enthusiastic  in  the  cause,  and  swayed  by 
religious  motives  were  prepared  to  put  their  whole  fortune  at  hazard.  The 
great  bulk   of  the  citizens  apparently  were  passive  (ff).      And  so  in  the 

(ee)  Henry  Rugge  to  John  Smith,  Youghal  10  Aug.,  1642.  Cholmondeley  Papers,  Hist.  MSS. 
Comsn. 

(ff)  This  I  gather  from  a  report  of  John  Walsh  to  Ormonde,  Carte  Papers,  Bodleian  xljv, 


62  History  of  Clonmel. 

beginning  of  January,  1642,  the  keys  of  the  town  were  handed  over  by  the 
mayor,  John  White,  to  the  Irish  commander,  Richard  Butler,  of  Kilcash  (gg). 
One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  confederates  in  Clonmel,  as  in  the  other  towns, 
was  to  give  possession  of  the  old  churches  to  the  Catholics.  Thomas  White 
was  duly  instituted  Catholic  Vicar  of  St.  Mary's,  where  members  at  his  family 
had  long  ministered,  and  where  many  generations  of  them  lay  buried.  The 
Franciscans  entered  again  into  their  abbey,  and  people  wondered  at  seeing 
for  the  first  time  their  strange  habits  and  sandals.  The  civil  administration 
of  the  town  was  left  undisturbed,  but  the  citizens  were  applotted  according  to 
their  capacity,  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  war.  By  the  end  of  March  the  whole 
province,  with  the  exception  of  the  Earl  of  Cork's  territory  and  a  few  towns, 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Irish,  yet  it  was  felt  that  without  foreign  aid  they 
could  neither  effectively  assault  the  towns  that  remained  hostile,  nor  even 
hold  what  they  had  conquered.  Accordingly  representatives  were  sent 
abroad  to  solicit  arms,  money  and  supplies.  Geoffry  Barron  who  had 
considerable  experience  in  public  affairs  and  was  a  skilled  linguist,  went  as 
envoy  accompanied  by  Fr.  O'Hartegan  to  Richelieu  and  the  French  court. 
His  mission  was  an  entire  success.  The  nuncio  in  Paris  furnished  large  sums 
of  money.  Richelieu  encouraged  the  Irish  officers  in  the  French  service  to 
return  to  the  help  of  their  country,  and  some  fourteen  ships  were  fitted  out  at 
St.  Malo,  Nantes  and  Rochelle  with  cannon,  small  arms,  ammunition  and 
military  stores.  On  the  24th  October,  1642,  the  confederate  parliament  met 
in  Kilkenny,  the  representatives  for  Clonmel  being  John  White  and  Geoffry 
Barron.  A  provisional  government  was  established  with  an  executive  and 
judicature ;  ambassadors  were  accredited  to  foreign  states,  a  mint  was  set 
up  and  a  broad  seal  struck — "  United  for  God,  King  and  Fatherland  "  (Pro 
Deo  Rege  et  Patria  Hiberni  Unanimes).  Meanwhile  the  quarrel  in  England 
between  Charles  and  the  Parliament  developed  apace ;  civil  war  broke  out 
with  the  battle  of  Edge  Hill,  23rd  October,  and  the  Irish  belligerents  were 
left  to  themselves  to  fight  out  their  own  issue.  Many  of  the  Anglo-Irish 
who  had  entered  reluctantly  into  the  struggle,  now  saw  in  the  King's 
difficulties  an  opportunity  to  escape,  if  only  some  guarantees  for  their  estates 
and  religion  could  be  obtained.  Accordingly  in  the  concluding  session  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  November,  1642,  a  petition  to  the  King  was  framed 
setting  forth  the  Puritan  schemes  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Irish  by 
plantations,  the  exclusion  of  the  natives  from  civil  and  military  employment, 
judicial  partizanship,  denial  of  education,  in  all  which  they  sought  redress. 

(g^)  He  was  brother  of  Ormond,  and  direct  ancestor  of  the  present  marquess.  '•  He  had  such 
influence  over  his  followers  that  he  kept  them  not  only  from  bloodshed  but  plunder,  and  his  noble 
disposition  was  acknowledged  even  by  his  enemies." — Gilbert,  History  of  Confederation. 


History  of  Clonmel.  63 

The  Queen  also  was  petitioned  to  use  her  influence  for  peace.  By  commission 
dated  January  nth,  1643,  Ormond,  Clanrickard,  Roscommon  and  others,  were 
empowered  to  treat  with  the  Irish.  The  great  part  of  the  year,  however, 
passed  in  alternate  war  and  negociation,  and  only  in  September  a  year's 
armistice  was  agreed  upon.  Immediately  commissioners  were  despatched  by 
the  Confederate  Catholics  to  Oxford,  where  the  King  was,  to  discuss  the  terms 
of  peace.  The  Puritan  party  on  the  other  hand  took  alarm  ;  two  deputations 
— one  from  the  Lord  Justices,  the  other  from  the  general  body — went  over, 
and  every  effort  was  made  to  defeat  the  proposals.  At  home,  in  order  "  to 
give  all  the  opposition  possible  to  the  mischievous  design  "  of  the  peace,  early 
in  July,  Inchiquin,  Broghill,  Fenton  and  Smith,  expelled  the  Irish  residents  in 
Cork,  Youghal  and  Kinsale,  and  broke  the  armistice.  As  this  drew  kn  angry 
remonstrance  from  the  Irish,  the  following  disingenuous  reply  was  sent : — 

To  our  worthy  freinds  the  Maior  Bailiffs  and  Commonalities  of  the  towne  of  Clonmel. 

The  intelligence  which  we  have  received  from  severall  good  hands  of  your  owne 
party  of  your  bad  intentions  towards  us  and  ye  new  levyes  of  souldiers  lately  made  in 
all  parts  of  the  province  and  ye  calling  back  of  part  of  your  army  lately  advanced 
northward  against  the  Scots  without  the  last  show  of  danger  towards  you  giveth  us 
just  grounds  to  apprehend  that  you  intend  to  ceaze  upon  our  garrison  towns  and 
consequently  (guessing  at  the  subsequently  your  former  proceedings)  to  cutt  us  off  and 
destroy  us  the  Protestants  of  this  province.  This  very  consideration  hath  prevayled 
with  us  to  draw  us  for  our  owne  defence  nott  with  a  purpose  to  offend  any  of  the  Irish 
quarters,.  [Meanwhile]  we  forbear  all  acts  of  hostility  on  both  sides  and  continue  that 
quiett  commerce  which  formerly  was  betwixt  us  and  by  allowing  you  to  buy  in  our 
townes  such  wares  as  you  please  (and  we  can  spare)  and  you  by  sending  to  our  marketts 
such  commodities  as  you  think  fitt  for  which  you  shall  receive  ready  money.  Thus 
expectinge  your  positive  answer  herein  wee  remayne  your  loving  friends  as  we  find 
you, 

Broghill,  W.  Fenton,  Percy  Smyth. 

The  discussions  which  arose  on  the  conduct  of  the  war,  and  more 
especially  the  peace  negociations,  brought  out  the  diverse  aims  of  the 
Confederates  and  eventually  broke  them  into  irreconcilable  factions.  The 
southern  or  Anglo-Irish,  by  tradition  and  blood  allied  to  England, 
merely  contended  for  security  in  their  estates,  political  equality  and 
religious  toleration.  The  northern  or  old .  Irish  owed  no  allegiance  to 
the  crown,  aimed  at  undoing  the  Ulster  plantation,  and  were  hostile  in 
principle  to  the  English  and  their  religion.  The  influence  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  especially  after  the  arrival  of  Rinuccini,  papal  nuncio,  was  almost 
entirely  on  the  side  of  the  north.  To  this  influence  we  may  trace  the 
support  which  the  people  of  Clonmel  gave  that  party  throughout  the  war.  Sir 
Richard  Bellings,  secretary  to  the  Confederate  Council,  complained  bitterly 
that  Clonmel  was  entirely  devoted  to  the  nuncio  and  "  the  rendevous  of  all 
the  turbulent  spirits  in  the  province  "  (hh).     When  in  August  1646  a  treaty 

(Ml)  Hiberniae,  Desiderata  Curiosa  \\.  436. 


64  History  of  Clonmel. 

was  concluded  between  Ormond  and  the  Anglo-Irish,  the  heralds  proclaiming 
the  peace  were  refused  admission  into  the  town  and  a  month  later  the  gates 
were  shut  against  Ormond  himself.  Only  two  prominent  citizens,  John 
White  fitz  Bennet  and  Thomas  White  fitz  Richard  declared  themselves  in 
favour  of  the  Treaty  (ii).  Nor  was  the  confidence  reposed  in  the  Ulstermen 
undeserved,  for  more  than  once  they  saved  the  town  from  pillage,  perhaps 
massacre.  "On  the  3rd  May"  [1647]  says  Cox  "Inchiquin  drew  out  1500 
horse  and  as  many  foot  and  took  Dromana  and  Cappoquin  and  on  the  lOth 
of  May  he  took  Dungarvan  and  if  his  provisions  had  lasted  he  designed  to 
besiege  Clonmell  but  the  want  of  victualls  and  carriages  which  has  been 
fatal  to  most  of  the  martiall  undertakings  in  Ireland  did  also  force  him  to 
return  to  Cork  "  (jj).  As  the  want  of  victuals  was  the  very  reason  Inchiquin 
should  establish  himself  in  a  fruitful  country,  the  account  given  by  Owen 
Roe  O'Neill's  secretary  appears  more  trustworthy.  "  The  Councell  did  send 
orders  vnto  the  Generall  [Owen  Roe]  to  relieve  Clonmell,  with  all  expedition 
in  obedience  hereof  [he]  marched  both  day  and  night  with  his  field  pieces 
untill  arriving  to  Ballinakelly  in  Leyse  upwards  of  24  miles  a  mightie  march 
of  a  great  armie  Insichuyne  advertised  hereof  raised  his  siedge  and  marched  to 
his  owne  quarters  though  30  miles  between  him  and  the  Catholic  Generall  "^tt/ 
Again  some  months  later  when  after  the  capture  of  Cahir  Castle  and  the 
sack  of  Cashel  all  Tipperary  lay  at  the  feet  of  Inchiquin,  Clonmel  was  safe 
for  within  it  was  a  regiment  of  1500  "red  shanks"  and  its  governor  the 
redoubtable  Alexander  McDonnell  (U), 

During  the  years  1648-9  as  the  English  Puritans  gained  the  ascen- 
dency, and  especially  after  the  execution  of  the  King,  the  sevisral  royalist 
parties  were  driven  to  make  common  cause,  and  so  we  find  Ormond 
received  in  Clonmel  with  the  honour  due  to  the  King's  representative. 
Stranger  still  in  November  1649,  Inchiquin  "  Murrough  the  Incendiary  "  spent 
several  days  in  the  town  concerting  measures  for  the  recovery  of  Carrick  from 
his  former  friends  the  puritans.  But  the  differences  between  Protestant  and 
Catholic  royalists  were  too  fundamental ;  there  was  no  loyal  co-operation, 
and  the  subsequent  campaign  against  Cromwell  is  a  painful  record  of 
treachery  and  disaster.  The  one  man  of  consummate  military  capacity  who, 
trusted  by  Ormond  and  the  Irish  alike,  might  have  led  the  forlorn  hope,  died 
as  the  campaign  opened — Owen  Roe  O'Neill. 

The  feeling  in  Clonmel  during  the  months  of  September  and  October, 
1649,  as  the  reports  of  Cromwellian  successes  were  brought  in,  must  have 

(ii)  Carte  Papers  xliv. 

(jj)  Hiberniae  Angltcana  I.  196. 

/**;  Aphorismical  Discovery,  Ed.  Gilbert. 

(II)  The  "  Colquitlo"  of  Sir  Waller  Scott's  Legend  of  Montrose. 


History  of  Clonmel.  66 

been  one  of  profound  despair.  But  there  was  no  panic ;  the  massacres  of 
Drogheda  and  Wexford  had  the  only  effect  they  could  have  on  brave  men — 
the  stern  resolve  to  sell  their  lives  dearly.  Early  in  November  having  learned 
that  Cromwell  was  across  the  Barrow  and  marching  south  through  county 
Kilkenny,  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  was  held  and  a  letter  despatched  to 
Ormond. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

I  am  commanded  by  the  Counsel]  and  Commons  of  this  towne  to  represent  unto 
your  Excellency  their  apprehension  of  the  present  daunger  threatened  by  the  rebells 
and  that  your  Excellency  wilbe  pleased  to  look  upon  them  his  faythfull  subiectes,  resolued 
to  spend  their  blood  in  defence  of  their  religion,  Kinge  and  country,  and  being  of 
themselues  unable  to  withstand  the  fury  of  so  mercilesse  an  enemy,  your  Excellency 
wilbe  pleased  to  direct  a  present  reliefe  of  men  to  be  sent  into  them.  Understanding 
that  a  considerable  party  of  the  army  are  yet  in  this  province  and  in  their  march  to  the 
campe  I  made  bould  (being  thereunto  encouradged  by  John  Walshe  who  ioyned  with 
me  in  a  letter)  to  write  vnto  the  Major  general!  to  direct  them  hither,  undertaking  to 
procure  your  Excellencies  orders  for  him  to  that  purpose,  which  we  hope  the  necessity 
at  hand  will  in  your  Excellencies  favorable  construction  excuse  our  bouldness  and  be  a 
motive  to  grant  your  present  orders  according  our  engadgement. 

The  poverty  of  this  towne  is  well  knowen,  and  therfore  unable  to  ma3rteyne  any 
considerable  number.  It  is  therfor  ther  humble  request  your  Excellencie  wilbe  pleased 
to  direct  Martin  Laffan  the  receiver,  to  pay  them  from  tyme  to  tyme  and  upon  his 
fayler,  the  Collonell  to  be  employed  hither  to  have  power  to  raise  his  meanes  from  the 
adiacent  baronyes  or  where  he  may  in  the  country,  to  be  abated  vnto  them  in  their 
publique  dues  and  that  your  Excellency  wilbe  further  pleased  to  graunt  your  orders  for 
reimbursinge  vnto  the  inhabitaunts  of  this  tovme  whatever  they  shall  happen  to  be  out 
of  purse  for  the  mayntenance  of  that  partie  all  which  I  represent  to  your  Excellency 
and  humbly  take  leave  beinge 

Your  Ex.  most  faithfuU  servt. 
Clonmell  10  November  1649.  John  White,  Maior  of  Clonmell. 

They  humbly  desire  that  the  Collonell  or  Commander  of  the  party  may  with  300 
men  march  ymediatly  into  the  towne  and  that  the  rest  maybe  in  some  neere  guarrizons  to 
be  brought  in  if  necessity  shall  require  it.    John  White  B[ennet]  Maior  of  Clonmell  (mm). 

The  letter  had  the  desired  effect,  Colonel  Oliver  Stephenson's  regiment 
being  ordered  to  take  up  quarters.  But  though  Stephenson  and  his  soldiers 
had  formed  part  of  the  old  confederate  army,  they  were  not  altogether 
trusted;  Lord  Antrim,  who  was  in  the  town,  suggested  that  the  Ormond- 
Inchiquin  party  were  in  secret  alliance  with  the  puritans,  and  accordingly 
the  mayor  and  townsfolk  refused  to  keep  "  watch  and  ward  "  upon  the  walls 
and  gates  under  Stephenson  as  governor.  While  this  dispute  was  going  on 
Reynolds  had  seized  Carrick  for  Cromwell.    The  mayor  wrote  to  Ormond : — 

May  it  please  your  Excellencye 

Being  assured  by  the  testimonie  of  divers  witnesses  of  the  sudden  takinge  of 
Carricke  for  want  of  vigilancie  by  a  partye  of  Cromwells  horse,  havinge  acted  some 
bloddye  execution  upon  some  of  the  townsmen  and  garrison  there  whereof  some  came 

(mm)  Endorsed  to  his  Excel!,  the  Marquesse  of  Ormond  Lord  Lieutanant,  generaU  of  Ireland 
These  present— Carte  Papers,  Bodleian,  Oxford,  vol.  26. 

F 


66  History  of  Clonmel. 

into  this  towne,  having  further  intimated  (whereof  some  scouts  employd  from  this  towne 
brought  mee  intelligence)  that  a  partye  of  Cromwells  foot  have  likewise  advanced  as 
far  as  Carricke  the  afternoon  of  the  date  hereof,  the  horse  having  come  thither  in  the 
morning ;  of  all  which  I  thought  fitt  to  give  your  Excellencye  notice  being  not  as 
stronge  as  I  could  wish  yett  I  hope  in  God  that  the  townsmen  and  garrison  having  this 
day  joyned  by  a  solemne  protestation  and  oath  in  a  union  for  God,  Kinge  and  countrye, 
and  defense  of  this  towne  to  the  uttermost  of  their  power,  will  be  able  to  oppose  and 
meete  the  enemyes  designes  if  the  bodye  of  your  Excellencyes  armie  be  uppon  their 
backe,  which  is  expected  with  all  expedition  (no  lesse  being  your  Excellencyes  care)  by 

Your  Ex.  most  humbl  servt. 
Clonmel  the  20th  of  November,  1649  (nn),  John  White  B.  Maior  of  Clonmell. 

The  following  day  the  mayor  again  wrote  to  Ormond, 

May  it  please  your  Excellencye 

I  have  understood  that  Collonell  Stephenson  writt  vnto  your  Excell :  for 
commaunding  the  keys  of  this  corporation  into  his  own  hands  and  giving  the 
wathword  and  engaginge  the  townsmen  at  his  disposall  upon  service,  I  thought  fitt  to 
intimat  vnto  your  Excellencye  that  if  your  Excellencye  had  sent  the  Collonell  orders  to 
be  factotum  in  these  partes,  that  it  may  begett  a  rupture  between  the  townsmen  and  the 
garison,  I  shall  therefore  humbly  desire  that  your  Excellencye  may  be  pleased  that  I 
may  enjoye  my  Keys,  joyne  in  the  wathword  and  that  the  captains  of  the  towne  together 
with  the  Collonell  and  his  chiefe  officers,  may  by  their  joynt  adveise  dispose  the 
townsmen  and  garison  uppon  service  which  is  the  humble  suite  and  sense  of  your 
Excellencyes 

Most  humbl  servt. 
Clonmell  21  Novr  1649.  John  White  B.  Maior  of  Clonmell  (00). 

At  the  end  of  the  month,  Ormond  came  to  Clonmel  to  arrange  winter 
quarters  for  the  royalist  forces ;  the  townsfolk  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
Stephenson  and  his  pseudo  garrison  of  Clare  peasants  removed  to  make  way 
for  men  whose  fighting  qualities  were  beyond  question.  These  were  two 
regiments  belonging  to  the  old  army  of  Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  and  commanded 
by  one  of  his  ablest  lieutenants,  Hugh  Duff  O'Neill.  In  their  train,  however, 
came  two  troops  of  horse  under  Colonel  Edmund  Fennell,  of  Ballygriffin,  who 
were  destined  to  play  a  sinister  part  in  subsequent  events.  Perhaps  there 
was  some  instinctive  suspicion  of  the  new  comers,  for  a  few  days  later  the 
mayor  wrote  complaining  of  the  additional  burthen  they  imposed  on  the  town. 
Ormond  replied : — 

After  our  harty  commendacons,  wee  have  receaved  your  letter  of  the  llth  of  this 
instant  and  doe  hereby  assure  you  that  as  it  was  the  necessitie  that  appeered  vnto 
us  for  placeinge  horse  in  that  place  being  a  frontier,  occasioned  our  sendinge  Lt. 
Collonel  Fenell  thither  with  the  horse  you  mention  so  shall  wee  speedily  imploy  our 
best  endeavours  for  the  ease  of  the  corporation  to  their  satisfacion  and  have  herewith 
written  to  Major  generall  Hugh  0*Neale  to  afford  thereunto  what  ease  he  possibly  may . 
And  soe  wee  bid  you  hartily  farwell  from  Kilkenny  this  19th  of  December  1649  your 
very  lovinge  freind 

Maior  of  Clonmell  Ormonde  (pp), 

(tin)  Carte  Papers,  vol.  26. 

(00)  Ibid. 

(pp)  Carte  Papers  vol.  142. 


History  of  Clonmel.  67 

On  the  same  date  O'Neill  was  written  to. 

Having  receved  a  letter  of  the  i  Ith  of  this  month  from  the  Maior  of  that  corporacion 
expressinge  their  greevances  by  reason  of  the  multiplicitie  of  the  souldiers  there,  wee 
think  fitt  heerby  to  pray  you  to  afford  them  what  ease  you  may  by  manning  the  castles 
adjacent  with  some  of  the  foote  now  engarrisoned  there,  wee  intendinge  as  soone  as  it 
shalbe  possible  to  ease  them  to  their  satisfaccon  And  so  we  bid  you  hartily  farewell 
from  Kilkenny  Castle  the  19th  of  December  1649,  your  lovinge  freind 

Major  genall  Hugh  O'Neal.  Ormond  (qq). 

In  accordance  with  these  instructions  O'Neill  certified  as  follows : — 

Imprimis,  sent  100  souldiers  to  the  garrison  of  Kilkash  out  of  Colonel  Realyes 
regiment.  Sent  out  of  Col.  Tirlagh  O'Neyll's  regiment  to  Ballydine  14  souldiers  and  a 
Lieut,  with  a  Corporall.  Sent  out  of  the  sd  regmt.  to  Castle  Kaonagh  [Mountain  Castle] 
guarrison  the  number  of  30  souldiers  and  a  Lieut,  and  Sargent  with  two  corporalls. 

Hugo  O'Neill  (rr). 

Throughout  the  winter,  complaint  after  complaint  poured  in  upon  Ormond 
of  the  troubles  of  the  townspeople.  They  had  quartered  in  their  houses  not 
merely  the  Ulster  soldiers,  but  very  often  the  wives  and  families  who  had 
followed  them  from  the  north.  They  had  to  pay  besides  to  Richard  Burke, 
of  Borrisoleagh,  and  Theobald  Butler,  of  Ardmayle,  the  weekly  assessments 
for  carrying  on  the  war.  Terence  Coughlan,  head  of  the  commissariat, 
moreover  levied  his  applotment  of  corn  on  them ;  in  short,  the  impositions 
and  oppression  were  so  grievous  that  it  was  apprehended  many  of  the 
inhabitants  would  flee  the  town  altogether  (ss).  A  few  illustrations  will 
suffice.    On  23rd  January,  1650,  the  mayor  wrote  : — 

May  it  please  your  Excellencye. 

That  this  poore  Corporacion  altogether  exhausted  with  the  supemumerous 
garrison  of  two  regiments  consist inge  of  1300  shouldiers  26  captins  with  theire  respective 
under  officers  and  neere  soe  many  woemen  and  garzons,  as  alsoe  5  troopes  of  horsse  are 
growen  soe  burdensome  that  many  of  the  poore  inhabitauntes  have  deserted  the  said 
towne  and  that  your  Excell.  orders  graunted  att  Thurles  for  the  removeinge  of  300  of 
the  said  number  is  noe  way  observed  but  rather  more  numbers  brought  in  to  reinforce 
theire  companyes  and  for  want  of  having  carefull  men  whoe  may  be  sensible  of  the 
sufferings  of  the  said  towne  appoynted  to  see  them  mustered,  many  false  billets  are  forced 
from  our  quartermasters  uppon  the  relacon  of  the  mustermaster  which  breeds  more 
confusion  then  if  the  very  shouldiers  were  effective  amonge  us  which  may  be  prevented 
if  your  Excell :  were  pleased  to  graunt  your  Comison  unto  able  men  of  the  sayd  towne 
for  mustering  the  said  officers  troopers  and  shouldiers  and  to  give  them  power  to  muster 
them  as  oft  as  neede  requireth  and  to  prevent  theire  usuall  practice  of  false  mustering 
that  you  commande  the  severall  garrisons  to  be  mustered  in  one  day  together  and  to 
send  your  orders  for  removeall  of  as  many  of  the  said  numbers  as  your  Excell :  will 
thinke  fitt  with  theire  unserviseable  woemen  and  garzons  whoe  not  being  provided  from 
the  countrey  begins  to  force  away  what  they  can  light  uppon,  to  the  great  discouradgments 
of  the  said  inhabitauntes.  Like  wise  I  must  intymate  unto  your  Excell :  howe  destitute 
of  amunicion  and  come  is  the  comon  magazin  of  this  towne  which  may  prove  fatall  if 

(qq)  Ibid. 

(rrj  Archives  Kilkenny  Castle. 

fss)  Carte  Papers,  vols.  26  &  142. 


68  HISTORY   OF  CLONMEL. 

not  tymelie  furnished  or  provided  for.  I  have  given  in  chardge  unto  my  agent  to 
peticion  unto  your  Excell :  for  some  healpes  for  the  rayseinge  of  our  fortificacons  soe 
much  conduceing  to  the  saftie  both  of  towne  and  countrey  and  though  I  knowe  your 
Excell :  to  be  very  sensible  of  the  particulars  yett  a  tymelie  redresse  of  the  former 
abuses  and  a  speedie  graunt  of  all  these  requests  as  humbly  desired  by, 

Your  Excell :  most  humble  servt 

John  White  B.  Maior  of  Clonmell. 

Instead  of  the  relief  which  he  sought,  a  week  later  the  following  missive 
was  received  from  Ormond  : — 

After  our  hearty  commendacons.  Wee  understand  that  without  our  speciall  orders 
in  that  behalfe  the  moneyes  charged  on  that  corporacion  for  the  supply  of  his  Maiesties 
navy  commanded  by  Prince  Rupert  is  denyed  to  be  payd  to  Richard  Butler  Esqr  the 
Receaver  thereof,  which  hath  added  to  the  delay  to  the  bringing  those  moneys  and 
payinge  the  same  to  Lieut  Coll.  Morley  who  stayes  for  it.  Wherefore  wee  pray  and 
require  you  imediatly  to  cause  the  monyes  to  be  leavyed  in  that  corporacion  for  the  use 
afforsayd  to  be  payd  to  the  proper  receaver  and  there  maybe  noe  more  cause  of 
complaint  in  that  behalfe.  And  soe  we  bid  you  farewell, and  remain  at  our  Castle  of 
Kilkenny  the  28  of  January  1649  [50] 

Your  very  loveing  friend, 

Ormonde. 

In  vain  also  did  White  urge  on  Ormond  considerations  of  high  policy ; 
corporations,  he  said,  would  be  rendered  "  disserviceable "  by  excessive 
impositions,  whereas  they  should  be  cherished  for  the  use  of  the  publicke  and 
furthermore  without  their  helpe  a  Commonwealth  may  not  subsist. 


The  Siege  of  Clonmel. 

The  month  of  December  had  been  unusually  severe  with  much  snow  and 
frost ;  it  was  followed  by  the  mildest  January  in  the  memory  of  man.  As  an 
early  campaign  would  take  the  Irish  at  a  great  disadvantage,  and  growing 
troubles  in  England  required  his  presence  there,  Cromwell  left  his  winter 
quarters  in  Youghal,  Tuesday,  29th  January.  Tipperary  and  Kilkenny  were 
the  theatre  of  war,  and  thither  his  army  was  to  advance  in  two  divisions. 
One  under  the  command  of  Ireton  and  Reynolds,  marched  directly  through 
Carrick ;  the  other  led  by  Cromwell  himself,  crossing  the  Blackwater  at 
Kilworth,  thence  to  Kilbehenny,  returned  through  the  rough  country  south  of 
the  Galtees.  In  this  way  the  small  hostile  garrisons  which  might  cut  him  off 
from  Youghal,  his  base,  were  all  taken  in.  Bumtcourt  and  Rehill  castles 
were  surrendered  without  a  shot  fired ;  the  following  morning,  Saturday,  2nd 
February,  amid  a  wild  storm  of  wind  and  rain  he  set  out  from  Rehill,  and 
passing  the  Suir  by  the  ford  at  Rochestown,  was  under  the  walls  of  Fethard 
that  night  Tired  and  sodden  as  his  troops  were,  he  offered  favourable 
terms,  and  Butler  the  governor  after  some  objections  as  to  the  etiquette  of 


History  of  Clonmel.  69 

summoning  a  town  so  late  at  night  handed  over  the  keys  (tt),  A  few  days 
after  the  inhabitants  of  Cashel  with  Kearney  their  mayor  hastened  to 
Fethard  to  throw  themselves  on  Cromwell's  mercy.  The  following  Sunday 
morning,  David  Fitz  Gibbon,  after  a  slight  pretence  at  resistance, 
surrendered  Ardfinnan  Castle — ^the  only  point  from  which  the  Cromwellian 
communications  might  be  cut  Such  was  the  tale  of  treachery  and  cowardice 
which  day  by  day  reached  O'Neill  in  Clonmel. 

The  old  soldier,  however,  was  busily  preparing  to  give  the  Cromwellians 
a  hot  reception.  Only  a  few  days  after  his  arrival,  on  lOth  December,  he 
wrote  to  Ormond  requiring  a  free  hand  as  governor.  Ormond  replied  : — "  It 
is  our  full  and  cleere  intention  by  the  words  of  our  comission  that  on  all 
occasion  you  should  dispose  of  all  the  souldiers  in  these  partes  as  you  thinke 
fitt  for  his  Maties  service  and  as  for  the  possession  of  the  Keys  of  the  towne 
of  Clonmell  wee  desire  you  apprehend  noe  danger  and  (avoyd  any 
inconveniency  that  may  present  happen  thereabouts)  to  leave  in  the  Mayor 
it  being  in  your  power  to  assume  it  when  you  shall  judge  it  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  the  place  "  (uuj.  After  this  "  the  experimented  warriour,"  a 
contemporary  assures  us,  "  was  not  idle,  previdinge  the  f uturition  of  a  hearde 
siedge  and  builded  braue  workes  for  the  defence  of  the  towne  "  fw).  His 
soldiers,  however,  were  in  arrears  of  pay,  and  piteous  complaints  were  made 
to  Ormond  as  to  their  condition.  Ormond  replied  on  i8th  January  that  he 
had  sent  orders  to  the  Commissioners  of  Assessment  for  Tipperary  to  make 
some  payments.  But  the  Commissioners,  Burke  and  Butler,  refused  pending 
the  settlement  of  their  dispute  with  the  mayor  as  to  the  liability  of  Clonmel 
for  applotments.  Ormond  on  31st  January  cut  the  matter  short  by  ordering 
£150  to  be  paid,  and  bade  O'Neill  to  rest  satisfied  until  "  there  was  tyme  to 
wade  to  a  determination  of  the  dispute  "  fww).  There  was  another,  and,  at 
this  juncture,  a  more  imperative  want.  This  was  the  want  of  ammunition 
and  arms.  In  his  first  letter  on  taking  the  governorship  of  the  town,  O'Neill 
urged  this  on  Ormond ;  the  latter  replied  "  wee  daily  expect  a  quantity  of 
ammunition  from  Portumna  whereof  a  good  proportion  shall  be  sent  unto 
you  "  fxxj.  The  following  month,  in  answer  to  fiuther  entreaties,  Ormond 
wrote — "  We  are  in  preparacon  for  makinge  up  of  a  magazeen  out  of  which 

(tt)  The  Fethard  tradition  of  a  stubborn  resistance  is  ludicrous ;  the  garrison  were  all  local 
recruits  who  would  not  stand  a  second  volley.  There  were  three  companies — Colonel  Pierce 
Butler's,  Captain  John  Butler's,  and  Captain  Theobald  Hackett's— consisting  of  82,  76  and  91  men 
respectively.  Colonel  Walter  Butler  was  governor,  James  Butler  quartermaster,  Teige  O'Barry 
surgeon,  Fathers  Edmond  Ryan  and  Redmond  Comyn  chaplains— Ormonde  Papers,  Kilkenny 
Castle. 

(uuJ  Ormond  to  O'Neill,  T3th  December,  1645. — Carte  Papers,  vol.  26. 

(w)  Aphorismical  Discovery.    Edit.  Gilbert. 

fww)  Carte  Papers,  vol.  142. 

(xxj  Ormond  to  O'Neill,  13th  December,  1649.— Carte  Papers,  vol.  26. 


70  History  of  Clonmel. 

we  hope  to  be  enabled  reasonably  to  supply  the  want  of  arms  you  complain 
of "  (yy).  Preston  was  appealed  to,  to  furnish  some  ammunition  from 
Waterford,  but  Preston  had  none  to  spare.  In  the  event  O'Neill  could  not 
obtain  an  ounce  of  powder  (zz).    Good  advice  he  obtained  in  abundance. 

After  our  hearty  commendations.  In  regard  we  may  presume  by  the  enemyes 
faceinge  that  way  that  he  intends  to  distresse  the  guarrison  in  Clonmell  and  that  we 
understand  you  are  like  to  fall  into  some  wants  by  reason  of  the  want  of  come  which 
yet  wi  understand  to  be  stored  upp  in  great  plenty  in  that  towne  wee  therefore  on  such 
an  exigencie  have  thought  fitt  and  wee  doe  hereby  authorize  you  or  anyone  of  you  to 
search  the  garners  and  store  houses  in  towne  and  thereout  to  take  uppon  ticket  equally 
so  much  of  the  said  come  as  from  time  to  time  shall  supply  that  guarrison  untill  we 
shall  take  further  order  for  the  relief  of  it.  And  soe  etc  from  Lymericke  24  February 
1650. 

Your  loveinge  freind 
Governor  and  Mayor  Clonmell.  Ormonde,  (a)- 

And  promises  were  bestowed  as  freely  as  advice. 

After  our  harty  commendacons.  Wee  received  your  letters  of  the  23rd  this  instant 
and  have  by  our  letters  heere  inclosed  desired  our  very  good  Lord  the  Earle  of 
Castlehaven  to  furnish  you  with  what  men  and  provisions  hee  can,  ourselves  beinge 
at  present  unable  to  furnish  you  with  any  at  this  distance.  And  soe  we  bid  you  heartily 
farwell  from  Lymerick  the  25th  day  of  February  1649  [50]. 

Your  loveinge  friend 
Governor  of  Clonmell.  Ormonde  (b). 

By  this  time  the  Cromwellians  were  closing  round  the  town  ;  three  days 
later  some  of  Axtell's  dragoons  captured  a  patrol  of  the  garrison  under  the 
very  walls,  and  Cromwell  himself  came  over  from  Kiltinan  to  view  the  place 
and  its  defences  (c).    O'Neill  made  an  urgent  appeal  for  help. 

fyy)  Orinoiid  to  O'Neill,  i8th  January,  1650.     Ibid,  vol.  142. 

(zz)  •*  Lately  Hugh  O'Neill  after  making  a  name  for  himself  withdrew  from  Clonmel  as  the 
Marquis  and  pseudo  Commissioners  of  Trust  did  not  send  him  an  ounce  of  powder  nor  anything 
else  he  wanted  ;  yet  he  made  a  gallant  Bght,  two  thousand  of  the  enemy  are  said  to  have  fallen  in 
the  siege."     Kev.  P.  Lynch  to  Dionysius  Massario,  Galway,  14th  June,  1650.     Spicilegium  Ossoriense 

I-,  p.  343. 

(a)  Carte  Papers,  vol.  142.  Among  the  Carte  Papers  is  a  long  correspondence  l)etween 
Cromwell,  Ormond  and  O'Neill  relative  to  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  William,  fifth  Baron 
Charlemont,  commonly  called  "  Captain  Caulfield,"  was  a  prisoner  with  O'Neill  in  Clonmel.  On 
5th  January  Cromwelf  proposed  to  exchange  General  Richard  Butler,  of  Kilcash,  Ormond's  brother, 
for  Caulfield.  The  latter  attempted  to  escape.  About  5  o'clock  on  26th  January  he  walked  cooly 
into  an  apothecary's  shop  and  said  "  I  came  out  of  Forde's  unknown  to  the  sentries.  I  would  not 
care  said  the  apothecary,  Patrick  Roche,  you  were  in  your  own  quarters.  By  God  said  Caulfield  I 
would  give  twenty  pounds  to  any  that  would  convey  me  out  of  the  gates.  At  this  tiiiie  came  running  in 
Lizzie  Mun  maid  servant  to  Lionel  Forde  the  good  man  of  Caulfield's  lodging  and  said  Gods  Leddy, 
Captain  Caulfield  why  didn't  you  come  back  to  the  company,  they  are  inquiring  for  you.  Upon 
that  Captain  Caulfield  (calling  this  deponent  some  bad  name)  said  God's  wounds  you  have  betrayed 
me  only  for  you  I  were  in  Carrick  by  this  time."  (Examination  of  Calin  McKernan,  sentry).  An 
agreement  was  come  to  between  Ormond  and  Cromwell,  and  on  i6th  February  O'Neill  was  written 
to,  that  Caulfield  and  the  other  Cromwellians  who  had  been  taken  since  lOth  February  should  be 
convoyed  to  Carrick,  and  the  Irish  garrison  withdrawn  from  Kilcash.  Three  djiys  later  Ormond 
countermanded  the  order,  but  the  release  of  his  brother  was  finally  obtained  on  29th  April  on 
payment  of  a  sum  of  money. 

(b)  Carte  Papers,  26. 

(c)  State  Papers,  Commonwealth,  p.  657. 


History  of  Clonmel.  71 

May  it  please  your  Excellencie. 

This  day  I  receivd  your  letter  of  the  25th  of  this  instant.  Since  my  last  letter  to 
your  Excie  I  have  not  to  intymate  more  then  that  Cahir  was  yealded  without  shott  or 
blowe  upon  what  condicons  I  knowe  not,  which  I  believe  your  Excie  knowes  ere  nowe, 
likewise  Kiiteenan  was  beseedged  eare  yesternight  and  yealded  yesterdaye  mominge 
about  nyne  of  the  clocke.  All  their  armye  is  within  a  myle  to  the  towne  and  the  rest 
are  cominge  to  them,  in  great  hast  they  have  sent  a  number  of  horses  and  oxen  for  more 
cannons.  Wee  expect  nothinge  else  but  bee  beesiged  every  houre  they  having  nowe  noe 
other  place  to  ayme  att  but  this.  Your  Excie  may  knowe  in  what  condicon  wee  are  and 
the  consequence  of  this  place  to  the  Kingdom  which  requires  a  speedye  succour  all 
which  I  humbly  referre  to  your  Lordshipps  grave  consideracon  I  humbly  take  leave  and 
remayne 

Your  Excies  most  humble  servt, 
Clonmell  ultimo  February.  Hugo  O'Neill  (d). 

Ormond  replied : — 

Sir — Your  letter  of  the  last  of  February  intimating  your  expectation  of  being 
suddainly  beseiged  I  received  not  till  about  nine  of  the  clock  this  morning.  In  answeare 
whereunto  I  thinke  fitt  to  assure  you  by  these  that  rather  then  that  towne  should  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  rebells  I  shall  draw  all  the  forces  of  the  Kingdome  into  a  body  for 
its  reliefe  which  I  shall  endeavour  soe  to  effect  as  in  ten  dayes  to  be  in  a  readines  to 
advance  to  towards  you,  relying  on  your  uttermost  endeavours  to  defend  that  place 
during  that  tyme  though  you  should  as  you  expect  be  closely  beseiged  and  soe  deseiring 
to  heare  as  frequently  from  you  as  possibly  you  may,  I  remaine 

Your  very  affectionate  freind 

Ennis  3  March  about  12  in  the  fomoone  Ormond. 

The  task  that  now  lay  before  O'Neill  might  well  have  filled  him  with 
dismay.  Day  after  day  his  scouts  reported  the  steady  advance  of  the 
Cromwellians.  Soon  with  his  own  eyes  he  could  observe  them  massing,  north 
of  the  town.  Twenty  troops  of  cavalry  overran  the  country,  and  their 
ubiquity  made  them  appear  a  countless  host.  He  might  have  learned,  too, 
that  the  Cromwellians  "  were  in  a  gallant  posture,  well  armed,  well  clothed 
and  for  bread,  corn  and  other  things  plentifully  provided  "  fej.  By  the  end 
of  March  some  9,000  men  had  set  themselves  down  in  the  entrenchments  (f). 
And  these  were  for  the  most  part  veterans  seasoned  in  the  civil  wars  and 
filled  with  religious  and  political  fanaticism.  They  had  heard  for  years  of 
the  massacre  of  their  fellow  Protestants  in  Ulster  and  now  their  preachers 
exhorted  them  to  crush  "  the  vessels  of  wrath  foredoomed  by  God."  Within 
the  town  O'Neill  mustered  about  1600  men,  of  whom  one-fourth  were  armed 
only  with  pikes  while  some  200  had  no  arms  whatsoever  ^^A  His  artillery 
consisted  of  a  few  cannon  and  these  even  he  could  only  use  sparingly  for 
want  of  powder.    But  the  little  garrison  with  the  exception  of  Fennell's  two 

(dj  Carte  Papers,  Vol.  26. 

(c)  Whitlocke  Memorials,  p.  434. 

ff)  Cromwell's  army  after  the  junction  with  Heweston  at  Kilkenny  numbered  20,000  men  according 
to  Borlase.     The  bulk  of  these  were  brought  to  Clonmel  as  Ormond  threatened  to  raise  the  siege. 

(gj  The  muster  roll  of  3rd  January,  1650,  published  by  Gilbert  shows  about  1400,  of  these  150  were 
in  out  garrisons  Kilcash,  Ballydine  and  Castle  Coonagh. 


72  History  of  Clonmel. 

troops  of  horse,  were  absolutely  reliable.  They  were  all  Cavan  and  Tyrone 
men,  the  hardy  northerns  described  by  Rinuccini  who  living  on  butter  and 
milk,  had  few  wants  and  fewer  desires,  and  were  more  careful  of  their  swords 
and  muskets  than  of  their  own  bodies  (h).  Besides  they  were  well  officered. 
Colonels  Turlough  O'Neill  and  Philip  O'Reilly,  Captains  McDonnell,  Brady, 
McArdle,  O'Hanlon  and  others  had  been  through  many  a  hard  fight  in 
Flanders  and  elsewhere.  And  if  the  Cromwellians  were  steeled  by  religious 
fanaticism,  these  men  also  had  memories  to  avenge  and  a  religion  to  fight  for. 
On  the  19th  of  March,  Cromwell  came  to  direct  the  siege  operations  in 
person  (i).  The  customary  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  town  was  made, 
good  quarters  and  conditions  being  offered.  "To  which  answer  was  made 
by  Hugh  Duff  that  he  was  of  another  resolution  than  to  give  up  the  town  on 
quarters  or  conditions  till  he  was  reduced  to  a  lower  station  and  so  wished 
him  to  do  his  best.  On  which  Cromwell  fell  to  his  work  and  planted  his 
cannon  "  (j).  As  the  defence  was  likely  to  be  long  and  stubborn  and  affairs  in 
England  were  pressing  another  method  was  adopted. 

My  Lord  Cromwell  by  the  enformation  of  some  of  Insicuynes  partie  or  other  proper 
surmishes  lited  upon  a  fitt  instrument  of  treacherie.  Major  Fennell  an  ambitious  and 
covetous  traytor  was  sued  vnto  to  be  actor  of  the  tragedie  of  betrayinge  both  men  and 
towne  and  for  his  paines  was  offered  £500.  The  time  of  the  performance  on  Fennell's 
parte  was  the  verie  next  night  after  the  covenant  was  indorsed  about  12  aclocke  that 
he  with  such  as  were  of  that  conspiracie  guiltie,  would  guarde  such  a  gate  and  would 
open  the  same  at  the  said  peremptorie  hower  for  the  intringe  of  500  men  of  my  Lord 
Cromwell  and  then  to  simulate  an  opposition  to  the  rest. 

That  night  O'Neill  "by  some  inspyringe  good  angell "  was  making  the 
rounds  and  finding  Fennell  and  the  "  natives  "  on  guard  at  one  of  the  gates, 
had  his  suspicions  aroused.  For  he  had  given  stringent  orders  that  two-thirds 
at  least  of  the  guards  at  each  gate  should  consist  of  Ulstermen.  Sending 
privately  for  a  body  of  500  of  his  Ulster  forces,  he  at  once  put  Fennell  under 
arrest.    Fennell  on  promise  of  life  confessed  the  whole,  O'Neill  and  his  officers 

advicinge  therefore  what  best  to  doe  in  that  extreamitie  resolve  to  open  the 
gate  the  peremptorie  time  according  the  former  covenant.  The  enemie  was  watching 
his  opportunitie,  obsearvinge  the  signall  marched  towards  the  gate,  500  did  inter,  the 
rest  nolens  volens  were  kept  out  and  all  that  intred  were  putt  to  the  sworde 
thus  did  God  discover  this    treasonable   plott    under   Major    Huigh    O'Neylle  (k), 

(h)  Rinuccini  Embassy  in  Ireland  p.  495. 

(i)  Whitelock  p.  430. 

(j)  Warr  of  Ireland.    By  a  British  Officer  of  Sir  J.  Clotworthy's  Regiment. 

(k)  This  episode  rests  on  the  sole  authority  of  the  writer  of  the  "  Aphorismical  Discovery." 
But  as  there  had  been  treachery  in  Drogheda,  Wexford  and  Duncannon,  the  affair  is  more  than 
probable.  Whitelock  (p.  434)  has  an  echo  of  it  "  April  19,  1650  From  Chester,  that  Hugh  O'Neale 
\sic)  chief  in  Clonmel  offered  to  yield  the  place  for  a  sum  of  money."  Fennell  "  with  more  than 
ordinary  justice  "  says  Lord  Castlehaven  was  hanged  by  Ireton  at  Limerick  though  he  helped  to 
betray  that  city  also.    Clonmel  was  not  forgiven. 


History  of  Clonmel.  73 

Hopes  were  now  entertained  that  the  typhus  raging  in  the  town  as  well 
as  the  shortness  of  provisions  would  soon  bring  about  a  surrender  (I), 
Meanwhile  the  war  correspondents  on  both  sides  were  as  usual  engaged  in 
the  work  of  slaughter.  "  20  March  letters  from  Ireland  that  about  80  of  the 
enemies  foot  and  lO  horse  of  the  garrison  of  Clonmel  went  forth  to  fetch  in 
provisions  but  were  fallen  upon  by  some  of  the  parliament's  horse  who  killed 
23  of  them  and  took  seventeen  prisoners  and  their  horses  "  (m),  "  23  March 
letters  that  the  Lord  Lieutenant  had  taken  Clonmel  and  slain  2000  of  the 
enemy  there  and  was  marched  towards  Waterford  "  (n).  On  the  other  hand 
Cromwell  by  reason  of  CNeill's  "  many  valiant  sallies  and  martiall  stratagems 
did  loose  some  dales  200,  other  dales  300,  other  400,  other  500  men  ;  this  losse 
was  so  often  and  common  that  he  was  wearie  of  the  place  and  if  his  honor 
did  not  impede  his  Lordship  would  quitt  the  place  and  raise  the  siedge  "  (0), 
The  fall  of  Kilkenny  in  the  end  of  March  left  Cromwell  free  to  devote  himself 
altogether  to  the  siege  of  Clonmel,  and  thither  he  returned  on  14th  April  (p). 
Reinforcements  from  England  arrived,  consisting  of  a  regiment  of  foot,  two 
hundred  and  sixty  horse  and  a  supply  of  money,  but  bringing  at  the  same 
time  the  momentous  news  of  war  preparations  in  Scotland.  Clonmel  had  now 
to  be  taken  at  any  cost,  and  so  on  the  Tuesday  following,  l6th  April,  the 
cannon  to  open  a  breach  were  got  into  position  (q).  Shortly  after,  O'Neill 
and  the  Mayor  managed  to  get  through  the  Cromwellian  lines  a  last  appeal. 

May  it  please  your  Excellencye. 

Beinge  at  the  writinge  hereof  closelye  beseidged  by  the  enemye  wee  thought  it  our 
dutye  to  give  your  Excellencye  notice  thereof  though  wee  have  receaved  your 
Excellencies  answer  unto  our  laste  dispatches  representing  the  dangers  wee  hourlye 
feared  which  are  nowe  come  in  our  sight.  Wee  are  heere,  God  be  praysed  of  good 
couradge  and  resolution  and  will  endeavour  to  defend  this  place  as  longe  as  may  be  in 
annye  reason  expected  if  the  present  advance  of  the  armye  towards  us  or  the  late 
promised  releefe  by  your  Excellencye  will  not  fayle  us  for  the  defence  of  this  place 
wherof  the  safety,  of  the  Kingdom  maynelye  depends  which  is  in  hast  humblye 
submitted  unto  your  Excellencyes  grave  consideracon  to  prevent  annye  bloddie 
tragedye  to  be  acted  heer  as  in  other  places  for  want  of  tymely  releefe.  What  comfort 
may  be  possiblye  sent  us  we  humblye  desire  that  the  bearer  may  be  posted  away  night 
and  day  therewith  it  being  of  great  concernment  unto 

Your  Excellencys  most  humble  servts. 

Hugo  O'Neill       John  Whyte 
Clonmel  the  27th  of  Aprill  1650.  Maior  of  Clonmell. 

(I)  "  From  Chester  19  March.  That  the  Lord  Lieutenant  was  before  Clonmel  and  the  plague 
was  very  hot  in  the  Irish  quarters." — Whitelock,  p.  430.  In  December  fortunately,  White,  the 
Mayor,  had  impounded  the  corn  applotments  of  Co.  Tipperary  against  the  protests  of  Commissary 
Coughlan,  but  by  this  time  the  supplies  were  running  out. 

(m)  Whitelock,  p.  430. 

(n)  Ibid,  p.  431. 

(0)  Aphorismical  Discovery. 

(p)  Whitelock,  p.  434. 

(q)  "  Mr.  Lloyd  informs  that  his  Excellency  intended  to  fall  upon  the  place  very  suddenly  and 
thence  come  to  England.  On  Saturday  was  sevennight  he  came  before  Clonmel  and  the  Tuesday 
following  the  great  guns  were  brought  down  before  it." — Perfect  Diurnal,  May  6-13,  1650. 


74  History  of  Clonmel. 

May  it  please  your  Excellencye  it  is  our  humble  suite  that  the  armye  if  in  annie 
reasonable  condicion  may  march  night  and  day  to  our  succor  and  in  the  meane  tyme 
that  the  promised  releefe  may  be  sent  us  accomodated  with  provisions  for  themselves 
and  the  guarison  together  with  the  necessaries  mencioned  in  your  Excellencye's  late 
letters  (r). 

Ormond  in  the  meantime  was  making  fruitless  efforts  to  get  together  an 
army.  Lord  Castlehaven  did  not  hold  out  much  hope.  "Seeing  we  are  not 
like  soone  to  be  in  a  condisione  to  nieete  Cromwell  in  his  strength  I  knowe 
no  other  waie  to  helpe  Clonmell  but  to  endeavour  by  strong  divertions  to 
divide  his  forces  to  which  purpose  I  am  labouring  what  I  may  to  have  a 
partie  together  heere  by  tuesdaie  nexte  with  fourteen  daies  meanes.  I  have 
this  morning  dispatched  an  express  to  the  Bishop  of  Clogher  who  I  hear  is 
soon  to  have  a  rendevouse  that  if  he  be  not  readie  for  his  greate  designes  in 
Ullster  to  joine  his  forces  with  mine."  (s)  Castleconnell  being  appealed  to, 
called  the  gentry  together  at  O'Brien's  Bridge  where  it  was  agreed  to  raise 
1 100  foot  and  300  horse.  Ormond  promised  ammunition  as  soon  as  possible 
but  this  project  also  came  to  nothing,  (t)  Finally  Lord  Roche  assembled  a 
considerable  force  in  County  Cork,  Broghill  was  sent  against  him  by  Cromwell 
with  1500  foot  and  500  horse.  On  lOth  May,  Roche's  forces  were  defeated 
near  Macroom,  the  Bishop  of  Ross  who  accompanied  them  being  hanged  at 
Carrigdrehid  Castle,  (u)  When  Broghill  appeared  before  Clonmel  with  the 
news  of  his  victory  and  the  last  hope  of  relieving  the  town  was  cut  off,  the 
whole  Cromwellian  army  received  him  with  acclamations,  crying  out 
A  Broghill !  A  Broghill !  (v) 

Still  the  spirit  of  the  garrison  was  unbroken,  but  it  was  the  courage  of 
despair ;  they  expected  no  quarter  and  they  would  give  none.  One  day  they 
had  a  stern  object  lesson  in  Cromwellian  justice.  An  inoffensive  man.  Father 
Nicholas  Mulcahy,  parish  priest  of  Ardfinnan,  who  had  refused  influencing 
the  garrison  to  surrender,  was  brought  forth  in  front  of  the  walls  and  there 
his  head  was  struck  off.  Such  an  episode  was  little  calculated  to  intimidate 
men  who  had  arms  in  their  hands  and  knew  how  to  use  them  (w). 

The  town  at  this  period,  regarded  from  a  strategic  standpoint,  was  a 
parallelogram,  lying  east  and  west  with  its  base  on  the  river,  the  sides  being 
roughly  500  by  400  yards  long.  The  enclosing  walls  originally  built  in  the 
fourteenth  century  were  from  25  to  30  feet  high  and  5  feet  in  thickness. 
They  were  pierced  by  four  gates  and  strengthened  at  intervals  of  about  70 

(r)  Carte  Papers,  vol.  27 

(s)  Castlehaven  to  Ormond,  Ballimorc,  17th  April.    Carte  Papers,  vol.  27. 

(t)  Castleconnel  to  Ormond,  25th  April.     Ibid. 

(u)  Lord  Roche  to  Ormond,  14th  May.    Ibid. 

(v)  Boyle  Memoirs,  Dublin,  1759  p.  41. 

(w)  Propugnaculum  Catholicae  Veritatis,  Bruodin,  Prague,  1669. 


History  of  Clonmel.  75 

yards  by  turrets.  The  south-east  quarter  of  the  town  was  occupied  by  the 
old  Franciscan  church  and  monastery  which  had  been  kept  in  repair  and 
partly,  in  the  time  of  James  L,  devoted  to  military  purposes.  In  the  north-west 
corner  was  the  churchyard  of  St.  Mary's,  lying  around  the  parish  church,  a 
massive  pile  having  battlemented  roofs  and  two  flanking  towers — a  fortress 
which  manned  by  a  resolute  guard  could  be  taken  only  with  cannon.  The 
streets  adjoining  the  gates  were  exceedingly  narrow,  with  one  exception. 
Lough  Street,  which  led  to  the  North  Gate.  This  fact  determined  Cromwell 
to  open  the  breach  at  that  point.  For  through  the  breach  and  the  neighbouring 
gate  when  captured,  an  overwhelming  force  of  horse  and  foot  could  be  poured 
by  way  of  Lough  Street,  into  the  town;  whereas  the  prolonged  conflict  in  the 
narrow  streets  with  an  enemy  well  posted  would  entail  terrible  loss. 
Accordingly  the  battery  was  planted  at  the  foot  of  Gallows  Hill,  being 
protected  from  a  sally  of  the  Irish  by  the  camp  which  occupied  the  declivity 
behind.     Here  also  it  would  appear  Cromwell's  headquarters  were  situated  (x). 

From  about  the  middle  of  April  when  the  battery  first  began  to  'speak,' 
onward  through  the  month  of  May,  the  air  was  vibrant  with  the  thunder  of 
cannon.  The  garrison  could  only  reply  feebly  and  at  lengthening  intervals, 
for  the  ammunition  was  failing,  and  every  ounce  of  powder  had  to  be 
economised.  The  walls  bravely  stood  the  shock ;  but  their  old  time  builders 
little  dreamt  of  cannon  that  would  carry  balls  of  42  pounds  weight  (y).  Amid 
the  awful  gloom  and  strain  of  those  terrible  weeks  the  energy  of  O'Neill  fired 
the  whole  population.  His  practised  eye  saw  every  danger,  and  his  resource 
was  equal  to  every  emergency.  One  incident  of  this  time  put  the 
townsfolk  into  high  spirits.  "Within  two  hours  after  night  fall  the 
Major  generall  sent  out  two  hundred  chosen  men  and  officers  with  a  good 
guide  through  bye  ways  from  a  place  of  the  wall  next  the  river  that 
was  neglected  by  the  besiegers,  and  fell  on  the  backs  of  those  in  a  fort  not 
fully  finished  and  cut  them  all  off  before  any  relief  came;  on  which 
immediately  the  next  gate  was  opened  for  them,  and  they  got  in  safe  with 
the  loss  of  half  a  dozen.  The  number  killed  in  the  fort  was  about  sixty,  being 
one  of  their  companies  "  (z). 

The  siege  was  now  entering  on  its  last  phase.  By  the  middle  of  May 
the  cannon  had  done  their  work  and  a  large  stretch  of  the  wall  was  falling. 

(x)  The  strategy  was  that  by  which  Cromwell  (and  indeed  every  17th  century  leader)  gained 
his  victories — ^always  to  seize  the  occasion  when  horsemen  could  be  launched  forward  with  powerful 
effect,  holding  a  reserve  to  follow  up  and  assure  success.  O'Neill  as  "  an  old  surly  Spanish  soldier  " 
was  quite  familiar  with  it  an  laid  his  plans  accordingly. 

(y)  Cromw^ell  marched  from  Gowran  with  horse  and  foot  having  "3  peeces  of  artillery  the 
bullet  of  the  leastc  of  which  weighed  31  lb  " — Sir  W.  Butler  toOrmond3rd  April  1650 — Carte  Papers 
vol.  26.     Some  balls  have  been  found  which  weighed  42  lbs. 

(z)  Warr  of  164 1.    By  a  British  Officer  of  Clot  worthy's  Regiment. 


76  HISTORY   OF   CLONMEL. 

On  Thursday  the  l6th  both  parties  knowing  that  another  day  would  decide 
the  issue,  nerved  themselves  for  the  final  struggle.  The  Cromwellians  made 
ready  for  a  sharp  encounter  and  a  merciless  battue.  The  Irish  on  the  other 
hand  in  spite  of  the  overwhelming  forces  against  them,  were  not  less  confident 
For  they  believed  that  Cromwell  was  outgeneralled ;  the  plan  of  seizing  on 
the  North  Gate  from  the  inside  and  thus  through  the  two  inlets  rushing  the 
town  with  an  irresistible  mass  of  horse  and  foot,  had  been  taken  advantage 
of  by  O'Neill  for  a  purpose  of  his  own.  He  provided  for  the  attacking  party 
a  convenient  passage  from  the  breach  to  the  Gate.  "  Hugh  Duff  did  set  all 
men  and  maids  to  work,  townsmen  and  soldiers,  only  those  on  duty  attending 
the  breach  and  the  walls — to  draw  dung  hills,  mortar,  stones  and  timber  and 
made  a  long  lane  a  man's  height  and  about  eighty  yards  length  on  both  sides 
from  the  breach  with  a  foot  bank  at  the  back  of  it  and  caused  to  be  placed 
engines  on  both  sides  of  the  same  and  two  guns  at  the  end  of  it  invisible 
opposite  to  the  breach  and  so  ordered  all  things  against  a  storm  "  (aa).  Behind 
this  lane  stood  some  houses  forming  the  extremity  of  Lough  Street.  These 
also  were  made  to  serve  for  purposes  of  defence. 

On  the  morning  of  Friday,  May  l/th,  the  cannonade  began  again ;  through 
the  day  the  breach  was  made  more  and  more  accessible  and  about  three  in 
the  afternoon  the  battery  was  silenced  (bb).  The  Cromwellians  now  advanced 
singing  a  Scriptural  battle  hymn  (cc).  As  they  approached  they  were  received 
with  a  well  directed  fire.  Entering  the  breach,  the  Ulster  pike  men  engaged 
them  in  a  fierce  hand  to  hand  encounter,  whilst  the  marksmen  placed  in  the 
earthworks  behind,  steadily  shot  them  down.  Every  inch  of  the  ground  was 
stubbornly  contested  until  at  length  the  Cromwellians  reeling  under  the 
terrible  onslaught,  after  heavy  losses,  turned  and  fled  (dd).  The  utter  rout  of 
the  storming  party  spread  consternation  among  the  Puritan  forces ;  it  looked 
as  if  the  invincible  Ironsides  were  going  to  be  beaten  at  last.  There  was  an 
immediate  call  for  another  and  a  stronger  force,  but  the  infantry  in  a  state  of 
mutiny  complained  that  the  horsemen  should  take  their  share  of  the 
fighting  (ee).    The  picked  men  of  the  army  were  now  got  hastily  together,  the 


(aa)  Warr  of  1641.     By  a  British  Officer  of  Sir  John  Clotworthy's  Regiment. 

(bh)  "  The  guns  had  performed  their  business  very  well  so  that  about  three  of  the  clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  soldiers  stood  safe  on  the  breach." — History  of  Irish  Rebellion,  Dublin,  1743,  p.  20. 

(cc)  History  of  Ireland,  McGee. 

(dd)  The  Cromwellian  accounts  state  "Our  men  kept  close  to  the  breach  which  they  had 
entered,  all  the  time  save  only  one  accidental  retreat  in  the  storm  "  (Whitelock)  "  We  had  with  our 
guns  made  a  breach  in  the  walls  where  after  a  hot  fight  we  gave  back  a  while  "  (Several  Proceedings 
in  Parliament)  "  The  drawing  the  men  to  the  breach  was  somewhat  offensive  which  caused  some 
loss  "(Cliff,  Ireton's  secretary).  The  Irish  account  is  "Then  began  the  assaulte  verie  fierse  and 
courageous,  the  defendants  opposed  so  manly  that  three  severall  times  they  beat  the  enemie  backe  " 
(Aphorismical  Discovery). 

(ee)  "  The  foot  not  being  so  well  satisfied  that  the  horse  especially  in  storms  did  not  run  equal 
hazards  with  them  "—History  of  Irish  Rebellion,  Dublin  1743. 


History  of  Clonmel.  77 

bulk  of  them  belonging  to  Ireton's  regiment,  the  leaders  being  Colonels 
CuUam,  Grey  and  Leigh,  Captains  Jordan,  Humphreys  and  others.  A  British 
ofl&cer  of  Sir  John  Clotworthy's  regiment  graphically  describes  what  followed. 

They  entered  without  any  opposition  and  but  few  were  to  be  seen  in  the  town  till 
they  so  entered,  that  the  lane  was  crammed  full  with  horsemen  armed  with  helmets, 
back  breastswords,  musquetoons  and  pistols.  On  which  those  in  the  front  seeing 
themselves  in  a  pound  and  could  not  make  their  way  further  cryed  out  *  Halt !  Halt '  I 
On  which  those  entering  behind  at  the  breach  thought  by  those  words  that  all  those  of 
the  garrison  were  running  away  and  cryed  out  *  Advance !  Advance  * !  as  fast  as  those 
before  cryed  out  *  Halt  I  Halt '  I  and  so  advanced  until  they  trust  forward  those  before 
them,  till  that  pound  or  lane  was  full  and  could  hold  no  more. 

Then  suddenly  rushes  a  resolute  party  of  pikes  and  musqueteers  to  the  breach  and 
scoured  off  and  knocked  back  those  entering.  At  which  instance  Hugh  DufiTs  men 
within  fell  on  those  in  the  pound  with  shotts,  pikes,  scythes,  stones  and  casting  of  great 
long  pieces  of  timber  with  the  engines  amongst  them  and  then  two  guns  firing  at  them 
from  the  end  of  the  pound,  slaughtering  them  by  the  middle  or  knees  with  chained 
bullets,  that  in  less  than  an  hour's  time  about  a  thousand  men  were  killed  in  that 
pound,  being  a  top  one  another. 

The  Irish  writer  of  the  " Aphorismical  Discovery"  gives  a  similar  account. 

Cromwell  determined  to  loose  all  at  once  or  win  the  garland.  Commandinge 
therefore  both  horse  and  foot  pell  mell  that  such  a  heape  in  such  an  occasion  was 
seldome  scene  that  by  the  very  thronge  severall  of  them  perished,  advancinge  forwarde 
unawares  (both  opposition  and  assaulte  being  soe  furious  and  hott)  not  observinge 
either  ditche  or  counterscarfe  fell  headlonge  into  the  said  ditche  from  whence  there  was 
no  redemption  or  possibilitie  of  recoverie  but  there  were  massacred  and  butchered. 
Their  seconds  and  comrades  seinge  what  hapned,  retired,  neither  the  threats  of  the 
Generall  nor  the  bloudie  sworde  of  inferiour  officers  was  sufficient  enough  to  keepe 
them  from  turning  tayle  to  the  assaulte  and  turned  to  the  campe  leavinge  Major 
generall  O'Neylle  in  the  possession  of  a  bloudie  wall. 

The  second  division  of  the  storming  party  with  Cromwell  himself  was  at 
the  North  or  Lough  gate  "  expecting  the  gates  to  be  opened  by  those  entered 
untill  he  saw  those  in  the  breach  beaten  back,  and  heard  the  cannons  going 
off  within  then  he  fell  off  as  much  vexed  as  ever  he  was  since  he  first  put  on 
a  helmet  against  the  King  for  such  a  repulse  he  did  not  usually  meet -with  "  (ff). 

Night  was  now  coming  on,  and  even  if  the  disheartened  soldiers  could 
be  got  together  for  another  assault,  Cromwell  judged  it  would  be  sheer 
madness  (gg). 

Victory  was  with  the  Irish,  but  it  was  a  victory  that  could  have  no  issue. 
O'Neill  had  no  reserves  by  which  in  the  panic  and  unpreparedness  of  defeat, 
he  might  have  stormed  the  camp  and  destroyed  in  detail  the  besiegers'  army 
spread  as  it  was  over  a  line  of  three  miles. 

(ff)  Warr  of  1641-52.    By  a  British  Officer,  etc. 

(ti)  1^^^  ^^  \t\^  in  Cromwell's  opinion  could  not  be  dislodged  by  any  storming  party,  is  clear 
from  his  resolve  to  bring  cannon  into  the  breach  itself  next  day.  (History  of  Irish  Rebellion, 
Dublin,  1743).  Such  a  step  in  the  presence  of  a  strong  garrison  could  only  end  in  disaster  but  then 
he  knew  that  by  this  time  O'Neill's  men  were  thinned  and  his  resources  spent. 


78  History  of  Clonmel. 

Consulting  with  his  officers  and  seeing  that  their  ammunition  was  gone  he 
concluded  to  leave  the  town  without  Cromwell's  leave  and  so  at  nightfall  he  imparted 
the  same  to  the  Mayor,  one  Whyte,  and  advised  him  after  he  was  gone  half  a  dozen 
miles  off  as  he  might  guess,  to  send  privately  out  to  Cromwell  for  licence  to  speak  to  him 
about  conditions  for  the  town  ;  but  not  to  make  mention  of  himself  on  any  account  till 
he  had  done.  After  which  advice  to  the  Mayor  he  marches  away  with  his  men  about 
two  hours  after  nightfall  {hh)  and  passed  over  the  river  undiscovered  by  a  guard  of 
horse  that  lay  on  the  other  side  of  the  bridge  and  he  made  no  great  halt  till  he  reached 
to  a  town  called  Ballynasack  where  he  refreshed  his  men.  Then  the  Mayor  according 
as  he  was  advised  about  twelve  o'clock  at  night  sent  out  to  Cromwell  very  privately 
for  a  conduct  to  wait  upon  his  Excellency ;  which  forthwith  was  sent  to  him  and  an 
officer  to  conduct  him  from  the  wall  to  Cromwell's  tent  who  after  some  course 
[customary]  compliments  was  not  long  capitulating  when  he  got  good  conditions  for 
the  town. 

After  which  Cromwell  asked  him  if  Hugh  O'Neill  knew  of  his  coming  out,  to 
which  he  answered  he  did  not  for  that  he  was  gone  two  hours  after  nightfall  with  all 
his  men,  at  which  Cromwell  stared  and  frowned  at  him  and  said  "  You  knave  have  you 
served  me  so,  and  did  not  tell  me  so  before."  To  which  the  Mayor  replied  that  if  his 
Excellency  had  demanded  the  question  he  would  tell  him.  Then  he  asked  him  what 
that  Duff  O'Neill  was,  to  which  the  Mayor  answered  that  he  was  an  over  sea  soldier 

born  in  Spain ;  on  which  Cromwell  said  "  God  d n  you  and  your  over  sea" !  and 

said  in  a  fury  By  G above  he  would  follow  that  Hugh  Duff  O'Neill  wheresoever 

he  went. 

Then  the  Mayor  delivered  the  Keys  of  the  gates  to  Cromwell  who  immediately 
commanded  guards  on  them  and  next  morning  himself  entered  where  he  saw  his  men 
killed  in  the  pound  notwithstanding  which  and  his  fury  that  Hugh  Duff  went  off  as  he 
did,  he  kept  his  conditions  with  the  town  (//). 

Articles  made  between  the  Lord  Leifetenant  and  the  Inhabitants  thereof 
touching  the  rendition  thereof,  May  the  1 8th,  1650. 

It  is  graunted  and  agreed  by  and  betwixt  the  Lord  Lieut.  Genii.  Cromwell  on  the 
one  part  and  Mr  Michael  White  and  Mr  Nicholas  Betts  Comrs.  entrusted  in  the  behalfe 
of  the  towne  and  guarrison  of  Clonmel  on  the  other  parte  as  follows. 

1st  The  said  towne  and  guarrison  of  Clonmel  with  the  arms  ammunicon  and  other 
furniture  of  warr  that  are  now  theirin  shall  be  rendered  and  delivered  up  into  the  hands 
of  his  Excellency  the  Lord  Left,  by  eight  of  the  clock  this  morninge. 

2nd  That  in  consideracon  thereof  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  towne  shall  be 
protected  their  lives  and  estates  from  all  plunder  and  violence  of  the  souldiery  and 
shall  have  the  same  rights  libertye  and  proteccon  as  other  subjects  under  the  authoritie 
of  the  Parliament  of  England  have  or  ought  to  have  and  injoy  within  the  dominion  of 
Ireland. 

VeraCopia  O.  Cromwell  0>V. 

Thus  ended  the  siege  of  Clonmel  after  five  weeks  of  close  investment  and 
nearly  three  months  since  the  Cromwellians  first  appeared  before  the  walls. 
It  cost  the  besiegers  between  2000  and  2500  men  and  many  officers — in  one 
regiment  alone,  Ireton's,  they  were  nearly  all  slain  (kkj.     From  the  first  the 


(hh)  Eighty  wounded  men  were  left  behind  who  were  unabje  to  travel — Carv's  Memorials  II., 
218. 

(ii)  Warr  of  1641-53.     Bv  a  British  Officer,  etc. 

(jj)  MS.  R.I.A. 

(kkJ  Sir  Lewis  Dyves,  Borlase  and  Carte  state  'near  2500.'  Cox  and  some  contemporary 
authorities  'over  2000.'  'Nearly  all  the  officers  of  Ireton's  regiment  arc  wanting  and  you  may 
shrewdly  guess  at  Hercules  by  his  foot  '—Gary's  Memorials  II.  218. 


History  of  Clonmel.  79 

Cromwellians  clearly  realized  the  difficult  task  before  them  as  is  evident 
from  the  protracting  of  the  siege  in  order  to  wear  out  the  garrison.  But  that 
they  could  be  beaten  in  a  stand  up  fight,  they  never  dreamt.  Whitelock 
acknowledges  "they  found  in  Clonmel  the  stoutest  enemy  that  ever  was 
found  by  the  army  in  Ireland,  and  there  was  never  seen  so  hot  a  storm  of  so 
long  continuance  and  so  gallantly  defended  neither  in  England  nor  Ireland 'YW. 
Cromwell  himself  confessed  that  the  defence  of  Clonmel  "  nearly  brought  his 
noble  to  ninepence  "  (mm).  It  is  not  altogether  idle  to  observe  that  had  the 
garrison  been  a  few  thousand  stronger,  the  subsequent  history  of  Ireland 
would  have  to  be  written  differently  (nn). 


(U)  Memorials  p.  457. 

(mm)  Cox,  Hibernia  Anglicana  II.  16. 

(nu)  Long  after  there  were  echoes  of  the  siege.  1654  November  6,  Theobald  Bolton  linen 
draper  St  Peter's  Parish,  Cornhill  petitions  parliament  for  relief  in  his  necessities.  His  only  brother 
Major  Charles  Bolton  was  wounded  at  the  taking  of  Clonmel  of  which  he  is  since  dead,  (State  Papers, 
Domestic.)  1655  October  13,  Nicholas  Jordan  petitions  the  Admiralty,  the  State  stands  indebted  to 
him  and  his  brother  in  the  sum  of  ;f  300  for  debentures ;  the  latter.  Major  Thomas  Jordan  was  slain 
at  Clonmel  etc.,  (Ibid.)  "The  ancestor  of  the  present  Langtie  of  Lisnebruck  proprietor  of  the 
coUeries  near  Killenall  in  the  county  of  Tipperar>'  had  his  hand  choped  off  above  the  wrist  when 
scaleing  the  walls.  I  had  this  fact  from  his  own  lips  one  night  I  slept  at  his  house,  in  confirmation  of 
which  a  hand  with  a  glove  on  it  and  the  colours  he  carried  at  the  time,  are  hung  up  to  this  day  as  a 
record  of  that  transaction  in  Mary's  Church,  Clonmel.  I  have  seen  them  there  many  a  time  " — Paper 
of  Philip  son  of  Nicholas  Comins  of  Clonmel,  1786.  The  Langley  referred  to  was  Lieut.  Henry 
I^ngley  of  Capt.  Thomas  Ask's  troop  in  the  regiment  of  horse  commanded  by  Col.  Jerome  Sankey. 
The  old  Lough  Gate,  or  as  it  was  sometimes  called  the  North  Gate,  was  subsequently  known  to  the 
people  of  Clonmel  as  the  **Bre«ich  Gate."  Even  in  legal  documents  this  name  superseded  the 
former  ones.  4  March  1708  Fine  by  Joseph  and  Sarah  Dennison  to  John  Marshall  of  "  a  waste  plot 
of  ground  etc.  being  part  of  the  former  holding  of  Thomas  Elwell  and  Henry  Ansel  1  situate  outside 
the  Breach  Gate  of  Clonmell  "  (Records  of  the  Tipperary  Palatinate  P.R.O.)  Many  years  ago  when 
the  houses  lying  between  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  Church  and  Gladstone  St.  were  being  erected,  numerous 
evidences  of  the  assault  were  obtained.  The  late  John  Dowsley  M.D.  of  Mary  St.  long  kept  a  small 
museum  of  bullets,  fragments  of  matchlocks,  helmets,  breastplates,  buckles  and  the  like.  The  latest 
souvenir  was  a  portion  of  a  cannon  ball,  about  one-third.  It  weighed  14  lbs.  and  was  foimd  when 
laying  a  waterpipe  into  Dwyer's  premises  [Clonmel  Chronicle^  16th  Jan.,  1895). 


Oh  AFTER  VI. 


CROMWELLIAN  CLONMEL. 

ON  the  surrender  of  the  town,  Cromwell  at  once  left  for  England,  and 
Colonel  Jerome  Sankey  was  made  governor  of  Tipperary  with  head 
quarters  in  Clonmel.  As  Sankey  was  a  characteristic  product  of 
the  period,  his  career  deserves  notice.  He  was  now  29  years  of 
age,  a  native  of  Shropshire,  and  educated  at  Cambridge.  He  graduated 
doctor  of  laws  and  subsequently  took  orders  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Whether  his  experience  policing  the  University  as  proctor  or  (as  evil  tongues 
suggested)  his  narrow  curate's  stipend  of  £8  a-year  prompted  him,  he  threw 
off  the  clerical  gown  and  took  a  commission  in  the  Chester  horse.  Being 
known  to  some  members  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  for  the  Affairs  of 
Ireland,  he  became  in  rapid  succession  major  and  colonel  of  that  regiment 
which  accompanied  Cromwell  to  Ireland.  His  ecclesiastical  training  now 
stood  him  in  good  stead,  for  the  whole  army  of  the  saints  did  not  contain 
(except  Major  Tomlinson)  a  more  acceptable  preacher.  As  a  zealous 
anabaptist  he  constantly  divided  the  Word  and  had  "  great  bickerings  with 
the  devil."    On  occasion  even,  he  undertook  to  exorcise  evil  spirits  (ao). 

It  is  true  his  enemies  accused  him  of  buying  land  debentures  fronv  his 
own  soldiers  for  a  few  shillings ;  of  cheating  Captain  Godfrey  and  others 
out  of  Lismalin  Park  while  acting  as  their  trustee.  It  was  noted  moreover 
(holy  man  that  he  was)  he  rejected  the  3,000  acres  which  the  Lord  had  by 


(00)  "  One  Mr.  VVadman  being  in  a  fit  of  melancholy  reflecting  on  the  death  of  his  wife.  Here- 
upon Sir  Jerome  would  needs  undertake  to  cast  out  the  Divel.  At  the  end  of  every  period  in  the 
course  of  his  Conjurations  hee  would  ask  Mr.  Wadman  how  he  did  ?  who  alwaies  answered  with  a 
sigh  'All  one.*  Inasmuch  as  at  length  Sir  Jerome  was  fain  to  say  that  Wadman's  Divel  was  of  that 
sort  which  required  Fasting  aswel  as  Prayer  to  expell  it.  Whereupon  the  Spectators  observing 
how  plentifully  Sir  Jerome  had  eaten  and  tipled  that  evening,  did  easily  conceive  the  cause  why  the 
Divel  did  not  stir." — Reflections  upon  Some  Persons  and  Things  in  Ireland,  by  Dr.  Petty,  p.  loi. 
London,  1660. 


History  of  Clonmel.  si 

lot  predestined  unto  him,  and  carnally-minded,  choose  land  of  greater 
fertility  (pp).  But  the  high  spiritual  conversation  of  the  governor,  and  his 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  the  Commonwealth  made  him  .proof  against  all  attacks. 

Naturally,  the  first  measures  of  Sankey  were  directed  against  the  Catholic 
clergy.  A  few  of  the  priests  had  fled  with  O'Neill,  the  rest  remained  in 
hiding  (qq).  The  parish  priest  of  Clonmel,  Thomas  White,  long  lay 
concealed.  At  length  when  the  storm  had  partly  spent  itself  he  ventured 
out.  Though  known  to  hundreds  his  secret  was  never  betrayed,  and  he 
passed  as  a  servant  in  the  house  of  James  Brennock  in  the  Irishtown  (rr). 
Others  were  not  so  fortunate;  Father  Miles  McGrath  was  seized  while 
ministering  to  a  sick  man ;  he  was  immediately  taken  and  executed  (ss). 
The  following  April,  165 1,  Father  O'Higgins  was  hanged  at  the  Main 
Guard  (it),  and  the  same  year  Father  William  O'Connor  was  beheaded.  The 
latter  with  fiendish  contempt  was  stripped  stark  naked  at  the  execution  (uu). 
"  I  meditated,"  said  Sankey,  "  upon  the  severe  justice  of  Grod  against  Saul, 
Jehosophat,  courting  those  they  should  have  trampled  upon  and  for  sparing 
where  the  Lord  commanded  destroying,  and  the  end  for  .which  I  herin 
ingaged  at  first  was  sealed  upon  my  heart "  (w). 

Though  Cromwell  left  Ireland  29th  May,  1650,  the  war  was  not  over  for 
more  than  three  years  after.  The  Irish  beaten  in  the  towns  took  to  the  bogs, 
the  woods  and  the  mountains.  Colonel  Edmond  O'Dwyer  under  the  King's 
commission,  long  carried  on  a  guerilla  war  in  Tipperary.  He  had  under  him 
portions  of  five  regiments — Col.  Walter  Butler's,  Donough  O'Dwyer's,  Stephen 
White's,  Edmond  O'Meagher's  and  his  own.  In  the  first  terror  of  the  invasion, 
the  people  fled  with  their  stocks  and  belongings,  leaving  the  country  desolate. 
The  Cromwellians,  therefore,  unable  to  levy  contributions,  and  fearing  that 
if  the  land  were  untilled,  there  would  be  famine  and  they  themselves  perish 
with  the  rest,  invited  the  farmers  to  return ;  certain  districts  around  the 
garrisons  were  "protected  quarters,"  within  which  they  might  dwell  and 
grow  their  crops  without  molestation  (ww).  Outside  these,  a  war  of 
extermination  was  carried  on  against  O'Dwyer's  troops  and  the  Irish  generally. 

iff)  Ibid,  pp.  34,  69,  90. 

(qq)  A  Dominican,  James  O'Reilly,  was  overtaken  in  the  pursuit  and  forthwith  despatched. — 
Hibernia  Dominicana,  p.  566. 

(rr)  **  James  Brenocke,  Yeoman  and  Catherine  his  wife  ....  Thomas  White  servant  " — 
Poll  Money  Returns,  Appendix,  infra, 

(ss)  Ibid. 

fit  J  Spicilegium  Ossoriense  I.,  378.     Hib.  Domin.  329,  etc 

(tut)  Sufferers  for  the  Catholic  Faith  in  Ireland.    Myles  O'Reilly,  p.  245.    London,  1868. 

(w)  Sankey  to  Cromwell,  Clonmel,  27th  March,  1652. — Severall  Proceedings  in  Parliament. 

(ww)  The  parts  within  the  mountains  and  the  Suir,  all  the  villages  upon  the  mountains  .  .  . 
the  barony  of  Comsy  .  .  .  the  parts  within  the  mountains  called  the  Galtyes  .  .  .  the  vale 
between  the  mountains  and  Clanwilliam  ...  all  the  houses  and  villages  in  the  Comrae  and  in 
the  glyns  were  all  exempted  from  protection. — Proclamation,  3rd  Feb.,  27th  Feb.,  etc.,  1650.  Council 
Books,  P.R.O. 

G 


82  History  OF  Clonmel. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  winter  we  spent  much  time  in  burning  and  d^troying  the 
non  protected  quarters  especially  about  the  great  bogg  of  Monely  [Eliogarty]  where 
Colonel  Axtel  and  Colonel  Abbot  met  me  according  to  appointment,  when  (through  the 
benefit  of  the  hard  frosts  which  are  unusual  in  this  land)  we  burned  and  consumed 
most  of  their  substance  and  store  in  three  or  four  days  time  (xx). 

Forced  by  hunger  the  Irish  sometimes  ventured  into  the  protected  quarters 
and  were  disposed  of  according  to  the  orders  of  the  "  general!  counsell  of 
warr  "  sitting  at  Kilkenny. 

"  Being  harboured  by  the  protected  people  after  publication  of  those  orders,  we  have 
put  them  in  execution,  and  hanged  fifty  and  odd  since*' (yy). 

Probably  the  Irish  account  is  not  much  wide  of  the  truth.  "  No  less  than 
five  hundred  poor  labourers  and  women  were  hanged  at  Clonmel  and  other 
garrisons  in  this  county,  guilty  of  no  other  crime  but  being  found  within  the 
imaginary  lines  drawn  by  the  governors  of  the  several  garrisons 'Y««A 
The  general  character  of  the  warfare  carried  on  by  Sankey  may  be  understood 
from  a  few  instances. 

A  soldier  bemg  killed  by  some  of  the  Irish  army  Colonel  Jeremy  Sankey  summoned 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish  wherein  he  was  killed  (being  under  his  protection)  to 
come  to  Fethered  where  he  put  them  to  the  dice  and  hanged  five  of  them.  One 
Lieutenant  McGrath  of  his  Majesty's  army,  being  taken  prisoner  by  Capt.  John  Godfrey 
was  five  days  after  hanged  in  the  town  of  Fethered  by  Colonel  Sankey  notwithstanding 
the  said  Godfrey's  promise  to  have  given  him  quarter  (a). 

And  Sankey's  subalterns  in  the  several  garrisons  were  alike  active  in  the 
work  of  massacre.  Maurice  English  the  representative  of  an  Anglo-Norman 
family  settled  in  Rochestown  for  centuries,  was  dragged  out  of  his  castle  by 
Captain  Godfrey  and  hanged  in  Cahir  (bj.  Philip  Purcel  kinsman  of  the 
baron  of  Loughmoe,  found  within  protected  quarters  near  Thurles,  was  killed 
by  Major  Bolton.  David  Walsh  whose  ancestors  since  the  first  conquest 
held  Powerstown,  was  mercilessly  slaughtered  by  Major  Morgan  on  the  road 
to  Carrick,  Similarly  with  others.  No  wonder  if  traditions  of  hanging  and 
murder  cling  round  every  ruin  in  the  county,  and  the  "  Curse  of  Cromwell "  is 
still  on  the  lips  of  the  peasant  (c). 

Nor  could  it  be  said  that  the  Cromwellians  were  merely  retaliating  on  an 
enemy  faithless  and  truculent.  During  two  years  Sankey  had  lost  only  one 
officer  and  five  men, while  he  reported  that  O'Dwyer  was  "exact  and  punctual! 
in  the  performance  of  his  word  in  al!  ingagements."   In  April,  165 1,  the  Irish 

fxx)  Sankey  to  Cromwell,  27th  March,  1652. 

(yyj  Ibid. 

(zzj  "  A  collection  of  some  of  the  Massacres  and  Murthers  Committed  on  the  Irish  since  the  23rd 
of  Octot>er  1641,  London  1662. 
(a)  Ibid. 

(bJ  Godfrey's  tomb  may  still  be  seen  within  the  ruined  church  of  Knockgraffon. 
(c)  Ibid. 


History  OF  Clonmel.  83 

commander  captured  two  troops  and  a  company,  with  Captains  Cuffe,  Godfrey 
and  others  (d).  He  at  once  released  them  on  equal  terms ;  it  were  better  he 
had  kept  them  as  hostages  for  the  good  conduct  of  the  saints. 

But  the  greatest  difficulty  of  the  pious  governor,  was  the  making  peace 
with  O'Dwyer.  "  Truly  this  business  from  their  first  offer  hath  been  more 
formidable  and  distracting  to  me  than  any  undertaking  that  ever  yet  befell 
me."  For  he  feared  lest  sparing  the  lives  of  the  Irish  was  an  act  of  infidelity 
to  the  Lord  and  a  snare  of  the  evil  one.  Then  he  recalled  the  good  works  of 
O'Dwyer  "  and  having  this  principle  that  rewards  and  punishments  are  for 
good  and  evill  works,  whatever  the  workers  are,  and  this  hath  its  foundation 
upon  a  scripture  rule  Mat.  6,"  he  resolved  in  favour  of  the  treaty.  And 
he  acted  with  the  safer  conscience  for  "the  treaty  should  extend  to  no 
condition  for  persons  guilty  of  murther ;  no  mention  of  any  toleration  for 
religion  or  priests  and  no  capitulation  for  reall  estates  "  (e).  Accordingly  on 
the  23rd  March,  1652,  at  Cahir  Castle  articles  were  signed  by  Colonels 
Edmond  O'Dwyer,  Donough  O'Dwyer  and  Walter  Butler  on  the  one  part,  and 
Colonels  Jerome  Sankey,  Solomon  Richards  and  Adjutant  Allen  on  the  other, 
bringing  the  war  to  an  end. 

Yet  not  the  end.  For  on  the  following  8th  November,  a  high  commission 
was  opened  in  Clonmel  before  Judges  Donnelan  and  Cooke  and  Commissary 
general  Reynolds,  to  try  for  murder  those  who  in  1641  on  the  first  outbreak 
.  had  slain  any  English.  While  the  great  mass  of  evidence  showed  that  the 
English  and  Protestants  had  been  sheltered  by  Lady  Thurles,  John  Cantwell 
of  Ballymakeedy,  Sir  Richard  Everard,  Thonias  Tobin  of  Clorine,  Geoffry 
Mockler  of  Mocklerstown,  James  Sail  of  Meldrum  and  others,  there  was 
proof  that  several  non-belligerents,  including  some  women,  were  killed  at 
Golden,  Cashel  and  Silvermines.  If  it  were  ascertained  that  any  tenantry 
or  followers  of  a  particular  gentleman  were  present  on  these  occasions,  he 
himself  was  held  by  the  court  parficeps  criminis  and  condemned  accordingly. 
In  this  way  Pierce  Butler  of  Shanballyduff,  and  his  eldest  son  Thomas, 
James  Butler  of  Boytonrath,  Thomas  Kent  of  Lough  Kent,  and  James  Butler 
of  Ruscoe,  were  hanged  for  the  attack  on  Golden  Castle  at  which  not  one  of 
them  was  present  Similarly  Colonel  Teige  O'Meagher,  Colonel  Donough 
O'Dwyer,  Theobald  Butler,  Hugh  Ryan,  Ullick  Burke  of  Lismacue,  Bryan 
Kearney  of  Ballybeg,  James  Burke  of  Scartfield,  and  several  others  were 
hanged  for  the  murders   at  the   Silvermines  and  Cashel  (f).    The  more 


(d)  Sankey  to  Cromwell  sufray  also  Borlace  p. 

(e)  Ibid. 

(f)  Memorialls  of  ye  Warr  begun  in  164 1  wrote  by  Mr.  Kearney  in  the  Co.  of  Tipperary,  Feby. 
1657.    Carte  Papers,  Bodleian,  \oU\x\\. 


84  History  of  Clonmel. 

dangerous  of  the  Tipperary  gentry  being  thus  disposed  of,  it  remained  only 
to  deal  with  their  disbanded  soldiers.  These,  trained  in  the  use  of  arms  and 
seasoned  in  guerilla  warfare,  might  subsequently  disturb  the  Cromwellian 
settlement,  if  not  frustrate  it  altogether.  Hence  the  Commissioners  of 
Parliament  early  determined  to  send  as  many  as  possible  into  foreign  service. 
In  the  summer  of  1651,  a  party  of  IIO  taken  by  Sankey  was  transported  to 
Spain.  These  were  followed  by  several  others,  and  in  July,  1654,  3,500  under 
O'Dwyer  himself  went  to  serve  the  Prince  de  Cond6. 

Now  that  the  leaders  were  executed  or  banished  and  the  "  swordsmen  " 
transported  beyond  seas,  the  people  at  large  were  to  hear  their  fate,  and  in 
particular,  the  citizens  of  Clonmel  were  to  learn  the  Cromwellian  interpretation 
of  the  articles  of  surrender :  "  Ye  inhabitauntes  of  ye  said  town  shall  have  ye 
same  rights  libertye  and  proteccion  as  other  subjects  under  ye  authoritie  of  ye 
Parliament  of  England  have  or  ought  to  have  and  inioye  within  ye  dominion 
of  Ireland."  On  the  26th  September,  1653,  the  estates,  farms  and  houses  of  the 
people  of  Ireland  were  declared  by  Parliament  to  belong  to  the  Adventurers 
and  the  Army  of  England.  Connaught  was  reserved  for  the  Irish,  and  thither 
they  with  their  wives  and  families  must  remove  before  the  first  of  May 
following.  If  found  on  this  side  of  the  Shannon  they  were  to  be  reputed  spies 
and  enemies,  and  to  suffer  death.  Proclamation  of  this  was  forthwith  made  in 
the  several  precincts  or  military  districts  throughout  the  kingdom.  What 
must  have  been  the  feelings  of  the  old  burghers  of  Clonmel — Whites,  Brays, 
Barrons,  Brennocks,  all  of  o\ji  English  lineage,  when  summoned  to  the 
market  place  by  "  beate  of  drumm  "  they  heard  the  sentence  of  their  doom. 
Everyone  who  had  been  mustered  on  the  Irish  side ;  everyone  who  had  kept 
watch  and  ward — that  is  to  say  almost  every  adult  male — fell  under  the  ban. 
The  only  exceptions  made  were  boys  under  fourteen  and  girls  under  twelve 
in  the  service  of  Protestants.  Preparations  for  the  clearing  of  the  town  were 
at  once  made.  And  first,  in  accordance  with  instructions  issued  by  the 
Commissioners  of  Ireland  on  9th  November,  Colonel  Jerome  Sankey  doubtless 
lifted  up  prayers  with  strong  crying  and  tears  to  Him  to  whom  nothing  is 
hard,  that  he  might  not  be  wanting  to  His  servants.  After  this  the  great 
work  of  driving  forth  the  Amorrhites  and  bringing  in  the  people  of  God 
proceeded  apace.  Early  in  December  the  Commissioners  of  Transplantation — 
Colonels  Charles  Blount,  Solomon  Richards,  Henry  Paris  and  Francis 
Vaughan — opened  sessions  in  Clonmel.  Heads  of  families  appeared  before 
them,  and  having  stated  their  abode,  age,  stature,  colour  of  hair  and  eyes, 
and  the  like  particulars  of  their  family  and  dependents  together  with  the 
number  and  description  of  their  cattle  and  other  substance,  certificates  were 
thereupon  issued.    With  these  they  proceeded  before  30th  January,  1654,  to 


History  of  Clonmel.  85 

the  Connaught  Commissioners  sitting  at  Loughrea,  who  assigned  temporary 
allotments.  On  them  the  transplanted  persons  erected  cabins  so  that  all 
might  be  in  readiness  for  their  wives  and  families  who  were  to  arrive  not 
later  than  the  first  of  May.  The  following  are  a  few  examples  of  the 
Clonmel  certificates : — 

(No.  27)    By  the  Commissioners  of  the  Revenue  within  the  Precinct  of  Clonmell. 

Wee  the  said  Commissioners  doe  hereby  certifye  that  Uliicke  Burke  of  Monecannane 
in  the  countye  of  Tipperary,  hath  ye  l8th  day  of  January  1653U]  in  pursuance  of  a 
Declaration  of  the  Parliament  of  England  for  the  affairs  of  Ireland  bearinge  date  the 
14th  day  of  October  1653,  delivered  vnto  us  in  writing  a  particular  containing  therein 
the  names  of  himselfe  and  of  such  other  persons  as  are  to  remove  with  him  with  the 
quantities  and  qualities  of  their  respective  stockes  and  tilladge,  the  contents  whereof 
are  as  followeth  (viz.) 

1.  Uliicke  Burke  of  Monecannane  freeholder,  adged  sixty  nine  yeares,  middle 
stature  balde  pated,  his  substance  two  cows,  two  garrons,  one  quarter  part  acker  of 
Winter  corne. 

2.  Mary  Burke  his  wife  adged  fortie  eight  yeares,  tall  stature,  brownish  hare. 

3.  John  Burke  his  son,  adged  sixteen  years,  low  stature,  black  hare. 

4.  Nell  Burke  his  daughter,  adged  eighteen  yeares,  middle  stature,  brownish  hare. 

5.  Margaret  Burke  his  daughter,  adged  seventeen  yeares,  low  stature,  brownish 
hare. 

6.  William  Rian  his  servant,  adged  twenty  seaven  yeares,  bald  pate. 

The  substance  whereof  we  believe  to  be  true.  In  witness  whoeof  we  have  hereunto 
sett  our  hands  and  seales  the  day  and  yeare  afforesaid 

FFRANCIS  VAUGHAN,  CHARLES  BLOUNT,  SOLOMON  RICHARDS. 

But  if  the  bald-pated  man  of  sixty-nine  was  not  spared,  neither  was  the 
young  widow  with  her  flaxen-haired  children. 

(No.  5)    By  the  Commissioners  etc. 

We  the  said  Commissioners (videlicet). 

1.  Mary  Nugent  the  Relict  of  Richard  Nugent  of  Cloncoskraein  adged  twentie 
seaven,  blacke,  lowe. 

2.  John  Nugent  of  the  same  sonn  and  heire  to  the  said  Richard  adged  nine  yeares, 
flaxen  haired,  freeholder. 

3.  Mary  Nugent  daughter  of  the  said  Richard  adged  seaven  yeares,  white  hare, 
lowe. 

4.  Elinor  Nugent  daughter  to  the  said  Richard  adged  five  yeares,  flaxen  hare,  lowe. 
The  substance 25  January  1653  [4]    (g). 

And  in  the  great  exodus,  we  note  the  passing  of  the  historic  families  of 
the  town. 


fg)  This  John  Nugent  who  a  boy  of  nine  was  transplanted  to  Connaught,  was  ancestor  of  the 
Nugent-Humbles  of  Cloncoskran,  Co.  Waterford.  On  9th  May,  1656,  Mary  Nugent  as  mother  and 
guardian  of  John,  obtained  a  Decree  in  the  Court  of  Athlone  for  365  acres.  They  returned,  however, 
at  the  Restoration  and  unlike  most  of  the  old  Irish  landowners,  succeeded  in  having  their  case  heard 
in  the  Court  of  Claims.  On  Thursday,  13th  August,  1663,  John  Nugent  was  decreed  an  "Innocent 
Papist,"  and  as  such  restored  to  674a.  3r.  24p.  part  of  the  estate  of  his  father  Richard.  The  pedigree 
of  the  family  as  found  in  Lodge's  Peerage  I.,  p.  221,  is  at  this  period  hopelessly  incorrect. 


86  History  of  Clonmel. 

(No.  129)    By  the  Commissioners  of  Revenue  fbr  the  Precinct  of  Clonmell. 

Wee  the  said  Commissioners  doe  hereby  certifie  that  Thomas  White  fitz  Richard 
of  Clonmell  aiforesaide,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  freeholder,  hath  upon  the  seaven  and 
twentieth  day  of  January  l653[4]  in  pursuance  of  a  Declaration  of  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England  for  the  affairs  of  Ireland  bearing 
date  the  14  day  of  October  1653  delivered  unto  us  in  writing  a  particular  containing 
therein  the  names  of  himself  and  of  such  other  persons  as  are  to  remove  with  him,  with 
the  quantitie  and  qualitie  of  their  respective  stockes  and  tillage,  the  contents  whereof 
are  as  foUoweth,  seaven  persons  one  cowe,  one  yearlinge  two  swine.  The  substance 
whereof  we  conceive  to  be  true.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  sett  our  hands 
and  seals  the  seaven  and  twentie  day  of  January  1653. 

Sol.  Richards    Chs.  Blount    Hen.  Paris. 

(No.  10)    By  the  Commissioners    .... 

Margaret  Bray  alias  Corr  ....  forty  eight  persons,  twenty  ackres  summer 
come,  six  cowes  one  yearling,  eleven  garrons,  nine  sheep  six  goates,  thirty  swine. 

—30  January  16S3U]. 

(No.  138)  ....  Patrick  Donnoghow  of  Clonmell  ....  twelve  persons, 
two  cowes,  two  swine    ....     19  December  1653. 

(No.  139)  ....  James  Brenocke  of  Clonmell  ....  one  hundred  and 
thirtie  persons,  iforty  four  ackres  of  sommer  corne,  iforty  four  cowes,  one  yearlinge 
iforty  and  one  garrons  one  hundred  and  twentie  sheep 

....    31  January  I653U]- 
(No.  109)    ....    John  (Dorr  of  Toberhaney  [Tubberaheena]    ....    one 
hundred  and  forty  four  persons,  eighty  six  acres  sommer  corne,  forty  eight  cowes, 
eleven  yearlings,  forty  eight  garrons,  three  hundred  and  forty  eight  sheep,  sixteen 
goates,  fifteen  swine. 

....    30  January,  1653(4]. 

Petitions  from  the  wretched  people  went  forth  to  the  Council  in  Dublin 
to  be  dispensed  from  transplanting.  Some  pleaded  their  age ;  many  were 
infirm  ;  some  had  never  borne  arms  against  the  Parliament  of  England  ;  some 
had  shown,  in  fact,  a  constant  good  affection  towards  it.  Several  already 
convinced  of  the  errors  of  Popery,  were  earnestly  seeking  (Jod.  John  Walsh 
of  Lisronagh  (upon  the  certificate  of  Colonel  Richards)  had  performed  many 
good  and  acceptable  services  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  was  on  the  17th 
March  dispensed  from  transplanting  until  further  notice.  George  Mathew 
of  Rehill  (uncle  and  guardian  of  Lord  Cahir),  upon  the  certificate  of  Colonel 
Jerome  Sankey,  having  lived  civilly,  and  given  intelligence  on  divers 
occasions  to  the  Cromwellian  soldiers,  was  also  dispensed.  The  petitions  of 
John  Bray  and  Thomas  White  were  referred  to  the  Athlone  Commissioners. 
James  Kearney  of  Fethard,  was  on  5th  May  dispensed  for  twelve  months 
on  proof  he  had  not  appeared  in  arms  against  the  Commonwealth  in  the  first 
year  of  the  war.  Walter  Butler  of  Cloughbreedy,  had  given  evidence 
against  James  Butler  of  Roosca,  of  the  attack  on  Golden  in  1641.  Wherefore 
(he  said)  he  could  not  without  hazard  of  his  life  live  amongst  the  said  James' 
kindred  in  Connaught.  There  was  so  great  resort  of  the  Irish  to  divine 
worship  in  the  liberties  of  Clonmel  (so  reported  Major  Stanley)  that  Mr. 


History  of  Clonmel.  87 

Gelatius  Hickey  who  was  well  qualified  to  instruct  them  in  Protestant 
principles  had  his  salary  doubled  (h).  But  this  awful  period  will,  perhaps, 
be  best  realized  from  an  individual  case. 

The  Whites  had  been  for  centuries  rulers  of  Clonmel.  Proud  of  their 
old  English  blood,  they  from  time  to  time  victualled  the  royal  forces  operating 
against  the  Irish,  and  entertained  the  representatives  of  English  authority 
who  visited  the  town.  At  this  period  the  head  of  the  senior  branch  was 
Nicholas  White.  His  father  Henry  had  been  member  for  the  borough  in 
the  parliament  of  1634,  ^^^  ^^^  grandfather  Nicholas  in  that  of  161 3. 
Educated  abroad,  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1642  he  came  into  the 
inheritance  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  town  (i).  In  1641  when  the  war 
broke  out  he  had  not  returned,  and  throughout  all  the  troubles  maintained  a 
strict  neutrality — "  lived  indifferentlie,"  as  was  stated.  After  the  siege  of 
Clonmel  Ireton  took  compassion  on  him.  "  Nicholas  White  sonne  of  Henry 
White  late  of  Clonmell  Esqre.  deed.,  whom  being  in  his  Minority,  and  residing 
in  France  in  the  beginning  of  the  late  rebellion,  the  late  Lord  Deputy  Ireton 
ordered  30  li  per  annum  to  be  allowed  out  of  his  father's  estate  "  (j).  But  as 
he  had  lived  in  the  Irish  quarters  he  was  unable  to  prove  "  constant  good 
affection  "  to  the  Parliament  which  was  at  war  with  his  King  and  proscribed 
his  religion.  So  on  the  19th  December,  1653,  he  appeared  before  the 
Cromwellian  commissioners. 

(No.  130)    By  the  Commissioners  of  Revenue  for  the  Precinct  of  Clonmell. 

We  the  said  Commissioners  doe  hereby  certify  that  Nicholas  White  of  Clonmell 
aforesd.  in  the  county  of  Tipperary  esquier,  hath  upon  the  nineteenth  day  of  December 
1653  in  pursuance  of  a  Declaration  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England  for  the  Affairs  of  Ireland  bearinge  date  the  fourteenth  day  of  October  1653 
delivered  unto  us  in  writing  a  particular  containing  therein  the  names  of  himself  and 
of  such  other  persons  as  are  to  remove  with  him,  with  the  quantitie  and  qualitie  of  their 
respective  stockes  and  tillage,  the  contents  whereof  are  as  followeth,  thirty  one  persons 
twenty  nine  ackres  of  winter  come,  seventeen  cowes,  three  yearlings,  twenty  garrons. 
The  substance  whereof  we  conceive  to  be  true.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  herewith 
sett  our  hands  and  Seales  the  nineteenth  day  of  December  1653. 

Sol.  Richards    Chas.  Blount    Hen.  Paris. 

A  few  days  after  Christmas  Nicholas  White  on  his  way  to  Connaught 
took  a  last  look  from  the  heights  of  Ardgeeha,  at  the  town  and  fields, 
the  home  of  his  fathers  over  which  he  roamed  as  boy  and  ruled  as  man. 
Having  got  his  allotment  de  bene  esse  or  temporary  assignment,  from  the 

(h)  Commonwealth  Books,  P.R.O.,  Dublin  A.,  85,  86,  91,  &c.,  &c. 

(i)  John  Walsh,  Ormond's  agent,  estimated  it  at  >f300  a  year.  At  present  about  ten  times  that 
sum.    Carte  Papers,  xliv.  40. 

(j)  Return  of  the  Revenue  of  Clonmel  31st  October,  1653-4,  P.  R.O.  The  Commissioners  at 
Dublin  ordered  a  pension  of  £%  a  year  to  "  Beale  Leynagh  an  Orphant  of  William  Leynagh  late  of 
Clonmell  now  vnder  the  tution  of  Colonel  Blount."     Ibid. 


88  History  of  Clonmel. 

Commissioners  at  Loughrea  and  built  his  cabin,  he  there  waited  until  the 
25th  March,  1656,  when  by  decree  of  the  Court  at  Athlone  he  was  granted 
1,004  acres  amid  the  desolate  rocks  of  West  Clare.  Here  he  pined  during 
the  four  following  years,  until  on  the  news  of  the  King's  restoration  he  made 
his  way  back  to  Tipperary.  As  the.  Cromwellians  in  possession  would  not 
admit  him  into  the  town,  and  there  was  a  proclamation  ordering  the  escaped 
Irish  back  to  Connaught,  he  took  a  small  farm  on  the  slope  of  Slievenamon 
whence  he  might  behold  his  old  home.  From  there  he  addressed  several 
petitions  to  the  Duke  of  Ormond  to  be  restored.  The*  only  reply  he  received 
was  official  sympathy,  and  so  step  by  step  he  sank  into  pauperism.  The 
following  is  the  last  we  learn  of  this  broken  gentleman  of  Clonmel : — 

To  his  Grace  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland.  The  humble  Petition  of  Nicholas 
White  Esqr. 

Humbly  sheweth.  That  your  Grace  on  your  petitioners  severall  former  addresses 
was  pleased  to  declare  a  tendemes  of  your  petitioners  condition  in  regaid  that  your 
petitioners  Estate  (formerly  belonginge  vnto  him)  in  the  towne  of  Clonmell  and  libertie 
thereof  is  conferred  vpon  your  Grace,  and  your  petitioner  having  no  place  to  Hue  in  was 
forced  to  take  the  ferme  of  Garrangibbon  att  a  greate  Rent  which  your  petitioner  by 
the  fale  of  stocke  and  scarcetie  of  monies  is  noe  way  able  to  pay  (without  takeing  your 
petitioners  five  melsh  Cowes  being  the  onely  reliefe  of  himselfe  and  his  famelie).  Your 
grace  may  be  therefore  pleased  out  of  your  greate  pyetie  and  pittie  to  give  orders  to 
your  Receiver  to  Remitt  four  and  fortie  pound  Rent  due  for  this  last  yeare  and  a  halfe 
and  this  present  year  to  your  Grace  out  of  the  said  ferme.  Your  petitioner  being 
destitute  of  all  meanes  to  pay  the  same  or  any  way  to  subsist. 

And  your  petitioner  will  ever  pray  etc  (k) 

There  is  no  reference  from  Ormond  on  the  petition ;  it  is  probable  that 
the  "  five  melch  Cowes  "  the  only  relief  of  himself  and  his  family  were  taken 
from  him  also. 

Through  the  winter  of  1653-4  the  outcast  landowners  and  towns  folk 
with  their  tenants  and  dependents,  their  stock  and  household  goods  passed 
in  endless  cavalcade  westwards.  In  vain  did  they  pray  that  their  flight 
might  not  be  in  winter  and  on  the  Sabbath.  Yet  even  by  the  following  May 
all  were  not  '  removed.' 

Upon  consideration  had  of  the  petition  of  such  of  the  Inhabitauntes  of  the  County 
of  Tipperary  as  are  comprehended  within  the  Act  of  Transplantation,  and  of  the  Report 
of  the  Standing  Committee  of  Officers  thereupon.  It  is  ordered  that  the  Officer 
commandinge  in  cheife  at  Clonmell  be  and  hee  is  hereby  impowered  to  graunt  Lycense 
to  such  of  the  Petitioners  as  hee  shall  think  fitt,  for  the  space  of  six  weeks  from  the 
date  hereof  while  they  are  building  their  cabbins  in  (Donnought  to  passe  to  and  from 
between  Connought  and  Clare  and  the  place  where  they  nowe  respectively  reside. 
Provided  they  act  nothing  to  the  preiudice  of  the  Commonwealth.  And  it  is  further 
ordered  that  their  wives  and  families,  such  as  have  not  been  engaged  against  the 
Parliament  interest,  be  dispensed  with  from  their  transplantation  for  the  space  of  sixe 
weeks  aforesaid  and  hereof  all  whom  it  may  concern  are  desired  to  take  notice.  Dublin 
I  May  1654  Thomas  Herbert  Secretary  (I), 

(k)  Carte  Papers,  Bodleian  Ix.  No.  280.    No  date  but  among  the  papers  for  1663. 
(I)  A  85,  p.  314,  PRO.  Dublin.    . 


History  of  Clonmel.  89 

Towards  the  beginning  of  July  the  town  had  been  so  cleared  of  inhabitants 
that  it  was  foreseen  there  would  be  want  of  artizans  and  labourers  before 
the  new  settlers  could  arrive  from  England.  Representations  were  accordingly 
made  to  the  Council  in  Dublin  by  the  Cromwellian  garrison. 

Artificers  etc.  at   ^  Upon  consideracon  had  of  the  Report  of  Coll  Sankey,  Coll  Abbot  and 
Clonmell  >  Coll  Richards,  concerninge  a  Dispensation  to  be  graunted  to  the  forty 

)  three  persons  in  the  paper  hereunto  annexed  menconed  (being 
artificers  and  workmen)  to  stay  for  some  certaine  time  within  the  Towne  of 
Clonmell.  It  is  ordered  that  the  Commaunder  in  cheife  for  the  time  being 
and  Commissioners  of  Revenue  at  Clonmell,  doe  dispense  and  give  Lycense  to 
the  forty  and  three  persons  aforesaid  or  to  as  many  of  them  as  they  shall  thinke  fitt,  to 
stay  within  the  said  garrison  of  Clonmell  for  such  time  as  they  shall  judge  convenient 
Provided  the  whole  time  granted  to  the  said  persons  doe  not  exceed  the  twentie  fifth 
day  of  March  next.    And  hereof  all  whom  it  may  concern  are  to  take  notice. 

Dated  at  Dublin  8  July  1654  fm). 

For  some  there  was  a  more  terrible  fate  than  transplantation.  In  January 
1654,  Colonel  Jerome  Sankey,  governor  (among  others),  had  orders  to  arrest 
and  deliver  to  Captain  Thomas  Morgan,  Dudley  North  and  John  Johnson, 
English  merchants,  all  such  Irish  men  and  women  within  the  precinct  of 
Clonmel  as  should  not  prove  they  had  a  settled  means  of  livelihood,  all  children 
in  hospitals  or  almshouses,  all  prisoners,  the  said  persons  to  be  conveyed 
under  military  escort  to  the  nearest  ports  thence  to  be  shipped  for  Barbado^s. 
To  such  dire  purpose  had  these  Puritans  read  their  Bibles  (one  copy  of  which 
was  served  out  to  each  troop)  "If  you  will  not  kill  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
they  that  remain  shall  be  unto  you  as  nails  in  your  eyes  and  spears  in  your 
sides  and  they  shall  be  your  adversaries  in  the  land  of  your  habitation" 
(Numbers  xxxiii.  55). 

The  town  now  presented  a  scene  of  awful  desolation.  The  ten  years' 
war,  the  siege  and  bombardment,  the  plague  of  1650,  the  suspense  of  the 
four  following  years  and  the  final  clearances,  left  it  almost  in  ruins.  Even 
in  1666,  twelve  years  subsequent,  the  Ormond  patent  shows  in  the  principal 
streets  "  waste  tenements  "  "  a  house  slated  ruinous  "  "  a  house  and  back  side 
waste  "  "  a  decayed  castle."  To  this  place  which  had  become  in  great  part 
the  habitation  of  the  bat  and  the  owl  it  was  now  sought  to  attract  English 
settlers.  By  the  Act  of  26th  September,  1653,  adventurers  and  soldiers  were 
enabled  to  purchase  a  moiety  of  the  houses  within  the  town  at  the  rate  of  six 
years  of  their  letting  value,  provided  such  purchase  was  effected  before  the 
24th  June,  1655.  The  other  moiety  was  reserved  to  satisfy  the  arrears  of  the 
soldiers  of  Inchiquin  and  others  who  had  fought  for  the  Parliament  in  Ireland 
previous  to  the  5th  June,  1649.    Further,  the  Commissioners  for  the  Affairs  of 

(m)  A.  85,  p.  479. 


90  History  of  Clonmel. 

Ireland  were  to  grant  vacant  places  and  waste  ground  within  the  town  to 
persons  professing  the  Protestant  religion  on  condition  that  they  erected 
good  and  substantial  houses  thereon  within  three  years  after  the  date  of  such 
grant  (n).  But  in  vain  were  these  inducements  held  out ;  soldiers  would  not 
turn  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and  the  tradespeople  of  Bristol  and 
Exeter  had  heard  evil  reports  of  Teig  and  Phelim.  Appeals  were  made  in 
England.  The  Popish  recusants,  it  was  said,  were  now  cleared  out  of  the  towns 
and  not  allowed  within  a  distance  of  two  miles  (o).  But  in  vain  ;  only  a  few 
came.  The  original  scheme  therefore  of  setting  down  an  entirely  new 
population  of  English  had  to  be  abandoned. 

Alone  perhaps  in  the  case  of  Clonmel,  we  are  able  to  judge  how  far  the 
"Cromwellian  Settlement"  was  carried  out  in  the  towns  of  Ireland.  The 
poll  money  returns  for  l66o,  still  existing,  afford  a  detailed  picture  of  the 
place  in  that  year,  the  last  of  the  Commonwealth.  First,  as  to  population ; 
the  number  of  adult  persons  resident  within  the  walls  or  town  proper  amounted 
to  some  394.  Outside  were  476  of  whom  204  were  in  Irishtown,  1 10  in  the 
north  suburbs,  86  in  the  east,  and  76  beyond  the  bridge.  As  the  total  870 
included  about  300  married  women  and  widows  the  gross  population  would 
be  approximately  lOOO.  If  all  these  were  God  fearing,  and  proof  against  the 
corruption  which  the  Lord  had  so  eminently  witnessed  against  in  their 
predecessors  (as  General  Fleetwood  pointed  out)  the  Cromwellian  conception 
of  a  city  of  God  might  be  ultimately  realized.  But  judging  from  the  names 
the  new  settlers  did  not  constitute  quite  a  fifth  of  the  whole.  The  Irish  were 
still  in  an  overwhelming  majority  though  reduced  to  utter  impotence,  social 
and  municipal.  All  merchants,  shopkeepers  and  artizans  of  the  birth  of 
Ireland,  such  as  had  escaped  Connaught  or  the  Barbadoes,  were  banished 
outside  the  walls.  There  were  two  exceptions,  due  probably  to  the  character 
of  their  trade,  one  Edward  Comerford  of  Bridge  Street,  who  imported  Spanish 
wines,  the  other  Walter  Brennock  an  apothecary  in  High  Street  (p).  Servants, 
domestics,  and  unskilled  labourers  in  the  employment  of  Protestants  were 
suffered  to  remain.  Outside,  the  population  was  exclusively  Irish,  some 
remnants  of  the  old  burgher  families,  Whites,  Wails  and  Barrons  being  still 
distinguishable  in  the  common  mass.  Further,  not  only  were  the  new 
settlers  small  in  number  but  fewer  still  belonged  to  the  mercantile  class. 
There  were  Commonwealth  officials,  disbanded  soldiers,  younger  sons  of 
good  families  and  mere  adventurers.  John  Booker,  the  first  name  on  the  list, 
had  been  a  drysalter  in  London,  and  joining  the  Parliament  army  eventually 


(n)  Scobell's  Acts  and  Ordinances,  C.  xii. 

(0)  Cromwellian  Settlementf  2  Edition  p.  285. 

(p)  He  lived  in  a  house  on  the  site  of  the  present  theatre. 


History  of  Clonmel.  9i 

obtained  command  of  a  regiment  which  in  1646  he  brought  over  to  Ireland 
to  aid  Inchiquin.  As  one  of  the  "49  officers"  (those  who  served  the 
Parliament  in  Ireland  before  5th  June,  1649)  he  was  allotted  in  payment  for 
his  services,  certain  houses  in  North  Lane,  the  former  property  of  Nicholas 
White.  Another,  Samuel  Foley,  the  younger  son  of  an  iron  founder  in 
Stourbridge,  who  held  the  rank  of  captain,  made  his  abode  in  the  old  home 
of  John  White  fitz  Bennett  in  Boate  Street.  Here  he  had  three  sons  born  to 
him,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Samuel,  became  Protestant  bishop  of  Down  and 
Connor.  A  third,  Charles  Blount,  raised  a  regiment  in  Gloucestershire  for 
service  under  Inchiquin.  When  on  the  beheading  of  the  King,  Inchiquin 
deserted  the  Parliament,  Blount  held  on,  and  in  1649  helped  to  betray  Youghal 
to  Cromwell.  Subsequently  he  was  Commissioner  of  Revenue  for  Clonmel, 
for  which  and  other  services  his  arrears  of  pay  amounted  in  1663  to  £2,200. 
At  his  death  in  High  Street  in  the  April  of  that  year  he  bequeathed  the 
whole  to  his  wife,  Valentine,  in  "confidence  that  she  would  be  a  tender  mother 
to  his  children  and  improve  the  estate  for  her  owne  and  their  advantage 
carefull  of  their  breeding."  But  more  notable  than  the  military  settlers  were 
the  small  body  of  active,  enterprising  traders  who  followed  in  their  wake. 
One,  Richard  Carleton,  from  Cambridge,  set  up  as  wine  merchant  in  High 
Street  whence  in  1676  he  retired  a  country  gentleman  at  DarlinghilL  His 
descendants  in  the  next  century  clambered  into  the  peerage  (q).  Richard 
Perry  (or  Perryman  as  he  was  sometimes  called)  Mayor's  sergeant  under  the 
Cromwellian  corporation,  subsequently  turned  to  trade  and  accumulating 
wealth  founded  the  well-known  county  family  (r),  Richard  Hamerton  who 
piu'chased  woods  and  exported  pipe  staves,  eventually  established  himself 
at  Ballyneale.  William  Vaughan  began  the  banking  business  which  his 
descendants,  the  Ryall)5,..carried  on  for  three  generations.  Richard  Kellett, 
another  successful  trader,  was  able  to  purchase  Cloghnacody  and  Jossestown 
in  1703  for  the  sum  of  £1,371.  By  far,  however,  the  most  noteworthy  of  the 
new  comers  was  Richard  Moore.  Originally  a  glover  in  Barnstaple,  he  took 
up  residence  in  Clonmel  in  1655.  Here  he  prospered  exceedingly,  mostly  in 
the  capacity  of  land  broker  and  general  property  agent  At  his  death,  at 
his  house  in  Lough  Street  in  1690,  he  was  possessed  of  estates  in  Kilworth 
(Cork),  Chancellorstown,  Garrinlea,  Hore  Abbey,  Barne  and  elsewhere.  His 
descendants  in  the  junior  line  still  flourish  in  the  neighbourhood ;  in  the 
senior  they  became  ennobled  as  Earls  of  Mountcashel.  The  part  which  they 
played  in  Clonmel  aflfairs  he  could  not  have  foreseen  in  the  wildest  dreams  of 


(q)  Baron  Carleton,  of  Anner,  created  1789. 

(r)  "  The  first  day  of  October  1660.  .  .  .  Henry  Waynewright  was  sworne  one  of  the 
Sergeants  at  Mace  for  this  Corporation  in  the  Place  of  Richard  Perry  who  desired  to  quitt  himself 
from  the  Employment" — Corporate  Minute  Book  quoted  in  Commons'  Journal. 


92  History  of  Clonmel. 

ambition.  But  among  the  more  obscure  settlers  who  arrived  then  or  shortly 
after  were  some  who  attained  a  prominence  only  little  less.  These  were  the 
Marshalls,  Gordons  and  Bagwells  (s). 

By  the  middle  of  1655  the  new  colony  had  made  such  progress  that  an 
inquiry  was  held  into  the  municipal  property  and  franchises,  preparatory  to 
re-establishing  the  corporation.  For  since  the  surrender  of  the  town  the 
charters  and  other  muniments  had  disappeared,  and  only  by  gathering 
together  a  number  of  the  old  inhabitants,  some  of  them  possibly  from 
Connaught,  could  evidence  be  obtained  (t).  The  original  report  signed  by 
the  members  of  the  court  of  inquiry  is  still  extant,  and  is  in  some  respects 
the  most  valuable  record  we  have  relating  to  the  town  (u).  The  charter  of 
James  L  which  was  referred  to  in  evidence,  was  not  adopted  as  the  basis 
of  the  new  corporation.  The  Act  of  Barebones'  Parliament  "  For  the 
Satisfaction  of  Adventurers,"  etc.,  enacted  that  "  the  town  of  Clonmel  shall 
have  equal  privileges  franchises  and  immunities  with  the  city  of  Bristol  in 
England  and  charters  granted  vnto  the  inhabitants  thereof  under  the  great 
seal  of  England  to  that  effect "  (v).  Though  no  such  charter  ever  appears 
to  have  passed  the  seal,  the  Cromwellian  inhabitants  in  1656  erected  them- 
selves into  a  corporation  and  proceeded  to  exercise  all  rights,  municipal  and 
parliamentary.  In  conjunction  with  Waterford  they  returned  Captain 
William  Halsey  as  their  representative  to  the  Commonwealth  parliaments  of 
1654-6-8.  Owing  to  the  smallness  of  their  number  they  admitted  to  the 
corporate  freedom  a  considerable  body  of  outsiders,  mostly  soldiers, 
utterly  unconnected  with  the  town  (w).  The  calamitous  effects  of  the 
precedent  thus  created,  were  seen  only  in  the  following  century. 

Having  "  come  to  possess  houses  they  had  not  built  and  vineyards  they 
had  not  planted,  they  might  not  forget  the  Lord  and  His  goodness  to  them 
in  the  day  of  their  distress  "  (x).  Accordingly  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
Cromwellians  was  to  bring  over  a  preacher  and  endow  him  with  a  liberal 
salary  (y).    This  was  Samuel  Ladyman,  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  who  took  up 

(s)  Particulars  gleailed  from  State  Papers,  Wills,  Pleadings  in  Palatine  Court,  etc. 

(t)  The  transplantation  of  Tipperary,  particularly  Eliogarty,  was  so  thorough,  that  Petty 's 
surveyors  were  unable  to  ascertain  the  townland  boundaries.  Some  persons  had  to  be  brought  back 
from  Connaught  to  point  them  out. — Crom.  Sett.,  p.  202. 

(u)  Quit  Rent  Office,  Dublin.    Printed  in  full  in  Appendix. 

(v)  26th  September,  1653.    Scobetl's  Acts  and  Ordinances  xii. 

(w)  Clonmel  ff,  January  11,  1658.  At  an  assembly  of  the  Maior  Bailiffs  and  ffree  Burgesses  the 
persons  whose  names  ensue  were  admitted  and  sworn  free  of  the  said  Corporation  viz.  : — Major 
Francis  Bolton,  Lieutenant  Colonel  William  Candler,  etc. 

(x)  Letter  of  Col.  William  Allen,  April  6th,  1654.    Thurloe  II.,  214. 

(y)  A  schoolmaster,  a  schoolmistress,  and  a  surgeon  also  formed  part  of  the  establishment. 
"  Mr.  Edward  Bainebrigge  Schoolemaster  of  Clonmell  40  li  per  annum,  Mrs.  Spencer  Schoolmss 
att  Clonmell  10  li  per  ann.,  Mr.  John  Gosling  Chirurgion  to  the  Hospitall  at  Clonmell  40  li  per 
aunum."    State  of  the  Revenue  for  the  Precinct  of  Clonmel  1653-4.     P.R.O.,  Dublin. 


History  of  Clonmel.  93 

residence  towards  the  end  of  1652.  Pure  religion,  free  from  all  carnal 
accretions,  was  to  be  practised,  and  so  the  church  of  St.  Mary's  was  to  be 
henceforward  styled  "  The  Public  Meeting  House,"  and  thither  every  Lord's 
day  (for  there  was  no  Sunday  now)  all  householders,  their  man  servants  and 
maid  servants  were  to  come  to  hear  the  Word  (z).  If  Ladyman  sowed  Colonel 
Sankey  appa^-ently  watered,  and  there  was  a  great  increase. 

Whereas  Mr.  Samuel  Ladyman  was  by  an  Order  of  the  i8th  October  1652  appointed 
to  preach  the  Word  at  Clonmell  and  at  such  other  places  thereabout  as  Coll.  Sankey 
and  the  Commissioners  of  Revenue  there  should  thinke  most  convenient.  It  is  upon 
the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Clonmell  thought  fltt  and  ordered  That  the  said  Mr. 
Ladyman  doe  preach  the  Gospell  at  Clonmell  aforesaid  and  such  other  places  within 
that  precinct  where  he  shall  concieve  his  peines  therein  may  be  most  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  same.  And  for  his  peines  and  care  therein  to  receive  the  former  allowance 
settled  upon  hjm  out  of  the  publique  Treasury  of  that  precinct.  Dublin  the  23  of 
febbruary  1653U]. 

Chas.  Fleetwood,  Miles  Corbett,  John  Jones  (aa). 

Soldiers,  however,  will  be  soldiers,  and  some  evil  reports  began  to  reach 
the  saints  in  Dublin. 

Information  has  been  made  that  Lieut  Peter  Flower  of  Capt.  James  Stopford's 
company  is  a  common  tippler  and  has  been  seen  often  in  drink  and  leads  a  scandalous 
life.  We  certify  that  during  the  three  years  he  has  been  quartered  in  Clonmel  we  have 
hot  known  him  to  live  under  any  such  scandal  but  have  known  him  to  be  a  person  of 
very  civil  deportment  and  a  constant  frequenter  of  the  public  worship  of  God. 

Js :  Booker  sheriff,  Richard  Lehunt,  Tho :  Batty,  Maior,  Robert  Lovelace  and 
Richard  Perrott  bailiffs,  Charles  Blount,  S.  Foley,  Ja.  Halsey,  William  Almons,  Richard 
Moore.    Clonmel  30  Sept  1659  (hb) 

Worse  still.  Colonel  Solomon  Richards,  one  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Transplantation,  treated  the  elect  of  Clonmel  as  fanatics.  His  conduct 
scandalized  London  itself. 

.  Col :  Richards  behaviour  at  Clonmell  to  those  whose  judgment  leads  them  to  sing 
psalms,  makes  a  very  loud  noise  here,  and  seems  not  to  be  relished  (cc). 

Among  the  most  godly  members  of  the  congregation  was  Major  Thomas 
Stanley  who  succeeded  Sankey  in  the  governorship  of  the  precinct.  He  is 
described  in  the  Carte  correspondence  as  a  "  phanatique  officer."      He  was 

(z)  Declaration  by  Commissioners  for  the  Affairs  of  Ireland.    Brit.  Museum,  Grenville. 

(aa)  A  85,  p.  141.  From  the  list  of  the  "Civil  Officers  imployed  in  this  Precinct  1654  "  we 
find  "Mr.  Samuel!  Ladyman  Preacher  of  Clonmel  130 li  o  o  Mr.  Robert  Carr  Preacher  at  Clonmel 
and  the  Garrisons  adjacent  100  li  per  ann." — P.RO.,  Dublin. 

(bb)  State  Papers,  Commonwealth,  p.  691. 

(cc)  John  Percivale  to  Sir  Paul  Davis,  London,  July  4th,  1654.  Egmont  MSS.  IL,  546.  Yet 
Richards  was  not  altogether  without  grace.  "  Upon  the  information  of  Colonel  Solomon  Richards, 
that  Captain  William  Williamson  is  now  a  prisoner  in  Dublin  upon  suspicion  of  committing 
fornication,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary  during  the  time  of  his  service  there  ;  and  that  the  said 
Colonel  has  entered  into  a  recognizance  to  prosecute,  and  as  the  said  offence  is  alleged  to  have  t>een 
committed  within  the  precinct  of  Clonmel,  Ordered  that  said  Williamson  be  sent  from  Dublin  to 
Clonmel  in  order  to  his  tryal,  and  that  recognizances  be  cancelled.  Dublin  Castle,  17th  March,  1654." — 
Crom.  Settlement,  p.  233. 


94  History  of  Clonmel. 

one  of  the  representatives  of  the  soldiers  whose  lots  fell  in  Munster  and  as 
such,  made  a  prominent  figure,  while  the  Dublin  Council  books  testify  that 
he- 
Was  free  of  every  spiritual  order 
To  preach  and  fight  and  pray  and  murder. 
Such  as : — 

"  Ordered  that  James  Standish  Esquier  Receiver  Generall  doe  out  of  the  publique 
money  in  his  hands  iissue  forth  and  pay  unto  Major  Thomas  Stanley  the  summe  of  Tenn 
pounds  upon  account  the  same  to  bee  by  him  distributed  amongst  those  souldiers 
and  others  that  did  the  late  execution  upon  the  Tories  that  were  killed  in  the  County 
of  Waterford  for  payment  whereof  this  etc.  Dated  att  'Dublin  Castle  the  1st  of  Aprill 
1656. 

H.  Cromwell,  Miles  Corbetf,  Mathew  Tomlinson  (dd). 

Again. 

"  Ordered  etc.  Five  pounds  on  the  certificate  of  Major  Thomas  Stanley  to  Thomas 
Gregson,  Evan  Powel  and  Samuel  Alley  (being  three  souldiers  of  Coll  Abbots  regiment 
of  dragoons),  for  the  arrest  of  Ekjnogh  Hagerty  a  Popish  priest  by  them  taken  and 
now  secured  in  the  county  gaol  of  Clonmell  to  be  equally  distributed  between  them 
10  August  1657  f^^J- 

The  following  year  he  showed  renewed  activity  in  the  pursuit  of  Tories 
but  out  of  the  fifty  pounds  he  claimed,  the  Commissioners  of  Revenue 
disallowed  forty  "  because  they  were  slain  in  the  field."  Stanley  pleaded 
that  "  his  disbursments  were  warranted  and  there  was  no  other  way  for  the 
conviction  (sic)  of  those  Toryes  who  were  guilty  of  murther  and  roberyes  and 
could  not  be  taken  alive"  (ff).  On  the  setting  up  of  the  Cromwellian 
corporation,  he  presented  them  with  a  sword  of  state.  It  was  an  appropriate 
gift  from  the  butcher  fanatic.  But  all  the  Cromwellians  had  not  so  steeled 
their  hearts  by  perverted  scripture.  Amid  the  terrible  records  of  confiscation 
and  massacre  rises  one  gleam  of  kindly  human  nature.  Colonel  John  Booker 
in  1665,  while  bequeathing  five  pounds  to  the  necessitous  English  of  Clonmel, 
left  twice  that  sum  to  the  "  poore  Irishe  inhabitauntes  of  the  said  towne  "  (ggj. 


(dd)  A.  2, 95. 

(ee)  Treasury  Orders  p.  9.  It  would  be  instructive  to  know  whether  among  these  Tories 
(i.e.,  outlawed  gentlemen  and  their  followers)  were  any  of  the  Powers  whose  home  in  Tickencor 
Stanley  now  occupied. 

(ff)  Historical  MSS.  Commission  8th  Report. 

(^)  Wills  dated  1665  and  1668.  In  latter  he  left  to  the  Salters  Company  of  London  "tenn 
pounds  to  buy  a  peece  of  plate  (my  executrix  to  see  it  bought  and  my  coat  of  arms  ingraven)  for 
them  to  keepe." 


Oh  AFTER  VH. 


CLONMEL  FROM  THE  RESTORATION  TO   THE  REVOLUTION. 

DURING  the  closing  months  of  1659  there  was  withering  fear  and 
suspense  in  many  a  Cromwellian  home  in  Tipperary.  Regicides 
like  Isaac  Pennington,  Andrew  Boughton  and  Francis  Allen,  or 
members  of  the  Long  Parliament  such  as  William  Brereton  and 
Thomas  Barnadeston  prepared  for  the  worst.  Or  again  puritan  republicans 
as  Colonels  William  Moore  at  Lismalin,  Henry  Pretty  at  Killboy,  Richard  Le 
Hunte  at  Cashel,  John  Godfrey  at  Knockgraffon  sullenly  looked  out  of  their 
castles,  ready  to  maintain  with  the  sword  what  they  had  won  by  the  sword. 
On  the  other  hand  the  royalist  Butler  or  Burke  who  for  ten  years  had  followed 
the  fortunes  of  Charles  abroad,  made  feverish  preparation  to  return  "  being 
consumed  with  an  infinite  longing  to  see  the  smoke  of  their  own  chimneys 'Y/r/rA 
Meanwhile  Sir  Charles  Coote  and  Lord  Broghill,  having  deserted  the 
Commonwealth  and  allied  themselves  with  the  King's  party  in  England, 
were  securing  the  cities  and  garrison  towns.  A  few  days  before  Christmas 
Broghill  seized  Clonmel  in  the  name  of  "  a  free  parliament,"  and  Major  Stanley 
(now  doubtless  armed  with  the  text  "  fear  Grod,  honour  the  King  ")  was  sent  to 
besiege  Cork  where  Colonel  Phair  held  out  for  Fleetwood  and  the  Common- 
wealth. Lest  Ludlow  should  rally  the  fanatical  sections  of  Cromwell's  dis- 
banded army  a  volunteer  force  was  formed  in  the  royalist  interest.  A  company 
of  foot  was  raised  in  Clonmel,  of  which  Colonel  Booker  took  the  captaincy, 
Richard  Perrott  and  Ralph  Chadcraft  being  lieutenant  and  ensign 
respectively.  There  was  however  no  need  for  their  services.  A  secret 
assurance  as  to  estates  was  given  by  Charles,  and  so  Cromwellians  and  Irish 
alike  welcomed  his  accession  to  the  throne.     The  King's  Declaration  for  the 

(hh)  Bishop  Bramhall  to  Ormond,  Carte  Papers  xxiv. 


96 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Settlement  of  Ireland  on  the  following  30th  November  helped  to  keep  up  the 
deception,  for  while  it  expressed  great  care  for  the  interests  of  the  Adventurers, 
Officers  and  others,  the  Irish  were  equally  reassured  in  consideration  of  the 
treaty  of  1648  and  their  services  beyond  the  seas.  As  however  the  months 
wore  on,  the  fact  became  more  and  more  evident  that,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Protestant  royalists,  there  was  to  be  no  restoration  of  the  Irish  to  their 
homes.  In  Clonmel  the  Cromwellian  authorities  still  ruled,  Thomas  Batty 
being  mayor  and  Major  Francis  Foulkes  governor,  though  to  put  themselves 
right  they  obtained  an  "  Exemplification  "  of  the  charter.  The  old  burghers 
who  had  returned  from  Connaught  and  elsewhere  were  neither  permitted  to 
trade  nor  dwell  within  the  walls.  In  vain  did  the  King's  letter  of  22nd  May, 
1661,  authorize  them  to  peaceably  inhabit  and  trade,  and  confirm  to  them  their 
former  corporate  privileges.  In  vain  did  they  petition  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
Ormond  to  re-enter  the  town.  John  Walsh  of  Kilmore,  Ormond's  agent, 
recommended  certain  of  their  number  for  favourable  consideration,  but  to  no 
purpose. 


Those   who  submitti^  and  constantly 
adhered  to  the  Peace  of  '48 


Those  who  by  their  early  repentance 
redeemed  their  former  failings  by  sub- 
mitting to  the  cessation  in  '43,  to  the 
peace  in  '46  to  the  Cessation  with  the 
Bade  of  Inshiquin  and  uppon  all  other 
occasions  manifested  their  good  affection 
to  his  Maties  service 

Those  who  from  the  beginning  lived 
indiiferentlie  and  were  of  knowne  good 
affection  to  his  Maties  service  and  dyed 
before  the  Cessation  in  '43 


ffrancis  White  fitz  Patricke 
John  White  fitz  Thomas 
Michael  Oge  White 
Michael  White  fitz  Thomas 
John  Stritch 
William  Leynagh 
William  Conry 
James  Walle 

James  White  fitz  Nicholas 
Thomas  donoghow 
John  White  fitz  Michell 
Heire  of  John  Walle 
Heire  of  Thomas  Roche 
Michael  Bray  fitz  Piers 
James  Brennock 
William  Swyny 
William  Morroghow 
Nicholas  Betts 
Walter  Mulrony 
John  English 

John  White  fitz  Bennett  of  Clonmell 
200  li  per  ann.  [estimated  property.] 

Thomas  White  fitz  Richard  of  Clon- 
mell 70  li  per  ann. 


Henry  White  of  Clonmell  and  Nicholas 
White  his  sonne,  300  li  per  ann. 

Piers  Bray  of  Clonmell  and  Edmund 
his  Sonne  came  to  Carricke,  lOO  li 
per  ann.  («). 


(ii)  Carte  Papers,  vol.  xliv.,  No.  46. 


History  of  Clonmel.  97 

All  hope  was  cut  off  by  the  Act  of  Settlement  of  1662  which  enacted  that 

"the  Corporations  of  Ireland   are   now   planted   with  English  who   have 

considerably   improved    at    their    own    charges,  and    brought    trade    and 

manufacture  into  that  our  kingdom,  the  disturbing  or  removing  of  which 

English  would  in  many  respects  be  very  prejudicial,  wherefore,"  etc.  (Section 

15  of  Declaration).    And  the  Act  of  Explanation,  1665,  forbade  even  the  sale 

of  houses  in  Corporations  to  "  Papists  or  Popish  recusants  "  (jj),     A  few 

instances  will  illustrate  the  working  of  these  Acts.     Patrick  Fleming  was 

fortunate  enough  to  have  his  case  heard  by  the  "  Court  of  Claims  "  before 

the  closing  of  that  court  through  Cromwellian  clamour.    By  decree  dated  23rd 

June,   1663,  he  was  declared  an    "Innocent  Papist,"   and  therefore  to  be 

restored  to  all  his  estate.    In  the  event,  he  was  deprived  of  three  houses  and 

an  orchard  in  Lough  Street,  and  nine  houses  and  a  garden  without  the  walls 

near  the  river  Suir.     In  mockery    a    "reprize  of    equal  value"  in   lands 

adjoining  said  Corporation  was  ordered.      But  as  a  London  adventurer 

named  Radcliff,  and  the  Duke  of  Ormond  already  divided  these  lands  between 

them,  there  was  nothing  left  for  Fleming  fkk).    Lady  Morris  who  had  been 

previously  married  to  Bennet    White    fitz  Geoffry,    was    transplanted    to 

Connaught  in  1654  with  her  three  young  children.  Sir  John,   Harry  and 

Edmond.    On  the  22nd  August,   1655,   the  Cromwellian   court  at  Athlone 

assigned  the  wretched  woman  354  acres.    After  the  restoration  she  obtained 

on  1st  August,  1663,  a  decree  of  innocence  and  an  order  to  enter  upon  the 

estate.    She  could  not  be  restored  to  the  houses  in  Clonmel,  being  a  Papist, 

and  no  reprise  in  lands  elsewhere  would  be  granted  her,  having  accepted 

from   the  Cromwellians   lands    in    Connaught.      So  read  the   decree   (UJ. 

Further,   not  only   were   the  Irish   excluded   from   inheriting  or  acquiring 

property  within  the  town,  but  such  English  as  intermarried  with  them  fell 

under  the  ban. 

Court  of  Claims. 

12  August  1663  \     James  Mortimer  and  his  wife  Pltffs. 

[    James  adjudged  Innocent  Protestant 
J     Ellen  his  wife  Innocent  Papist 

Nota. 

James  is  a  Protestant ;  Ellen  a  Papist.  They  claim  in  right  of  Ellen,  and  the 
question  is  whether  they  shall  be  restored  to  what  is  in  the  Corporation  of  Clonmell. 

Adjudged  they  shall  not  be  restored  in  specie  for  what  is  in  corporations. 

Qu.  If  he  had  been  a  Papist  and  she  a  Protestant — and  he  had  claimed  in  her 
right  (mm), 

(jj)  Exposition  of  Clause  relative  to  '49  security. 

(kkj  Decrees  for  Innocents,  Roll  VI.,  Skin  i,  P.R.O.,  Dublin. 

(11)  Ibid,  Roll  IX.,  Skin  82. 

(mm)  Minutes  of  Sir  Edward  Deering,  Judge  of  Court  of  Claims.     Carte  Papers,  Ixvii. 

H 


08  History  of  Clonmel. 

In  the  patent  rolls  of  Chancery  are  enrolled  the  grants  of  lands,  houses 
and  other  tenements,  under  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation.  These 
aflford  a  graphic  picture  of  the  town  as  it  was  ultimately  settled  (nn)  ;  they 
exhibit  Clonmel  street  by  street  and  house  by  house ;  we  can  read  on  the 
signboards  as  if,  the  names  of  the  new  settlers  and  the  dispossessed  Irish. 

While  the  restoration  brought  to  his  countymen  but  the  extinction  of 
their  hopes,  it  raised  Ormond  to  the  pinnacle  of  wealth  and  honour.  To  his 
Irish  dignities  was  added  an  English  peerage  and  the  stewardship  of  the 
royal  household.  Among  the  numerous  grants  made  to  him  was  one  of  almost 
the  entire  town  of  Clonmel.  As  lord  of  the  manor  he  previously  derived 
certain  chief  rents  from  the  burgesses.  Now  all  feudal  tenures,  fee  farm 
grants  and  leaseholds  were  declared  forfeited,  and  the  town  at  its  full  improved 
value  became  his.  The  estate,  for  example,  of  John  White  was  held  by  suit 
of  court  and  a  yearly  rent  of  twenty-two  shillings.  Its  value  now  may  be 
estimated  from  the  fact  that  it  consisted  of  thirty-four  houses  within  the  walls, 
and  twenty-one  without;  three  corn  mills,  one  tucking  mill  with  several 
gardens  and  parks.  When  however  there  was  question  of  adventurers'  or 
soldiers'  interests  the  Duke  did  not  get  so  easy  possession.  The  burgagery 
lands  which  lay  in  Co.  Tipperary,  containing  718  plantation  acres,  had  been 
distributed  to  Hugh  RadclifFe,  Charles  Alcock  and  others.  Before  they  could 
be  removed  lands  of  equal  value  had  to  be  found  for  them  elsewhere.  This 
presented  such  difficulties  that  Ormond  after  prolonged  negociation  advised 
his  agent  Walsh  to  compound  for  the  chief  rent  of  three  pence  an  acre  fooj. 

The  Cromwellians  -and  Protestant  royalists  being  now  in  peaceable 
possession  and  all  fear  of  the  Irish  removed,  religious  differences  began  to 
assert  themselves.  Episcopalianism  returned  in  full  flood  with  the  restoration, 
and  crown  and  mitre  became  convertible  terms.  The  Cromwellians  who 
were  independents,  baptists,  or  presbyterians,  had  either  to  accept  the  new 
creed  or  lie  under  the  suspicion  of  disloyalty.  In  Clonmel  as  elsewhere  there 
was  much  vexation  of  spirit.  On  learning  the  King's  intention  to  erect  a 
new  Protestant  hierarchy  Majors  Stanley,  Le  Hunt  and  others  in  1660  sent 

(nnj  Appendix. 

(00}  The  problems  which  arose  in  the  administration  of  the  Acts  were  perplexing.  Here  is  a 
local  case,  "  Bennett  White  of  Clonmell  in  the  Countie  of  Tipperarie  long  before  the  rebellion  did 
mortgage  vnto  Richard  Earle  of  Corke  the  castle  towne  and  lands  of  Maylarstowne  [Milerstown] 
for  to  pounds  and  dyed  long  before  the  Rebellion.  John  White  his  sonn  and  heire  entred  and 
continued  possession  paying  thintrest  of  the  mortgage  vntill  ousted  by  the  vsurpers.  Sithence  which 
time  the  same  is  disposed  of  by  the  now  Earle  of  Corke  it  being  not  allotted  to  Adventurers  or  Souldiers. 
The  said  castle  and  town  are  houlden  of  James  Duke  of  Ormond  as  of  his  Manor  of  Clonmell.  John 
White  is  a  forfeiting  person." 

The  question  is  whether  the  Duke  of  Ormond  may  pay  the  said  mortgage  money  to  the  Earle 
of  Corke,  whether  the  said  Earle  be  bound  to  accept  thereof.  And  whether  the  said  Duke  may 
enter  by  virtue  of  the  King's  Declaration  and  Act  of  Settlement  which  gives  him  the  forfeiture  of  all 
lands  held  of  him  ?    Carte  Papers  xxiii.  157. 


History  of  Clonmel,  99 

round  for  signature  a  petition  that  the  "  godly  ministers  of  the  Gospel  who 
had  so  long  laboured  among  them  might  be  continued  and  countenanced." 
They  were  peremptorily  ordered  to  desist  (pp).  Two  years  later  the  conflict 
had  grown  so  angry  that  it  was  seriously  proposed  to  remove  the  "phanatiques" 
out  of  the  town  as  had  been  done  with  the  Irish  (qq).  Wholesale  arrests  were 
made  and  George  Baker,  Protestant  Bishop  of  Waterford  came  to  St.  Mary's 
on  Sunday,  31st  May  to  preach  submission.  The  dissenters  nothing  daunted 
met  at  Innislounaght  in  the  house  of  Thomas  Batty  who,  on  the  Wednesday 
preceding,  had  been  lodged  in  gaol  ^rr/  Information  was  conveyed  to  Sir 
Francis  Foulkes  governor  of  the  town,  and  a  company  of  soldiers  surrounded 
the  house  and  marched  the  whole  body  into  the  town  Marshalsea.  Zephanii 
Smith,  one  of  those  arrested,  being  asked  by  a  soldier  "why  he  was  not  att 
church  then  to  hear  the  Bishop  preach  and  he  replyed  that  he  did  preach  him- 
selfe  in  church  before  now  and  hoped  to  preach  there  again  in  Grod's  due  time, 
and  if  he  had  been  at  Masse  or  at  an  Ale  house  amongst  a  company  of  Drunkards, 
swearers  or  heathens  he  doth  suppose  that  he  should  not  have  been  tormented." 
Thomas  Little,  another  soldier,  heard  the  wife  of  John  Foster  of  Abbey  say 
"  that  there  must  be  another  boute  or  blowe  for  it  and  that  very  suddenlie  "  (ss). 
In  the  event  many  accepted  the  episcopacy,  the  most  notable  being  Samuel 
Ladyman  the  preacher,  who  on  24th  February,  1666,  took  orders  in  the 
established  church  and  thereby  retained  the  living  of  Clonmel.  Others,  as 
William  Vaughan,  Phineas  Riall  and  Richard  Perry,  held  out  and  formed  the 
first  dissenting  congregation  in  Clonmel,  under  one  Mr.  Wood  as  minister. 
Amid  the  war  of  sects  we  discern  the  first  beginning  of  a  body  which 
afterwards  attracted  no  little  notice,  and  whose  connection  with  the  town  was 
entirely  beneficent — the  Quakers. 

May  it  please  yr  Grace 

I  haveing  been  prisoned  in  this  town  for  the  space  of  three  monthes  past  for  sheepe 
of  Sir  Hardress  Waller  taken  by  me  for  his  Maties  service  (as  sheriff  for  the  Countie  of 
Tipperarie)  in  July  l66o. 

Yesterday  being  Sunday  seuerall  Quaquers  being  in  this  prison  together,  the 
enclosed  printed  paper  was  discouered  being  in  the  hands  of  one  George  Sharpe  a 
Quaquer  by  one  Edmond  Prendergast  who  is  likewise  a  Prisoner  for  Prosecuteing  his 
Estate  and  Claime  of  his  father  deceased  formerly  Maior  of  Clonmell.    Whereupon  I 


(pp)  Stanley  fell  foul  of  the  authorities  and  went  to  England.  The  following  year  he  came 
back  blearing  a  letter  under  the  King's  sign  manual  "  that  he  was  returning  to  plant  and  therefor 
was  to  be  favoured  and  encouraged."  (Carte  Papers  xli.,  331.)  He  was  elected  member  for 
Clonmel  and  subsequently  Co.  Louth .  He  passed  a  patent  for  Tickencor,  Kilganey,  Ballymacarbery, 
Batlymakee,  Ardpadden,  Castleconnagh,  etc.  in  all  9,155  acres  in  1666.  He  was  subsequently  made 
privy  councillor  and  dying  in  1694  was  buried  in  St.  Michan's,  Dublin. 

(qq)  Carte  Papers  xxxii.  172. 

f^rr)  Richard  Perrot,  Mayor  to  Ormond,  27th  May,  Carte  Papers. 

(ss)  Carte  Papers  xxii. 


100  History  of  Clonmel. 

examined  the  said  George  Sharpe  who  confessed  he  had  the  said  paper  from  one  John 
ffennell  who  lives  near  Cahir  whereupon  I  issued  a  warrant  against  the  said  ffennell 
who  upon  his  examinacon  etc. 

J.  Booker  (//). 

Enclosure  was  "  A  Word  of  Remembrance,  Reproofe  and  Counsell  to 
England  and  London  put  fforth  by  One  that  loues  and  longes  for  their 
Prosperity.  M.  C."  But  John  Fennell  on  examination,  denied  he  gave  it  to 
George  Sharpe,  or  ever  saw  or  heard  of  the  document. 

Throughout  this  troublous  period  a  strong  garrison  was  maintained  in 
Clonmel  (uu).  As  there  were  no  barracks,  the  soldiers  (save  a  few  who 
occupied  the  fort  and  the  turrets  in  the  town  wall)  were  billeted  on  the 
inhabitants.  This  gave  rise  to  much  discontent.  On  28th  November,  1662, 
Ormond  wrote  to  the  Mayor. 

Fforasmuch  as  we  are  informed  that  there  are  not  in  the  town  of  Clonmell,  inns  or 
alehouses  sufficient  for  the  reception  of  the  troop  of  horse  and  two  foot  companies  that 
are  in  garrison  there,  we  therefore  hereby  require  and  authorize  the  Mayor  of  the  said 
town  to  take  effectual  order  that  the  said  troop  and  companies  be  quartered  as  well  in 
private  houses,  as  in  inns  and  alehouses  in  the  said  town,  equally  and  indifferently  as 
the  severall  inhabitants  thereof  are  able  to  beare  them  (w). 

Soldiers  then  as  now  were  somewhat  absent-minded,  and  among  the 
Ormond  papers  are  several  petitions  for  payment  of  their  debts.  William 
Thwaytes  who  "  kept  a  marchant's  shoppe  *'  commiserating  the  condition  of 
sergient  Brewer,  Drummer  Williams  and  others  in  the  years  1663-4  supplied 
them  with  cloth,  victualls  and  other  goods.  Richard  Whitehand,  shoemaker, 
petitioned  for  boots  supplied  Captain  Richard  Smith ;  Nathaniel  Carr  for 
goods  furnished  to  William  Tuksbury,  and  so  on  (ww).  At  length  the  burthen 
became  intolerable.  Following  the  example  of  Dublin  shortly  before,  several 
citizens  resolved  to  billet  them  no  longer  (xx).  The  military  appealed  to 
Ormond. 

The  humble  petition  of  Captaine  Richard  Smith,  Captaine  Randolph  Taylor, 
Ensigne  Robert  Meredith  and  Ensigne  Garret  Foulke  sheweth.  That  the  officers  and 
souldiers  of  the  foote  companyes  to  which  your  petitioners  belong  commanded  by  Sir 
Francis  Foulke  and  Captaine  John  Botiler  and  guarrisoned  in  the  towne  of 
Clonmel  have  till  of  late  been  furnished  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town  with 

(it)  To  Ormond»  Clonmel,  October  22nd,  1662.    Carte  Papers. 

(uu)  In  1662  there  was  a  troop  of  horse  under  Lord  Shannon  91  men,  a  foot  company  of  93 
under  Captain  Sir  Francis  Foulke,  and  another  97  under  Charles  Blount. 

(wi  Ormond  Papers  I.,  259. 

(ww)  Carte  Papers,  cliv. 

(xx)  "This  day  heing  at  dinner  in  a  house  of  this  town  Mr.  Richard  Hamerton  came  in  and  in 
very  much  passion  burst  forth  without  any  provocation  in  the  following  manner,  that  he  would 
indict  the  constable  that  gave  the  souldiers  quarters  but  in  inns  and  alehouses,  and  that  he  paid  the 
King  his  due  and  that  the  souldiers  should  pay  their  quarters  ;  there  is  no  need  of  souldiers  now 
there  being  a  mititia  worth  one  and  a  half  and  at  any  time  could  beat  them."  Richard  Smith  to  Sir 
Francis  Foulkes,  30th  December,  1667.    Orrery  Papers. 


History  of  Clonmel.  loi 

convenient  lodgings  and  quarters ;  some  of  the  inhabitants  finding  lodgings,  and  others 
in  the  suburbs  and  elsewhere  giveing  certaine  allowances  by  their  owne  agreements 
and  consents  to  several  of  the  officers  and  souldiers,  to  provide  and  pay  for  their  owne 
quarters  and  accommodation  where  they  thought  most  convenient.  But  now  may  it 
please  your  Grace,  Richard  Hammerton,  Edward  Batty,  Anthony  Lawrence,  George 
Collett  and  William  Vaughan  able  inhabitants  of  the  said  towne,  refuse  to  quarter  or 
pay  the  allowances  for  quartering  by  them  contracted  for  as  formerly  but  by  their 
examples  and  instigation  have  caused  the  several  other  persons  undernamed  to  doe  the 
like  and  obstinately  persist  therein;  by  which  meanes  many  of  the  soldiers  are 
altogether  destitute  of  lodgings  and  quarter,  being  turned  out  of  those  they  formerly 
hyred  for  want  of  payment  of  the  allowances  contracted  for,  and  forced  to  lye  in  the 
guard  when  they  have  done  their  duty  to  the  great  inconvenience  of  the  poore  souldiers. 
For  reliefe  wherein  the  petitioners  haveing  in  a  faire  way  often  applyed  themselves  to 
the  Mayor  of  the  said  towne  without  any  effect  or  redresse  they  are  forced  most  humbly 
to  pray  that  your  Grace  will  be  pleased  to  take  the  premisses  into  consideration  and 
give  such  order  thereon  as  your  Grace  in  your  greate  wisedome  shall  thinke  fit.  And 
your  petitioners  shall  pray,  etc  {yy). 

Ormond  on  14th  March,  1668,  ordered  Hamerton,  Batty  and  the  others 
named  to  forthwith  provide  quarters  for  the  soldiers,  and  in  case  of  refusal 
to  appear  before  him  in  Dublin  and  show  cause  to  the  contrary.  They  did 
neither,  however,  but  sent  a  petition  to  have  the  matter  in  dispute  investigated 
in  or  near  Clonmel.  Through  the  action  of  certain  Dublin  citizens  the 
illegality  of  indiscriminate  billeting  was  soon  after  established. 

Amidst  all  the  sectarian  bitterness  and  the  turmoil  of  contending  interests 
under  the  Acts  of  Settlement,  the  new  inhabitants  were  not  idle.  Industrial 
development  was  impossible  owing  to  dearth  of  population;  the  small  farmers 
and  cottiers  having  been  swept  away  by  the  Cromwellian  wars.  The  two 
baronies  of  Iffa  and  Offa,  exclusive  of  Clonmel,  contained  in  1658  only  4,952 
souls,  the  whole  County  of  Tipperary  26,684.  But  there  was  much  commercial 
activity  and  enterprise.  Herds  of  black  cattle  and  vast  flocks  of  sheep 
covered  the  face  of  the  country  ;  the  negociation  of  these  and  their  products 
made  a  trade  important  and  far  reaching.  There  was  also  a  large  export  of 
Irish  oak  for  pipe  staves  and  other  purposes ;  for  during  this  period  the 
primeval  forests  of  Ireland  were  being  cleared.  From  1660  onwards  the 
shipping  of  cattle  began  on  a  considerable  scale,  but  in  1666  the  country 
gentlemen  who  composed  the  English  parliament  grew  jealous,  and  an  Act 
was  passed  declaring  the  trade  a  nuisance,  and  absolutely  prohibiting  it.  As 
a  result  good  cows  might  be  bought  for  ten  shillings  and  horses  for  half  a 
crown  (zzj.  Forbidden  the  export  of  live  stock,  cattle  were  killed  and  salted, 
a  foreign  trade  in  hides  and  tallow  developed,  and  besides  supplying  the 
West  of  England  large  quantities  of  wool  were  run  (as  the  term  was)  to 
France  and  Holland. 

(yy)  A  list  of  forty-eight  persons  is  annexed  who  refused  to  quarter. — Ormonde  Papers  10,  pt.  5, 
pp.  55-6. 

fzz)  Broghill  to  Dorset,  18th  December,  1666.    4  Rep.  Hist.  MSS.  280. 


102  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  part  which  Clonmel  took  in  the  trade  of  the  period  we  are  fortunately 
able  to  judge  from  a  contemporary  ledger  still  existing.  William  Vaughan 
kept  shop  in  High  Street,  a  few  doors  from  the  main  guard  (north  side),  from 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  until  its  last  year,  when  he  died. 
Petty  trader,  merchant,  bill  broker  and  banker,  his  ledger  throws  a  flood  of 
light  upon  the  commerce  and  the  business  methods  of  the  time.  The  principal 
article  which  he  dealt  in  was  wool.  This  he  bought  in  huge  quantities, 
nearly  every  person  of  prominence  in  South  Tipperary  appearing  in  the 
ledger.  Having  packed  the  wool  and  brought  it  to  Clonmel,  it  was  shipped 
as  the  market  offered — some  from  Waterford,  most  from  Youghal — to  Mine- 
head,  Bideford  or  Barnstaple.  There  it  was  negociated  and  paid  for  by 
English  bills.  As  the  exchange  usually  rose  high  against  Ireland,  an 
additional  profit  was  thereby  obtained.  This  perhaps  will  be  best  understood 
from  a  concrete  transaction.  In  1685  Vaughan  purchased  from  Richard 
Moore  (who  was  by  this  time  a  great  sheep  rancher),  128  bags  of  wool,  the 
price  paid  being  i^i,433.  The  wool  was  carted  by  way  of  Ballinamult  to 
Cappoquin  at  the  rate  of  2s.  2d.  a  bag.  Here  it  was  conveyed  by  boat  to 
Youghal,  whence  it  was  shipped  to  Edmund  Spurier,  of  Minehead.  Vaughan 
was  paid  by  bills  on  Joseph  Carpenter,  of  London.  Now  as  remittances  had 
to  be  sent  to  Stephen  Moore  (Richard's  eldest  son)  then  in  England,  and  as 
the  exchange  was  18  against  Ireland,  Vaughan  was  able  to  sell  his  bills  on 
Carpenter  at  a  handsome  profit  Frequently  it  appears  that  the  wool  was 
exported  merely  for  the  profits  of  the  exchange.  In  1687  on  a  consignment 
of  fifty  bags  to  Joshua  Holland,  of  Minehead,  a  loss  of  £26  on  the  wool  was 
turned  to  a  profit  of  £32  on  the  exchange.  Again  in  the  same  year  a  deficit 
of  £n  is  recorded  on  123  bags.  So  great  was  the  demand  for  English  bills 
that  Vaughan  occasionally  overdrew  on  his  correspondents.  Where  the  loss 
on  the  wool  would  be  excessive,  the  following  curious  method  of  liquidating 
the  balance  was  resorted  to.  "  Mr.  Edmd.  Spurier  Dr.  [1686.]  To  cash  sent 
yu  in  a  bagg  of  wool  No.  2,  £l00 — 00 — 00."  But  more  interesting  by  far  than 
the  cross-channel  export  of  wool  was  the  trade  with  the  continent. 

"  Mr.  Robert  Ball  is  equally  in  co-partnership  with  Will  Vaughan,  Oct.  19,  1688 — 
To  59  casks  of  butter  shipt  on  board  the  Fortune  of  Youghal  (Will.  Kellin  master),  for 
Dunicirke,  and  is  consigned  to  Mr.  Tho.  Baker  and  Mr.  John  Fen  of  Ostend,  wch  cost 
on  shipboard,  in  all  £81  3s.  9d. 

Nov.  12— To  41  casks  of  butter  shipt  on  board  the  Swan  of  Love  Ed.  Poore  master, 
for  Rochelle  and  consigned  to  Mr.  Walsh  and  Gaule,  from  Youghall  per  Robert  Ball 
which  cost  in  Ireland  ^57  lis.  4d. 

To  44  casks  of  butter  consigned  to  Mr.  Tho :  Baker  and  Mr.  John  Fen  of  Ostend, 
per  the  Pearl  of  Waterford  cost  in  all  being  on  my  own  proper  account  ^65  7s.  id. 

To  profitts  on  the  above  144  casks  of  butter  £\l  13  lOd." 


History  of  Clonmel.  103 

There  are  also  accounts  of  considerable  shipments  of  butter,  cheese, 
tallow  and  frieze  to  Thomas  Barton  of  Bordeaux. 

Partly  owing  to  foreign  trade,  partly  to  the  supineness  of  government, 
much  of  the  business  of  the  country  was  done  in  foreign  coin,  and  the  ledger 
is  full  of  references  to  pistoles  and  ducats.  More  curious  still  was  the  currency 
established  by  the  traders  themselves.  In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century  it  was  found  impossible  to  carry  on  a  petty  cash  business  for  want  of 
small  copper  coin.  The  shopkeepers  of  Clonmel  as  elsewhere  supplied  the 
deficiency  by  a  coinage  of  their  own.  The  earliest  of  these  tokens  was  issued 
by  William  Henbury,  a  com  miller. 

f Obverse:  WILLIAM  Henbvry  Of  (a  harp). 

(Reverse  :  Clonmell  1656  (W.H.) 

In  the  same  year  he  was  followed  by  George  Carr,  a  shopkeeper  in  High 
Street,  who  as  the  son  of  John  Carr,  a  gentleman,  considered  himself  entitled 
to  quarter  his  arms  on  the  coin. 

jO. :  George  Carr  (Carr  arms — On   a  bend  between  three  Cornish 
(R. :  OF  Clonmell  (G.C.  id.  1656).  [choughs  as  many—). 

Richard  Hamerton  not  content  with  the  profits  derived  from  the  export 
of  pipe  staves,  appears  also  as  a  *  moneyer.' 
|0.:  Richard  Hamerton  (1657). 
1r.  :  In  Clonmell  1657  (R.H.) 

fO.:  Richard  Hamerton  (R.H.  between  two  dotted  circles). 
IR. :  Of  Clonmell  1657. 

The  issue  had  now  become  so  profitable  that  persons  other  than  traders 
took  part  in  it.  The  coin  of  Colonel  John  Booker  is  interesting  as  the  first  to 
exhibit  the  arms  of  the  town. 

fO.:  J.  B.  OF  Clonmell  (1658,  id.) 

(R. :  For  Citty  And  COVNTY  (Clonmel  arms— a  stag  pursued  by  a  dog 

[over  a  bridge,  a  fish  below). 

After  the  restoration  though  there  were  several  proclamations  crying 
down  the  tokens  under  stringent  penalties,  still  new  ones  were  put  forth. 
|0.:  Ann  Henbvry  (a  harp). 
iR. :  In  Clonmell  1663  (A.H.) 
ro. :  Richard  Hamerton  (Clonmel  Arms). 
iR. :  Of  Clonmel  1664,  (a  fish). 
I O. :  JOHN  Fryers  1668  (a  ship). 
iR. :  Of  Clonmel  Pevterer  (Id.). 


104  History  of  Clonmel. 

To  escape  the  penalties  set  out  in  the  proclamations  the  dates  were 
omitted  from  the  following  : — 

|0. :  Richard  Carleton  of  (Clonmel  Arms). 

iR.  :  CLONMELL  MERCHANT  (R.C.  ID.). 
jO. :  TEPERARY  WILL  (ID.). 

(R. :  Change  Them  Agan  (R.C.). 

jO. :  Richard  Hamerton  (Id.  a  dolphin). 

I R. :  Of  ClONMELL,  (Clonmel  Arms). 

fO. :  JOHN  HarwoOD  (three  fleurs-de-lys,  two  and  one). 

1r.:  Of  CLONMELL,  M.A.  (ID.). 

(O. :  Andrew  Robeson  of  (Robinson  Arms,  three  stags). 

(R. :  Clonmel  His.  Id.  (a  wool  pack). 

(O. :  Martin  Dix  Clonmell  (a  dagger  between  a  pierced  mullet  of 
!  [six  points). 

I  R. :  In  Tipperary  Munster  (a  harp  enclosed  in  circle). 

From  these  and  other  indications  as  also  from  the  pleadings  of  the 
Palatinate  court,  there  is  evidence  that  the  period  from  the  Cromwellian 
settlement  to  the  Revolution  was  one  of  great  prosperity  in  Clonmel.  The 
fact  that  so  many  of  our  local  gentry  date  their  origin  to  the  traders  of  that 
time,  is  conclusive.  But  the  foundations  of  more  lasting  prosperity  would 
have  been  laid  had  not  the  iniquitous  policy  of  William  III.  crushed  the 
woollen  industry.  In  1674  Sir  Peter  Pett  a  well-known  economist  of  the  day, 
addressed  a  memorial  to  the  Duke  of  Ormond  setting  forth  that  the  manufacture 
of  worsted  and  coarse  woollens  for  home  consumption,  would  increase  the 
profits  of  wool,  give  much  employment  to  the  poor  and  enhance  the  value  of 
his  Grace's  estate.  Accordingly  Ormond  entered  into  a  treaty  with  one 
Edward  Nelthorp,  a  Norwich  manufacturer.  Humphrey  Hill  was  sent  over 
to  settle  preliminaries  and  Captain  Grant  began  negociations  with  Walloon 
refugee  wool  combers  in  Canterbury  for  their  removal  to  Clonmel.  Houses 
were  to  be  assigned  them  for  twenty-one  years  "without  paying  any  rent 
save  one  piece  of  fine  searge  yearly,"  but  Nelthorp  complained  that  better 
terms  were  offered  him  elsewhere.  Other  troubles  rose  in  unexpected  quarters. 
Nelthorp  wrote  22nd  June,  1675,  to  George  Mathew,  Ormond's  agent  "His 
Grace  tells  me  he  has  writt  to  you  concerninge  the  opposition  the  Corporation 
of  Clonmell  gives  Mr.  Hill  as  alsoe  how  to  prevent  other  little  manufactoryes 
that  may  be  sett  up  on  purpose  to  destroy  oures  "  fa).  Friezes  were  made  for 
a  time  but  the  subsequent  history  of  the  industry  is  not  known. 

(ti)  Hist.  MSS.  6  Rep.  p.  713. 


History  of  Clonmel.  los 

All  this  time  that  the  new  settlers  were  acquiring  riches,  purchasing  land 
and  founding  families,  the  old  natives  of  the  town  Whites,  Barrons,  Stritches, 
Brennocks,  looked  on  with  hungry'  eyes  from  their  cabins  in  the  Irishtown, 
the  Old  Bridge  and  the  other  suburbs.  As  their  rights  to  trade  freely  in  the 
town,  and  enjoy  all  other  municipal  franchises,  were  indisputable  under  the 
charter,  the  Corporation  to  exclude  them  adopted  the  illegal  expedient  of 
requiring  all  freemen  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy. 

At  a  Doyer  Hundred  Court  held  at  the  TholselofClonmel  19  October  1668  .... 
John  Rindon  Butcher  the  same  day  took  the  Oath  of  supremacy  and  the  Oath  of  a 
Freeman 

4  Day  of  October  1669  Robert  Hayman  took  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  and  the  oath 
of  a  Freeman  of  this  Burough. 

Against  this  they  in  common  with  the  "  ancient  inhabitants"  of  Waterford> 
Wexford  and  Galway,  repeatedly  petitioned  the  King.  At  length  a  friendly 
viceroy.  Lord  Berkeley,  was  sent  over  and  on  23rd  March,  1672,  proclamation 
was  made  of  an  Act  of  Council  ordering  that  his  Majesty's  Irish  Roman 
Catholic  subjects,  formerly  inhabitants  should  be  forthwith  restored  to  their 
accustomed  freedoms  and  be  allowed  to  peaceably  inhabit  and  trade  as  freely 
as  they  or  their  ancestors  did  and  no  distinction  to  be  made  on  pretence  of 
difference  in  religion  ^W.  The  ferment  which  the  proclamation  created  in 
Clonmel  is  graphically  described  in  some  correspondence  preserved  in  the 
State  Paper  Office. 

Wee  the  Irish  natiues  of  this  Corporation  of  Clonmell  had  just  cause  to  honour 
his  Maiesties  proclamation  of  26  ffebruary  167 1  [2]  accompanied  with  the  act  of  the 
Councell  graunting  vs  libertye  to  be  restored  to  our  freedome  and  that  without  interruption 
wee  beinge  thereunto  bom  by  birthright.  Seeing  how  carelessly  the  same  was  proclaimd 
by  the  bell  man  and  read  by  a  pitiful  clerke  without  the  Maior  bailiffs  or  aldermen  or 
any  person  of  note  or  fashion  which  rejection  made  our  hearts  bleed  yett  wee  poor  Irish 
dared  say  nothing  nor  coulde  wee  obtaine  leave  to  make  bonfires  or  any  show  of  triumph 
and  it  added  to  our  grief  to  heare  it  said  it  would  produce  a  second  Rebellion.  Amongst 
the  rest  Richard  Moore  that  was  a  very  poore  glover  but  now  is  an  esquier  of  2000  li  a 
year  was  heard  to  say  23  March  the  day  it  was  proclaimed,  that  it  was  the  King's  ballett 
renderinge  it  soe  insignificant  and  scomeful  that  it  would  move  a  loyall  heart  to 
knock  him  dead  but  that  the  law  forbiddeth.  Pray  consider  if  anything  can  be  made  of 
these  expressions.  The  words  can  be  prooued  home  and  a  good  deade  it  were  to  cheque 
the  pride  of  these  Cromwellian  sectaries.  I  remember  when  their  Monarch  liued  that 
any  proclamation  order  or  decree  he  passed  and  graunt  he  gave  none  durst  oppose 
it  or  seem  in  the  least  dissatisfied.  May  God  inspire  their  hearts  to  be  true  and  faithful 
to  our  King  but  it  rested  in  himselfe  to  make  them  more  obedient  else  I  belieue  he  shall 
neuer  have  their  love.  In  making  use  of  your  freedom  and  access  you  will  add  to  your 
glory  to  present  this  our  grievance  by  way  of  petition  or  remonstrance  that  wee  cannot 
have  the  benefit  of  the  proclamation  and  Mr.  Daniel  Arthur  has  commission  to  advance 
whateuer  expenses  the  same  may  cause  (c). 

To  these  charges  the  Mayor  replied  in  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant. 

In  pursuance  of  the  late  proclamation  and  the  late  rules  for  makeing  freemen  I 
have  admitted  and  sworn  severall  natives  of  this  corporation  as  freemen  and  in  court 

(h)  Original  in  Gale's  CoiTX>rate  System  of  Ireland,  cxlix. 

(c)  James  Lee  to  Sir  Edward  Scott.    State  Papers,  Domestic  Chas.  II.,  sub  nun,  P.R.O.  London. 


106  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  else  where  declared  my  readiness  all  that  could  make  out  their  rights  therevnto 
either  by  antient  records  or  by  copies  of  their  own  parents  former  freedomes. 
Nevertheless  John  Power  an  inhabitaunt  of  this  towne  has  applied  with  others  very 
tumultuously  in  court  demanding  not  only  his  freedom  but  to  be  admitted  a  burgess 
and  yett  obstinately  refuseing  to  produce  either  copies  of  freedom  or  a  record  to  make 
out  his  right  though  antient  reconls  have  lately  been  seen  in  his  possession  which  to 
the  greate  preiudice  of  the  corporation  he  denies  to  show  me  so  that  by  the  advice  of 
my  Counsell  I  have  forborne  to  admit  him  as  freeman  or  burgess.  Whereupon  he  has 
lately  caused  some  scandalous  papers  to  be  penned  reflecting  very  much  on  the  reputation 
of  our  whole  society  and  particularly  the  Mayor  bailiffs  and  burgesses  the  authority  of  this 
Corporation  (d). 

The  reasons  for  withholding  the  records  appear  in  an  intercepted  letter 
of  Lee  to  Power.  "  Having  being  formerly  a  natiue  inhabitant  which  I  made 
appeare  by  an  old  record  which  I  haue  shown  to  some  of  the  petty  burgesses 
of  this  town  but  not  to  the  Maior  being  very  sure  he  would  forceably  keep  it 
from  me  "  (e).  Some  twelve  of  the  old  natives  obtained  their  freedom  but  in 
the  meantime  so  great  a  clamour  was  raised  in  England  over  the  admission 
of  Catholics  into  the  Corporations  that  Berkeley  was  recalled  and  Essex 
appointed  Lord  Lieutenant  (f).  On  the  23rd  September  following,  the  "  New 
Rules  "  for  the  government  of  Corporations,  were  issued.  These  by  subjecting 
municipal  appointments  to  the  control  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  and  Council, 
and  by  imposing  the  oath  of  supremacy  on  all  mayors,  bailiffs,  recorders, 
town  clerks,  treasurers,  aldermen  and  burgesses,  extinguished  the  charter 
rights  of  the  old  inhabitants  and  gave  legal  sanction  to  the  Cromwellian 
Settlement  of  the  towns.  Two  months  later  a  bribe  to  apostacy  was 
held  out  by  the  Corporation. 

At  a  Councill  held  at  the  Tholsel  of  this  Town  of  Clonmell  on  the  13th  Day  of 
November  1672.  Quaere.  Whether  the  Natives  of  this  Towne  as  Merchants  and 
other  Tradesmen  conforming  themselves  to  the  Rules  of  the  printed  Proclamation  from 
the  Lord  Lieutenant  and  Councill  bearinge  Date  the  23  Day  of  September  1672,  shall 
be  made  free  of  this  Corporation  or  not. 

Carried  on  the  Affirmative. 

The  history  of  Clonmel  as  of  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  during  the 
subsequent  twenty  years,  is  a  record  of  politico  religious  turmoil.  On  the 
one  hand  the  insecurity  of  the  new  settlers  owing  to  the  Catholic  succession 
to  the  throne,  their  fierce  Calvinistic  religion,  the  stories  of  popish  plots  and 
massacres  imported  from  England  and  circulated  by  such  men  as  Orrery  and 
Mount  Alexander,  created  profound  distrust  and  hatred.  The  Irish  on  the 
other  hand,  clamorous  for  restoration  to  their  estates,  showed  neither  good 
sense  nor  tact  in  a  situation  delicate  and  perilous  in  the  extreme.    Their 

(d)  Francis  Hopkins,  Mayor  of  Clonmel  to  Essex,  Lord  Lieutenant,  Feb.  15th,  1673.     Ibid. 

(e)  James  Lee  to  John  Power.     Ibid. 

Yf)  The  following  appear  in  the  "  Ministers  Money "  return  for  1674.  Henry  White,  James 
Moroney,  Nicholas  White,  John  Stritch,  Ignatius  Sail,  Peter  Rothe,  Edward  Lafifan,  Nicholas  Barron, 
Edward  Comerford,  Walter  Brennock,  Thomas  Ryan. 


History  of  Clonmel.  io7 

leaders  Talbot  and  Nugent  eager  to  dominate  the  army  and  (through  the 
corporations)  the  parliament,  helped  in  no  small  measure  to  raise  the  storm 
which  eventually  swept  away  the  Stuart  dynasty.  The  incidents  of  Clonmel 
life  are  characteristic  of  the  time.  On  the  fifth  of  November,  1672,  the  Mayor 
and  Corporation  went  to  church  to  commemorate  the  anniversary  of  the  Gun 
Powder  Plot.  They  were  mobbed  on  their  return  and  the  mayor  received 
rough  handling  (g).  The  effects  of  the  Titus  Oates*  explosion  were  also  felt, 
for  on  5th  April,  1679,  by  proclamation  from  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  the  Catholic 
inhabitants  were  removed  outside  the  walls  of  the  town,  except  a  few  necessary 
merchants  and  artificers.  This  cruel  measure  was  followed  by  one  more  cruel, 
because  more  lasting  in  its  effects.  In  1681  the  first  of  the  trade  guilds,  that  of 
merchants,  was  formed;  a  few  years  later  the  guilds  of  the  cordwainers 
and  brewers.  The  three  included  in  their  scope  all  the  commerce  and 
handicrafts  of  the  town.  It  was  competent  for  the  members,  being  Protestants, 
to  impose  any  terms  they  pleased  on  Catholics,  or  indeed  to  say  whether 
they  should  be  permitted  to  trade  at  all.  Yet  the  Cromwellians  did  not  feel 
their  ascendancy  quite  secure.  The  grand  jury  of  the  county  palatine  in  1682 
refused  a  loyal  address  to  Charles  II.  Omiond  as  lord  of  the  palatinate  and 
lord  lieutenant  took  notice  of  the  affair,  and  determined  to  bring  to  account 
Stephen  Moore  who  had  moved  the  rejection  of  the  address.  "  I  know  not 
how  farr  Mr.  Herbert's  [Chief  Justice  of  Tipperary]  passion  may  have  been 
the  cause  that  an  address  was  not  unanimously  agreed  to  at  Clonmell  but  it 
will  behove  Mr.  Moore  to  give  some  signall  evidence  that  he  repents  the 
opposition  he  gave  it,  and  is  ready  to  make  amends  and  it  concearns  my  Lord 
Chief  Justice  to  dispose  him  to  it  that  he  may  not  stand  suspected  to  cajole 
the  partie  for  feare  or  favour,  and  I  know  not  what  demonstration  those  can 
now  make  but  by  contriving  and  carrying  on  an  address  as  plaine  and  full 
as  any  other  county  or  corporation  has  presented  **  (h).  Nothing,  however, 
appears  to  have  been  done,  but  four  years  later  Moore  emboldened  by 
impunity  used  seditious  language  towards  the  new  king.  For  this  he  was 
put  on  trial,  and  Tyrconnell,  Lord  Lieutenant,  to  secure  conviction  came  to 
Clonmel  in  person.  The  Cromwellian  jury  refusing  to  convict,  the  affair 
assumed  national  importance  (i).  But  the  event  which  stirred  the  town  to 
its  depths  was  the  suit  in  the  Court  of  Exchequer — Attorney  General  v.  The 
Corporation  of  Clonmel  in  1687.  A  judgment  of  "  Ouster "  was  given  as  in 
the  case  of  the  other  towns,  on  the  grounds  that  the  members  were  not  duly 

(g)  Sir  H.  Ford  to  Earl  of  Arlington,  25th  Nov.,  1672.  Essex  to  Arlington.  State  Papers 
Domestic  Chas.  II.,  P.R.O.  London. 

(h)  Ormond  to  Arran,  October  2nd,  1682. — Carte  Papers  L.,  p.  195. 

(i)  List  of  Jury  in  vol.  xxxix..  No.  27  of  the  Carte  Papers.  This  is  possibly  the  origin  of  the 
family  fiction  that  Moore  financed  King  William  in  the  sum  of  ;^3000  which  was  never  repaid. 


108 


History  of  Clonmel. 


elected,  had  violated  the  articles  of  incorporation  and  the  like.  Furthermore, 
a  new  charter  (7  December  3,  Jas.  IL,  1687)  passed  the  great  seal.  It  has  been 
the  fashion  of  partisan  historians,  such  as  Harris  and  King,  to  represent  these 
proceedings  as  the  confiscation  of  civic  rights,  and  the  filling  of  the 
corporations  with  the  dregs  of  the  papist  population  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
respectable  Protestant  inhabitants.  The  truth  is  that  the  new  charters 
enlarged  the  powers  of  the  local  bodies  and  provided  safeguards  against 
their  becoming  what  they  subsequently  did — mere  pocket  boroughs.  The 
following  were  named  in  the  charter  to  Clonmel  as  the  governing  body  to 
come  into  existence  29th  September,  1688 : — 

Mayor, 
James  Butler,  Merchant. 

Bailiffs. 
Richard  Dennison,  Merchant. 
Patrick  Brennock,  Merchant. 


Nicholas  White,  gent. 
Richard  Moore,  gent. 
John  Bray,  gent. 
Joseph  Comerford,  gent. 
Thomas  Meade,  gent. 
Peter  Root,  mercht. 
William  Vaughan,  mercht. 

Thomas  White. 
Nicholas  Barron. 
James  Moroney. 
John  Savage. 
Gilbert  Fryer. 
Nicholas  White. 
John  Stritch. 
Thomas  Donoghow. 
John  Greet. 
Theobald  Butler. 
Richard  Daniel. 
George  Sherlock. 
Richard  Bambrick. 
William  Quirke. 


Aldermen, 

James  Butler,  jun.,  mercht. 
Leonard  Boyton,  mercht. 
John  Hickey,  Doctor  in  Medicine. 
William  Stanley,  mercht. 
George  CoUett,  mercht. 
Walter  Brennock,  apothecary. 
Richard  Whitehand,  mercht. 

Free  Burgesses. 

Francis  Moroney. 
Richard  Betts. 
Nicholas  White  fitz  James. 
Thomas  White. 
Thomas  Craddock. 
Laurence  Brennock. 
John  Mead. 
John  Nevill. 
John  Moore. 
John  Meagher. 
James  Comerford. 
•James  Long. 
Dermot  Daniell. 
John  Stritch,  jun. 


History  of  Clonmel.  io9 

Recorder. 
Sir  Theobald  Butler. 

Town  Clerk  and  Protonotary. 
James  Butler  fitz  James. 

One  bailiff,  six  aldermen  and  eight  burgesses  represented  the  non- 
Catholics  in  the  new  corporation.  Of  these  George  Collett,  a  quaker,  and 
William  Vaughan,  a  "sectary,"  were  excluded  as  such  from  the  former 
corporation,  while  the  second  alderman  named,  Richard  Moore,  had 
persistently  opposed  every  concession  to  his  Catholic  townsmen. 

On  the  evening  of  Thursday,  2ist  March,  1689,  King  James  II.  after  a 
weary  journey  from  Lismore  reached  Clonmel.  A  contemporary  describes 
his  progress.  "  All  along  the  road  the  county  came  to  meet  his  majesty  with 
staunch  loyalty,  profound  respect  and  tender  love  as  if  he  had  been  an  angel 
from  heaven.  All  degrees  of  people  and  of  both  sexes  were  of  the  number, 
old  and  young.  Orations  of  welcome  being  made  to  him  at  the  entrance  of 
each  considerable  town  and  the  young  rural  maids  weaving  of  dances  before 
him  as  he  travelled.  In  a  word  from  Kinsale  to  Dublin  the  way  was  like  a 
great  fair,  such  crowds  poured  forth  from  their  habitations  to  wait  on  his 
majesty "  (j).  Events  now  moved  rapidly.  King  James  a  week  after  his 
arrival  in  Dublin  summoned  a  parliament  of  a  kingdom  only  yet  half 
subdued.  Clonmel  returned  as  its  representatives  Aldermen  Nicholas  White 
and  John  Bray,  while  among  the  other  members  for  the  county  we  find 
Butlers,  Purcells,  Everards  and  Tobins,  all  belonging  to  families  that  had 
gone  through  forty  years  of  plunder  and  persecution.  From  a  parliament  so 
constituted  neither  deliberative  discussion,  nor  political  sagacity  might  be 
looked  for.  One  of  the  first  acts  was  a  wholesale  attainder  of  the 
Cromwellian  settlers  (k).  The  following  residents  of  Clonmel  were  named  in 
the  Act : — Hercules  Beere  merchant,  Henry  Charnley  merchant,  Andrew 
Coulter  gentleman,  John  Green  gentleman,  John  Ladyman  gentleman,  John 
Mead  merchant,  Hugh  Radcliffe  gentleman,  Richard  Piggott  esquire,  Phineas 
Ryall  merchant,  William  Vaughan  merchant,   John  Walkington,  clerk  (I), 

ij)  A  Light  to  the  Blind.    Ed.  Gilbert,  p.  46. 

(k)  The  only  justiftcation  that  could  be  found  for  these  measures  was  the  resolve  to  secure  the 
fruits  of  their  victory.  The  Irish  had  fought  for  King  James'  brother  for  ten  years  in  France,  yet 
after  the  Restoration  not  one  obtained  as  much  land  as  would  afford  him  a  grave. 

(I)  The  County  Tipperary  names  in  the  Act  of  Attainder  are  Charles  Alcock  Powerstown, 
Jonathan  Ashe  Killoquick,  Joseph  Biggs  Castlecoyne,  Francis  Biggs  Kedragh,  Lieutenant  Bradstone 
Tipperary,  Robert  Boyle  Killgrant,  John  Bright  Shanrahan,  John  Briggs  Castletown,  John 
Buck  worth  Shanballyduff,  Chiclley  Coote  Armagh,  John  Castle  Richardstown,  Thomas  Chimmicks 
Tullamayne,  George  Clarke  Ballytarsney,  George  Clarke  Shanrahan,  George  Clerke  Tubberaheena, 
Richard  Clutterbuck  Derryluskan,  John  Darcy  Cashel,  James  Dawson  Tuam.  John  Doherty  Cashel, 
Mary  Davis  Killoquick,  John  Evelyn  Drangan,  Anthony  Erby  Cashel,  Robert  Foulkes  Baptistgrange, 


110  History  of  Clonmel. 

On  the  principle  of  dividing  the  bear's  skin  before  killing  him,  a  further 
act  was  passed  repealing  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation,  and 
redistributing  the  land  to  the  former  Irish  owners.  These  measures  while 
adding  little  to  the  strength  of  James'  party  in  Ireland,  enlisted  against  him 
all  the  forces  of  national  hatred.  His  cause  before  stood  for  Catholic 
monarchy  against  Protestant  republicanism,  now  it  became  the  narrower  and 
more  passionate  issue,  Ireland  against  England. 

During  the  period  1689-1690  while  several  of  the  Protestant  inhabitants 
of  Clonmel  fled  in  apprehension,  there  appears  to  be  no  evidence  of  the  abuse 
of  power  by  the  Catholics.  The  levies  for  the  support  of  King  James'  armies, 
and  the  legalized  plunder  by  debased  currency  pressed  equally  on  both 
parties,  but  some  relief  was  afforded  by  the  reduction  of  the  garrison  in  order 
to  swell  the  army  in  the  north.  When,  however,  in  the  early  days  of  July, 
1690,  news  was  brought  that  James  was  defeated  at  the  Boyne,  that  Dublin 
had  fallen  and  William  was  rapidly  marching  southwards,  it  was  proposed 
to  burn  the  town  lest  it  should  afford  him  shelter.  Story,  King  William's 
chaplain,  gives  some  particulars. 

Sunday  July  20  1690.  Encamped  at  a  place  called  Rossed  Narrow  upon  the  estate 
of  one  Mr.  Read  [six  miles  from  Kilkenny]  where  the  King  had  news  that  the  enemy 
had  quitted  Clonmel  whither  Count  Schomberg  marched  with  a  body  of  Horse.  This 
is  one  of  the  strongest  towns  in  Ireland  and  cost  Oliver  Cromwell  at  least  2000  men  in 
taking  it ;  the  Irish  made  some  pretensions  to  hold  it  now ;  in  order  to  which  they 
levelled  all  the  suburbs  and  hedges  but  all  they  did  was  to  make  the  inhabitants  pay 
them  £300  to  save  the  town  from  being  burnt  or  plundered ;  it  stands  upon  the  river 
Sure  in  a  pleasant  and  fruitful  country  (m). 

Another  clergyman  in  the  train  of  William,  Rev.  Roland  Davis,  supplies 
further  information. 


Capt.  Henry  Fox  Lackymorc,  Richard  Tanner  Aghlevallane,  Francis  Fookes  Ballycarron,  Nicholas 
Fowler  Baflintotty,  Sankey  Godfrey  Knockfallrey,  William  Godfrey  Knockgraffon,  Samuel  Green 
Batlynonty,  Christmas  Gwin  Graigej  James  Harrison  Cloughjordan,  Isaac  Haynes  Knocknaroe,  John 
Hill  Borris,  John  Hoyle,  Glenahelly  Samuel  Hughes  Cashel,  James  Jones  Tipi^erary,  John  Leake 
Knockgraffon,  John  Lehunt  Cashel,  John  Launer  Killusty,  Edward  I-egg  Ballinderry,  George 
Lehunt  Ballinure,  Stephen  Moore  Here  Abbey,  Thomas  Moore  Carrigansheeragh,  Thomas  Meredith 
Ballycahill,  Thomas  Moody  Kilcaroon,  Ann  Parnell  Killusty,  Michael  Parker  Killosalla,  John  Page 
Loughkent,  John  Perry  Kilmaloge,  John  Pyke  Woodenstown,  Henry  Pretty  Killboy,  Joseph  Ruthorne 
Poulakerry,  Molyneux  Robinson  Cashel,  Gregory  Roe  Killeheen,  John  Sadleir  Ballintemple,  Richard 
Sadleir  Ardftnnan,  John  Seed  Tullagh,  Thomas  Shapcott  Loughkent,  Arthur  Taylor  Noane,  Margaret 
Walkden  Ardmaile,  Thomas  Valentine  Killoan,  Purefoy  Wanoick  Ballysheedy,  William  Watts 
Drangan,  Humphrey  Wray  Ballycallan,  John  White  Ardfinnan,  Elizabeth  Ward  Keile. 

(m)  War  in  Ireland,  Story,  p.  109.  The  army  of  King  James  had  not  a  monoply  of  plunder. 
"  Some  of  King  William's  regiments  in  Munster  lay  as  heavy  on  the  country  as  the  enemy  could  do  ; 
of  which  Fethard  in  the  county  of  Tipperary  afforded  a  melancholy  instance,  the  day  before  the 
battle  of  Aughrim  ;  which  the  army  being  about  to  leave  swept  clean  off  everything  not  sparing  even 
the  parson's  books  and  sermons  ;  and  the  loss  that  little  town  sustained  was  computed  to  amount  to 
;f2000  in  money,  plate  and  goods.  But  (adds  my  author)  their  damage  was  soon  after  repaired  by 
a  contribution  from  several  regiments  concerned."     Harris'  King  William,  p.  324. 


History  of  Clonmel.  hi 

We  marched  from  Kells  [Co.  Kilkenny]  to  the  mills  near  Clonmel  with  four  pieces 
of  cannon  in  the  van.  As  we  passed  by  the  mountain  above  Kilcash  we  saw  two  small 
parties  of  the  enemy  hovering  on  the  mountain  and  supposed  to  have  a  design  on  our 
baggage  (»). 

The  Williamites  nevertheless  entered  the  town  unmolested,  the  gates 
being  open  and  the  garrison  fled.  Davis  supplies  an  unconscious  climax  to 
this  sort  of  warfare.  "  2lst  I  went  to  Clonmel  to  visit  Mr.  Thomas  Moore 
with  whom  I  dined  and  spent  most  of  the  day."  But  with  the  defeat  before 
Limerick  and  the  brilliant  coup  of  Sarsfield,  the  campaign  entered  on  a  new 
phase.  William  was  compelled  to  return  to  Clonmel  on  30th  August  to 
arrange  for  winter  quarters  and  a  renewal  of  the  war  the  following  year. 
The  command  of  the  army  was  entrusted  to  Count  Solmes  and  General 
Ginckle,  and  the  civil  government  to  Lords  Justices  Sydney  and  Conningsby. 
The  defences  of  Clonmel  had  been  neglected  since  the  Cromwellian  period. 
In  1666  Orrery  reported — "  In  the  town  and  citadel  no  guns  mounted  nor  any 
scaff'olds  to  fire  over  the  walls  of  the  citadel.*'  William,  who  left  nothing  to 
chance,  gave  instructions  regarding  them.  "  The  fortification  of  such  places 
as  Cashel  and  Clonmel  where  the  troops  will  be  for  the  winter  should  above 
all  things  be  advanced ;  these  places  should  be  well  provisioned  both  for 
horses  and  men  "  (0).  Nor  were  these  precautions  needless,  for  a  fortnight 
later  Solmes  wrote  to  the  King  :  "  The  rapparees  the  day  before  yesterday 
attacked  our  provisions  and  artillery  between  Clonmel  and  Carrick  and 
everything  had  to  be  sent  back  to  the  former  place  for  safety  "  (p).  During 
the  winter  there  were  other  troubles.  On  December  lOth,  Ginckle  wrote  from 
Kilkenny  :  "  The  governor  of  Clonmells  letter  tells  me  that  his  garrison  is  in 
great  distress ;  in  two  batallions  there  are  250  sick  and  25  died  in  four  days, 
and  they  are  beginning  to  desert "  (q).  The  war  continued  to  drag  on  for 
another  year  when  the  Irish  gained  a  diplomatic  victory  by  the  treaty  of 
Limerick,  guaranteeing  them  such  civil  rights  as  they  had  enjoyed  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  IL  How  the  terms  were  kept  in  the  case  of  Clonmel  will  appear  in 
the  following  chapter. 


(n)  Diary  of  Rev.  Roland  Davics,  Camden  Society- 

(0)  Memoiie  pour  mon  Cousin  Solmes.     King  William,  Waterford,  September  2nd. 
(f)  Solmes  to  William,  Tipperary,  September  14th. 
(q)  Lord  De  Ros  Papers,  Hist.  MSS.  Commission,  p.  321. 


Ohapxer  VIII. 


J 


CLONMEL  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

WAS  once"  wrote  Swift  in  1700  "in  your  county,  Tipperary,  which 
is  like  the  rest  of  the  whole  kingdom,  a  bare  face  of  nature,  without 
houses  or  plantations;  filthy  cabins,  miserable,  tattered,  half 
starved  creatures,  scarce  in  human  shape;  one  insolent  ignorant 
oppressive  squire  to  be  found  in  twenty  miles  riding;  a  parish  church  to  be 
found  in  a  summer  day's  journey,  in  comparison  of  which  an  English  farmer's 
barn  is  a  cathedral ;  a  bog  of  fifteen  miles  round ;  every  meadow  a  slough  and 
every  hill  a  mixture  of  rock,  heath  and  marsh ;  and  every  male  and  female 
from  the  farmer  inclusive  to  the  day  labourer,  infallibly  a  thief  and 
consequently  a  beggar  which  in  this  island  are  terms  convertible.  There  is 
not  an  acre  of  land  in  Ireland  turned  to  half  its  advantage ;  yet  it  is  better 
improved  than  the  people;  and  all  these  evils  are  effects  of  English  tyranny  ; 
so  your  sons  and  grandchildren  will  find  to  their  sorrow  *YrA  The  saeva 
indignatio  of  the  Dean  has  somewhat  darkened  the  shadows,  but  the  picture 
in  its  broad  outlines  is  a  true  one.  The  clearing  of  the  woods  forty  years 
before  had  left  the  county  "a  bare  face  of  nature."  The  bogs  were  still 
undrained,  while  much  of  the  land  was  brought  into  cultivation  only  at  a 
period  long  subsequent.  Enclosures  there  were  none;  four  townlands  for 
example,  close  to  Clonmel, — Caherclough,  Lisronagh,  Garranearla  and 
Killmore  in  all  1400  acres,  were  in  1702  divided  neither  by  dyke  nor 
hedgerow  (s).  The  roads,  mere  bridal  paths,  were  in  the  same  condition 
as  when  St.  Patrick  had  passed  over  them.  The  mansions  which  dignify  the 
landscape  had  then  no  existence ;  there  is  not  (with  probably  one  exception) 


(r)  Swift  to  Rev.  Mr.  Brandreth.     Swift's  Earlier  Life,  Rev.  J.  Barrett,  London  1808. 
(s)  Ormond,  fee  farm  grant  1702. 


History  of  Clonmel.  113 

on  the  soil  of  Tipperary  a  house  of  two  storeys  which  dates  from  the  period 
1640-1740.  Nor  is  Swift's  portrait  of  the  "ignorant,  insolent,  oppressive 
squires  "  overdrawn.  The  sons  for  the  most  part  of  puritan  tradesfolk,  they 
retained  all  the  self-exaltation  and  the  narrowness  with  none  of  the  sprituality 
of  their  fathers.  They  were  placed  in  the  midst  of  a  people  who  hated  them ; 
they  were  vexed  by  the  daily  sight  of  the  old  owners  "  coshering "  among 
their  tenantry  and  could  not,  if  they  would,  render  beneficent  service  or  kindly 
charity  (t).  Farming  after  the  manner  of  the  time  huge  sheep  walks,  they 
were  compelled  to  live  in  the  country,  removed  from  every  source  of 
enlightenment  and  culture.  In  the  event  the  Irish  gentry,  fox-hunting,  duelling 
and  debauched,  earned  for  themselves  an  evil  pre-eminence  even  in  the  age 
when  the  saying  "  as  drunk  as  a  lord  "  passed  current. 

If  the  standard  of  social  life  was  low,  that  of  public  life  was  still  lower. 
Nowhere  was  the  dictum  of  Horace  Walpole — "  every  man  has  his  price  " 
better  understood.  The  government  of  the  country  by  the  English  ministry 
was  carried  on  by  wholesale  bribery.  Parliament  as  a  deliberative  assembly 
simply  ceased  to  exist.  Lasting  for  the  life  of  the  king  and  practically 
irresponsible,  it  became  a  mart  for  the  sale  of  votes.  Accordingly  the  great 
object  of  ambition  to  the  county  squire  was  a  seat  in  the  Commons,  and 
elections  were  contested  with  a  bitterness  and  an  unscrupulousness  of  which 
one  can  have  little  conception  in  our  times.  When  the  squire  obtained  a 
preponderating  influence  in  a  borough,  or  ultimately  as  "patron  "  nominated 
the  member  himself,  he  was  then  in  a  position  to  command  office  and 
pensions  for  his  sons,  advantageous  alliances  for  his  daughters,  and  at  the 
end  of  no  long  vista  lay  a  peerage  for  himself.  Across  the  preamble  of  the 
patents  of  the  eighteenth  century  nobility  in  Ireland  might  be  written  the 
words  "  parliamentary  corruption  "  (u).  The  process  by  which  Clonmel  was 
converted  into  a  pocket  borough,  the  several  steps  by  which  the  family  of  a 
Devonshire  tradesman  ascended  into  a  peerage  without  military  services  or 
civic  distinction,  deserve  careful  notice. 

Owing  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  Cromwellian  corporation  was 
established,  the  ancient  qualifications  for  freedom,  viz.  birth,  apprenticeship, 

(t)  "  I  know  that  lasiness  is  commonly  objected  to  the  Irish  and  is  made  the  ground  of  their 
povertie.  I  own  that  there  are  some  whose  ancestors  had  great  estates  and  lost  them  in  the  several 
rebellions;  now  the  posterity  of  these  men  commonly  preserve  with  care  their  genealogies  and 
still  reckon  themselves  gents  and  look  on  it  as  the  greatest  debasement  in  the  world  to  work  or 
exercise  any  trade ;  they  live  therefore  either  by  robbing  or  on  their  Clans  who  still  pay  them  respect 
and  maintain  them  after  a  sort."  (Taxation  of  Ireland  1716,  Historical  MSB.  Commission,  6  Rep.) 
Sixty  years  later  the  descendants  of  these  "  Tories  "  went  about,  their  ancient  title  deeds  carried  in  a 
handkerchief  in  their  hats  ;  Arthur  Young  saw  them  as  common  labourers  making  wills  in  which 
they  bequeathed  large  estates. 

(u)  For  example — ^The  ancestor  of  the  late  Viscount  Lismore  obtained  control*  of  the  boroughs 
of  Pethard  and  Enniscorthy.  In  due  sequence  a  marriage  with  the  Ponsonbys,  the  great 
*  parliamentary  managers,  followed,  and  the  Lismore  peerage. 

J 


114  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  marriage,  were  ignored,  and  the  Council,  the  Mayor,  or  a  body  of  citizens 
called  the  D'Ouir  Hundred  Jury  exercised  mero  motu  the  power  to  admit 
freemen.  Further,  the  number  of  the  new  settlers  being  small,  the  precedent 
was  early  established  of  conferring  the  freedom,  with  its  various  municipal 
and  parliamentary  privileges,  on  persons  who  had  no  connection  with  the 
town  whether  by  trade  or  residence.  The  opportunities  thus  afforded  for 
intrigue  are  obvious,  and  they  were  soon  availed  of.  As  early  as  1681  a  by- 
law was  made  restricting  the  Mayor's  and  the  Council's  nominees  to  persons 
of  the  rank  of  esquire  (v).  But  as  esquires  abounded,  two  further  acts  were 
passed — one  on  7th  February,  1693,  the  other,  4th  September,  1704 — 
prohibiting  the  Mayor  from  conferring  the  freedom  independently  of  the 
Council  and  the  D'Ouir  Hundred,  under  a  penalty  of  £40  for  each  person 
sworn.  Prohibitions  and  penalties  notwithstanding,  freemen  continued  to  be 
made  with  a  view  to  the  hustings. 

At  a  Generall  Assembly  of  the  Town  and  Borough  of  Clonmell  at  the  Tholsel 
thereof,  before  the  Mayor,  Bailiffs,  ifree  Burgesses  and  Commons  of  the  said  Borough, 
the  5th  Day  of  June  1713. 

Whereas  we  find  it  prejudicial  to  the  Revenues  and  publick  Interest  of  the  said 
Borough  that  the  Mayor  of  the  said  Borough  should  make  any  Person  residing  without 
the  Liberties  of  the  said  Borough  free  thereof. 

We  therefore  present  that  it  be  ordered,  enacted  and  consented  by  the  said  Mayor, 
Bailiffs,  ifree  Burgesses,  and  Commons  aforesaid  that  the  present  Mayor  of  the  said 
Borough  or  any  other  Person  that  shall  hereafter  be  Mayor  thereof,  shall  not  admit  or 
swear  any  Person  whatsoever  free  of  this  Borough  without  the  unanimous  consent  of 
the  Common  Council  thereof  or  the  greater  part  of  them,  and  the  Doyer  Hundred  Jury 
if  then  sitting,  or  the  greater  part  of  them ;  and  that  if  the  present  Mayor  or  any  Person 
who  shall  be  Mayor  of  the  said  Borough,  shall  admit  or  swear  any  person  or  persons 
whatsoever  free  as  aforesaid  contrary  to  the  true  Intent  of  this  Act,  that  then  such 
Mayor  shall  pay  to  the  Chamberlain  of  the  said  Borough  for  the  use  of  the  said  Mayor, 
Bailiffs,  free  Burgesses  and  Commons,  the  sum  of  £40  sterling  for  each  person  so  sworn. 

We  also  present  that  every  succeeding  Person  who  is  to  be  admitted  and  sworn 
Mayor  shall,  before  he  takes  the  usual  Oaths,  take  one  other  Oath  to  observe  this  and 
all  other  Bye  Laws  made  for  the  good  government  of  this  Borough  provided  they  are 
not  repugnant  to  the  Laws  of  the  Land. 

Nor  did  this  put  a  stop  to  the  creation  of  faggot  voters ;  three  years 
subsequent  the  D'Ouir  Hundred  Jury  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  presentment. 

Wee  find  and  desire  that  no  person  not  living  in  Town  be  either  admitted  or  sworn 
free  of  this  Corporation. 

At  this  period  the  citizens  at  large,  had  a  considerable  share  in  the 
government  of  the  town.    The  mayor  and  other  officials  were  elected  by  a 

(v)  At  a  Council  held  for  the  Corporation  of  Clonmell  on  the  3rd  Day  of  October  168 1.  Ordered 
that  no  Person  or  Persons  under  the  Degree  of  an  Esquire  be  made  free  of  this  Town  for  the  future 
unless  by  Service  or  a  Doyer  Hundred  Jury  upon  Pain  of  each  Mayor  swearing  any  such  Person  to 
forfeit  fifty  Pounds  sterling  to  the  use  of  the  corporation  for  each  such  offence,  and  the  same  to  be 
leavied  by  way  of  Distress. 


History  of  Clonmel.  ii5 

majority  of  the  freemen  and  council  assembled  together  in  common.  The 
corporate  estate  was  administered  by  the  D'Oiiir  Hundred  Court  consisting 
of  the  mayor,  bailiffs  and  a  jury  of  fifteen  citizens,  held  for  that  purpose 
twice  a  year^w/  Moreover  there  was  a  strong  local  party  led  by  Robert 
Hamerton,  grandson  of  Richard  the  settler  of  Cromwell's  time.  Deriving 
under  the  Radcliffs  a  valuable  interest  in  the  burgagery  lands,  Hamerton, 
besides  a  house  at  Ballyneale,  had  a  stately  mansion  close  to  the  east  gate 
where  the  Town  Hall  now  stands.  Here  he  rallied  the  resident  freemen, 
and  announced  promiscuous  hospitality  by  an  inscription  over  the  vestibule. 

Welcome  All 
To  Hamerton  Hall. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  when  Stephen  Moore  "the  Colonel," 
was  installed  mayor,  29th  September,  1724.  As  a  parliamentary  candidate 
he  had  already  attracted  much  attention,  and  his  skill  with  the  pistol  was 
notorious.  In  1719  he  had  contested  Fethard  with  Counsellor  Slattery, 
Lord  Cahir's  agent  Slattery  though  unseated  on  petition  was  subsequently 
elected  for  Blessington.  The  feud  was  renewed  and  on  Sunday,  13th 
November,  1726,  Moore  and  Slattery  fought  on  the  Green  with  sword  and 
pistol.  The  result  may  still  be  read  on  a  tomb  within  the  ruined  church 
of  Kilgrant. 

Here  Lyes  y^  Body  of  John  Slatterie  Co[unsellor1 
AT  Law,  a  Member  of  Parliament  who  was  Killed 
by  Stephen  Moor  y^  13  N"*  1726. 

Daring  and  unscrupulous,  Moore  by  interest  or  menace,  obtained  a 
majority  in  the  town  council  by  means  of  which  he  set  about  converting 
Clonmel  into  a  pocket  borough  for  the  advantage  of  his  family.  It  had  been 
customary  for  the  mayor  on  entering  office  to  summon  the  D'Ouir  Hundred 
Jury  to  take  cognizance  of  the  corporate  estate  and  present  persons  for 
freedom.  No  jury  was  called,  and  in  vain  were  petitions  presented  reminding 
the  mayor  of  the  by-law  : — 

"  Ville  de  Clonmellensis— At  a  Council  held  the  29  day  of  November  1700.  Ordered 
That  the  Doyer  Hundred  Jury  be  kept  twice  a  year." 

On  the  2ist  January,  1725,  Robert  FitzGerald,  Recorder  of  Clonmel,  died. 
Moore  nominated  for  the  office  Thomas  Marlay,  Solicitor  General.  As  the 
election  was  by  the  freemen  at  large,  Moore  forthwith  made  forty-three  of 

(w)  "  The  Oath  of  the  Doyer  Hundred  Jurors.  You  shall  swear  that  you  shall  well  and  truly 
enquire  into  all  and  singular  the  Revenues  of  this  Corporation  and  to  all  other  the  Lands  Tenements 
Rents  and  Arrears  of  Rents  and  all  Debts  and  Fines  belonging  to  the  same  as  shall  be  given  you  in 
charge  and  of  the  same  true  Presentment  make  to  the  best  of  your  knowledge." 


116  History  of  Clonmel. 

his  friends  free,  two  only  of  whom  were  resident  in  the  town.  The  bailiffs 
refused  to  swear  Moore's  nominees  as  ineligible,  but  Richard  Going,  the  town 
clerk,  at  Moore's  request  administered  the  oath  and  Marlay  was  duly  certified 
to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  as  Recorder  of  Clonmel.  Robert  Marshall,  however, 
the  rival  candidate,  petitioned  against  the  return,  and  the  election  was  set 
aside.  Moore,  nothing  daunted,  held  a  council  meeting  a  week  later  at  which 
he  created  no  fewer  than  forty-nine  additional  freemen  of  whom  a  solitary 
individual  only,  was  resident  in  the  town.  The  following  24th  June  saw  two 
rival  mayors  elected.  Moore  certified  to  the  election  of  James  Going,  Mayor, 
Bartholomew  Labart  and  James  Castell,  Bailiffs;  the  town  party  returned 
Robert  Hamerton,  Mayor,  Jeremiah  Morgan  and  Richard  Whitehand,  Bailiffs. 
On  the  hearing  of  the  case  before  the  Privy  Council  it  appeared  that  exclusive 
of  his  own  nominees  only  sixty-five  freemen  voted  for  Moore's  candidates, 
while  the  opposition  numbered  one  hundred  and  forty.  Hamerton  was 
approved  of,  but  the  affair  did  not  end  here.  At  a  council  meeting  held  in 
October 

It  appeared  at  the  Generall  Assembly  that  on  the  29  of  September  last,  Stephen 
Moore  Esqr.  then  Mayor  of  this  Corporation,  was  required  according  to  the  usuall  custom 
to  appear  in  the  Tholsell  to  swear  the  said  Robert  Hamerton,  Mayor,  Jerome  Morgan 
and  Richard  Whitehand,  Baylififs,  pursuant  to  the  said  election  and  approbation,  which 
he  absolutely  refused  to  doe  and  hath  ever  since  withheld  and  retained  the  Regalia  or 
Ensigns  of  Mayoralty  belonging  to  this  Corporation  and  the  books  of  the  same,  but  hath 
done  no  Act  as  Mayor. 

The  case  was  now  carried  to  the  King's  Bench,  and  a  judgment  of 
'Ouster'  obtained  against  Hamerton  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  one 
of  the  three  persons  nominated  by  the  council,  according  to  ancient  usage, 
for  the  office  of  mayor.  But  two  years  later,  in  the  parliamentary  election, 
consequent  on  the  death  of  George  L  the  Moores  suffered  a  signal  defeat. 
Guy  Moore  and  Stephen  Moore  obtained  169  and  161  votes  respectively 
against  136  votes  recorded  for  Robert  Hamerton  and  133  for  Robert  Marshall. 
On  petition  to  the  Commons,  the  Moores  were  unseated,  as  the  ninety-two 
freemen  made  by  Stephen  Moore  during  his  mayoralty  "had  not  been 
presented  by  the  Doyer  Hundred  Jury  and  were  only  to  serve  a  family 
interest."  Some  curious  glimpses  into  electioneering  methods  are  afforded 
by  a  petition  of  Sir  Thomas  Prendergast  against  the  return  of  Guy  Moore 
in  1733.  Hayman,  Moore's  agent,  promised  John  Flahavan  publican  to  have 
£50  spent  in  his  house  and  "his  bills  would  not  be  looked  into."  James 
Kearney  was  ordered  by  the  Colonel,  to  keep  an  open  house  for  the  Moore 
party.  Alderman  William  Thompson  of  Waterford,  was  promised  the 
mayoralty  of  that  city  by  Messrs.  Christmas  and  Marshall  on  condition  he 
voted  for  Prendergast.    He  was  intercepted  however  in  Carrick  by  Ambrose 


History  of  Clonmel.  117 

Congreve  on  behalf  of  Moore,  who  "lent"  him  £50.  On  the  day  of  the 
election  Marshall  had  Charles  Atkins  arrested  for  debt,  but  the  bailiff 
released  him  in  order  to  vote  for  Moore. 

For  the  thirty  years  1724-1754  the  struggle  continued  with  varying 
fortunes.  The  local  freemen  ignoring  the  Moore  corporation,  regularly 
elected  an  opposition  mayor,  and  certified  his  election  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant. 
Many  of  these  certificates  endorsed  "  not  approved  "  may  still  be  seen  at  the 
Record  Office.  In  one  dated  1736,  and  signed  by  George  Mathew,  Robert 
Marshall,  Jeremiah  Morgan,  Thomas  Christmas,  George  Lester,  Thomas 
Jones  and  others  appears  the  curious  morceau. 

"The  persons  who  have  severally  exercised  the  office  of  Mayor  of  the  said  Corporation 
in  order  to  support  themselves  in  the  usurpation  of  the  said  office,  have  contracted 
great  debts  and  affixed  the  Corporate  Seale  to  Bonds  for  securing  the  same,  and  have 
made  freehold  leases  and  other  leases  for  long  terms  of  years  of  the  lands  belonging  to 
the  said  Corporation,  reserving  a  very  inconsiderable  rent  and  receiving  large  fines,  and 
have  actually  mortgaged  or  threaten  to  mortgage,  the  whole  revenue  of  the  said 
Corporation." 

Sometimes  however,  they  succeeded  in  the  law  courts  in  ousting  the 
Moore  mayor.  In  173 1  by  judgment  of  the  King's  Bench,  James  Castell 
was  ousted.  The  Moore  party  appealed  to  the  corresponding  court  at 
Westminster,  but  the  English  court  upheld  the  decision.  A  writ  of  error  to 
reverse  the  judgment  was  subsequently  brought  into  parliament  but  was 
never  prosecuted. 

Through  some  unexplained  accident  the  opposition  in.  1747,  obtained  a 
majority  in  the  council  and  elected  Jeremiah  Morgan,  goldsmith,  as  mayor. 
The  19th  April,  1748,  a  meeting  of  the  burgesses  and  freemen  was  called  at 
the  Tholsel.  The  Moore  freemen  being  mostly  non-resident  the  local  party 
carried  the  following  by-laws. 

Be  it  enacted  and  ordained  that  no  person  shall  be  capable  of  being  elected  or  to 
be  elected  into  the  office  of  a  free  burgess  of  the  said  town  or  borough  of  Clonmel,  who 
shall  not  have  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  said  town  or  borough,  and  actually  resident 
within  the  same,  at  least  12  calendar  months  next,  preceding  such  election  and  also 
subject  to  the  payment  of  the  taxes  and  impositions  charged  and  chargeable  on  the  said 
town  and  borough. 

Be  it  enacted  and  ordained  that  no  person  or  persons,  shall  be  capable  of  being 
elected  into  the  respective  offices  of  Mayor  or  Bailiff  of  the  said  town  or  borough  of 
Clonmel,  who  shall  not  respectively  have  been  an  inhabitant  and  inhabitants  of  the 
said  town  and  borough  at  the  time  of  his  or  their  election,  and  respectively  been 
actually  resident  within  the  said  town  and  borough  at  least  twelve  calendar  months 
next  preceding  such  election,  and  also  subject  to  the  payment  of  taxes  and  impositions 
charged  and  chargeable  on  the  said  town  and  borough. 

Be  it  enacted  and  ordained  that  to  avoid  popular  confusion,  all  elections  of  mayor, 
bailiffs,  free  burgesses  and  freemen  shall  hereafter  be  made  by  the  twenty  free  burgesses 
of  the  said  town  and  borough  of  Clonmel  and  ten  select  freemen,  or  by  the  majority  of 
them,  and  that  no  other  person  or  member  of  the  said  Corporation  shall  be  capable  of 
giving  or  have  a  right  to  give,  any  vote  or  suffrage  in  any  such  election  and  Be  it  further 


118  History  of  Clonmel. 

enacted  and  ordained  that  the  ten  select  freemen  shall  be  William  Bagwell  Esq.  Thomas 
Morgan  Esq.  William  Rial,  gent  Theobald  Manderville,  gent.  Hercules  Morgan 
Goldsmith,  Alexander  Castell,  gent  Richard  Thomas,  Peruke  maker,  Thomas  Bagwell, 
merchant,  Edward  Parsons,  stay  maker,  and  William  Dixon  merchant,  and  the  said  ten 
select  freemen  are  hereby  constituted  and  appointed  to  be,  with  the  said  twenty  free 
burgesses,  persons  capable  of  consenting  to  and  voting  in  all  elections  of  mayor,  bailiffs 
free  burgesses  and  commonalty  or  freemen,  and  to  continue  such  select  freemen  during 
their  good  behaviour.  And  be  it  further  enacted  that  upon  the  death  or  amotion  of  any 
of  the  said  free  burgesses  or  select  freemen,  the  remaining  free  burgesses  and  select 
freemen  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  within  twenty-one  days  next  after,  proceed  to  the 
election  of  free  burgesses  or  select  freemen  or  of  a  free  burgess  or  select  freeman  as  the 
case  shall  be,  giving  such  notice  of  the  election  of  a  select  freeman  or  freemen  as  by  law 
they  are  required  to  give  of  the  election  of  a  free  burgess,  and  so  as  often  as  the  case 
shall  happen.  And  be  it  forthwith  enacted  and  ordained  that  no  person  shall  be 
capable  of  being  elected  a  select  freeman  who  has  not  been  an  inhabitant  and  actually 
resident  in  the  said  town  or  borough  for  at  least  twelve  calendar  months  next  preceding 
such  election,  and  subject  to  the  payment  of  all  taxes  and  impositions  charged  and 
chargeable  on  the  said  town  or  borough  any  bye  law  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Then  the  Roll  of  the  mayor,  bailiffs  free  burgesses  and  commonalty  being  called 
over  the  above  bye  laws  were  carried  in  the  affirmative  by  a  great  majority. 

But  the  Moore  party  had  no  intention  of  submitting  to  these  by-laws. 
On  the  election  of  the  succeeding  mayor,  24th  June,  1748,  they  mustered  in 
force.  Morgan,  who  was  in  a  minority  of  eight  to  eleven  in  the  council, 
declared  Robert  Shaw  elected  by  a  majority  of  the  select  freemen.  The 
other  party  nominated  Thomas  Luther  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  judgment 
of  "  ouster  "  against  Shaw  on  the  grounds  of  his  Non-conformity  (x).  The 
following  year,  however,  Richard  Going,  the  Moore  nominee,  was  ousted  in 
turn,  and  Morgan  became  mayor  for  a  second  term.  The  former  by-laws 
were  now  defined  and  extended. 

At  an  Assembly  of  the  mayor,  bailiffs,  free  burgesses  and  commonalty  of  the  Town 
and  Borough  of  Clonmel,  held  in  the  Courthouse  the  21  day  of  December  1750,  it  was 
enacted  and  ordained  among  other  things,  as  follows. 

Whereas  on  the  19th  day  of  April  1748,  the  right,  trust,  franchise  and  privilege  of 
electing  a  mayor,  bailiffs,  free  burgesses  and  commons  was  by  an  ordinance  and  bye 
law  then  duly  enacted,  vested  in  twenty  free  burgesses  and  ten  select  freemen  exclusive 
of  the  whole  body  corporate  and  every  particular  part  and  member  thereof,  which  bye 
laws  have  been  found  extremely  beneficial  and  advantageous  by  abolishing  and  virtually 
destroying  a  usage  before  that  time  claimed  by  the  common  council  of  nominating  three 
persons  to  be  in  election  for  mayor,  and  four  or  six  to  be  in  election  for  bailiffs  annually, 
which  usage  had  occasioned  very  great  disputes  and  contests  and  had  endangered  the 
dissolution  of  the  corporation.  And  WTiereas  many  other  powers,  trusts,  rights, 
franchises  privileges  and  authorities  particularly  as  well  of  electing  a  chamberlain  and 
town  clerk,  and  also  of  presenting  to  the  Church  and  Living  of  the  parish  of  Clonmel, 
and  of  joining  in  the  appointment  of  a  schoolmaster,  as  of  amoving  and  disfranchising 
the  mayor,  bailiffs,  free  burgesses  and  commonalty  and  the  ministerial  officers  and 

(x)  The  prostitution  of  religion  to  party  purposes  throughout  this  period  is  well  exemplitied  in 
the  case  of  Shaw.  At  the  hearing  of  the  case  (Clonmel  Assizes,  29th  August,  1749)  he  met  his 
opponents  by  showing  that  within  the  three  statutory  months  of  his  installation  as  mayor  he  had  at 
the  church  of  Rathronan  immediately  after  divine  service  and  sermon  received  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Church  of  Ireland.  Also  at  the  Quarter  Sessions  of  the 
Peace  for  Co.  Tipperary  between  9  and  12  a.m.  he  took  the  several  oaths  required  by  the  Act  to 
Prevent  the  further  Growth  of  Popery. 


History  of  Clonmel,  ho 

servants  of  the  Corporation  for  just  and  reasonable  cause,  are,  and  each  of  them  is 
either  by  charter  or  by  individual  power  vested  in  the  whole  corporate  body,  the 
assembling  of  which  corporate  body  on  the  occasions  aforesaid  may  be  attended  with 
the  danger  of  popular  confusion  and  tumult  for  prevention  whereof  Be  it  enacted  and 
ordained. 

That  all  powers,  trusts,  rights  franchises  privileges  and  authorities  and  each  and 
every  of  them  which  are  by  charter  or  incidentally  vested  in  the  whole  body  politick 
shall  from  henceforth  for  ever  hereafter  be  used  exercised  enjoyed  and  executed  by  the 
twenty  free  burgesses  and  ten  select  freemen  exclusive  of  every  other  part  or  parts 
member  or  members  of  the  said  corporation,  who  shall  not  in  any  sort  interfere  or  inter- 
meddle in  the  use,  exercise,  enjoyment  or  execution  of  any  of  the  rights  now  or  heretofore 
vested  in  the  said  free  burgesses  and  select  freemen,  or  do  any  act  or  ads  relative 
thereto,  or  give  any  vote  or  suffrage  whatsoever  relating  to  the  execution  of  them  or  any 
of  them,  any  act,  ordinance,  byelaws,  usage  or  claim  to  the  contrary  in  any  wise 
notwithstanding. 

For  the  next  two  years  the  new  legislation  was  tacitly  accepted,  and  in 
1753  William  Kellet  was  elected  mayor  in  accordance  therewith.  In  April, 
1754,  a  vacancy  was  created  in  the  borough  by  the  promotion  of  Robert 
Marshall  to  a  judgeship  of  Common  Pleas.  On  the  announcement  of  Guy 
Moore  as  candidate,  Kellet  at  once  threw  in  his  weight  with  the  Moores  and 
summoned  a  meeting  to  repeal  the  by-laws  passed  in  1748-50.  As  strong 
opposition  from  the  resident  freemen  was  anticipated,  he  made  out  a 
Freemen's  Roll  of  his  own  "without  any  regard,"  says  a  contemporary,  "to 
the  freemen  on  the  books."  The  by-laws  were  repealed  and  a  new  law 
passed  which  deprived  the  commonalty  of  every  right  they  possessed,  and 
transferred  the  whole  powers  of  the  corporation  at  large  to  the  common 
council  alone. 

"Whereas  the  common  Council  of  the  corporation  by  constant  usage,  have  elected 
freemen  and  accepted  the  resignation  of  officers  and  members  thereof,  and  in  general 
have  transacted  all  business  of  the  whole  community,  and  have  exercised  that  right 
till  the  intervention  by  some  late  irregular  and  illegal  proceedings ;  And  Whereas  it 
will  tend  greatly  to  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  corporation  and  prevent  tumult  and 
popular  confusion,  that  the  rights  of  the  common  council  should  be  declared  and 
established.  Be  it  enacted  and  ordained  that  all  public  business  of  or  concerning  the 
corporation,  shall  be  transacted  and  ordered  by  the  common  council  of  the  said  town 
and  borough,  and  that  the  said  common  council  shall  have  power  and  are  hereby 
empowered  to  elect  freemen  to  accept  resignations  of  officers  and  members  of  the  said 
corporation,  and  to  do  all  corporate  acts  for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  the  said  town 
or  borough." 

Two  days  later,  I2th  June,  1754,  the  mayor  and  council  created  twenty 
four  new  freemen  for  the  purpose  of  the  election.  But  a  strong  rival 
candidate  was  found  in  William  Bagwell,  the  son  of  a  prosperous  local 
merchant.  A  petition  against  Moore's  return  was  lodged  with  the  House  of 
Commons.  Opposing  council  fought  for  weeks  together  and  incidentally 
discussed  the  local  history  of  the  preceding  half  century.  At  length  on  a 
vote,  106  members  were  for  Moore,  106  for  Bagwell,  and  the  speaker  by  a  casting 
vote  declared  Bagwell  elected  20th  October,  1755.    It  was  however  the  last 


120  History  of  Clonmel. 

struggle  for  municipal  freedom.  Within  two  years  Bagwell  died,  Guy  Moore 
succeeded  and  henceforward  the  Moore  supremacy  in  Clonmel  was  unchall- 
enged. In  a  report  on  the  "  State  of  Borough  Representation  "  1783,  appears 
the  following  summary,  "Clonmel,  a  large  and  populous  town;  electors  a 
mayor,  recorder,  town  clerk,  nineteen  burgesses  and  seventy-two  freemen 
mostly  non-residents.  Patrons,  Lord  Mountcashel  and  some  of  the  Moores  "  (y). 
What  this  patronage  meant  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter  of  Mountcashel  to 
one  of  his  creatures,  Thomas  Power,  of  "  Moore  Park,"  Clonmel. 

Dublin  May  8th  1792.  I  am  leaving  here  this  morning  to  go  to  County 
Roscommon  to  pay  Lord  Kingston  a  visit,  and  fear  I  will  not  (sic)  return  in  time  to  go 
to  Clonmel  24  June.  So  you  had  better  take  out  the  Corporation  Book.  I  have 
however  spoken  to  my  brother  who  will  be  there  then  to  tell  all  the  burgesses  that  I 
wish  you  to  be  elected  mayor  for  the  ensuing  year. 

The  lord  had  then  barely  attained  his  majority.  At  nineteen  he  had 
represented  Clonmel  in  parliament.  He  was  surpassed  however  in  legislative 
capacity  by  his  brother  who  became  member  for  the  town  on  his  eighteenth 
birthday.  In  the  preamble  of  the  Moore  patent  of  nobility,  the  services  of  the 
family  to  King  William  are  enlarged  on.  But  the  valuable  consideration  is 
no  where  set  forth  that  they  had  two  proprietary  seats  for  disposal  to  the 
English  minister  (z). 

The  corporation  of  Clonmel  as  a  free  institution,  had  now  ceased  to 
exist,  a  few  meetings  in  the  year  being  held  to  register  the  decrees  of  the 
Mountcashel  family.  Unlike  however,  other  patrons,  it  must  be  set  down  to 
their  credit  that  they  did  not  enrich  themselves  with  the  municipal 
property.  During  the  eighteenth  century  there  is  evidence  that  that 
property  was  administered  upon  the  whole  honestly  and  in  the  public 
interest  While  the  D'Ouir  Hundred  Juries  were  regularly  summoned,  the 
rental  was  scrutinized,  defaulters  ordered  to  be  proceeded  against,  and 
various  recommendations  as  to  leases  and  the  like,  made  (aa).  The 
following  are  some  of  the  presentments. 

[17 10]  We  present  that  the  Mountain  Commons  of  Clonmell  be  putt  to  a  Publick 
Court  to  the  hiest  bider  before  the  I2th  of  March  next  and  to  be  sett  for  a  tearme  not 
exceeding  31  years  and  that  there  may  be  care  taken  that  the  freemen  of  Clonmell  may 
have  their  auntient  libertyes  of  graesing,  cutting  turf  and  other  commonadge  as 
formerly. 

We  present  that  there  may  be  Butts  Raisd  in  severall  convenient  places  to  preserve 
the  bounds  and  meares  of  the  said  commons,  and  that  they  may  be  kept  in  repaire  by 
the  lesser  tenant. 


(y)  Life  of  Grattan  III.,  484. 

(z)  Authorities  for  foregoing,  "Magistrates  Elections,  Clonmel  "  1700-1800,  P.R.O.  Journal  of 
Irish  House  of  Commons.  Clonmel  Corporation  Minute  Book  1725  penes  Captain  Lindsay. 
Municipal  and  Family  Papers. 

(an)  The  rental  of  the  corporate  estate  for  1710  as  appears  from  the  presentment  for  that  year 
was  ;f  184  8s.  od. 


History  of  Clonmel.  121 

[1714]  Mr  Hercules  Beere  [chamberlain]  in  account  returns  himself  in  arrears  for 
the  key  and  bridge  and  his  holdings  on  the  mountain,  two  and  one-half  years  ending 
25  March  17 14,  £91  6.  Whereas  he  has  tendered  unto  us  an  Account  for  which  he 
expects  an  Allowance  wherein  we  obsearve  severall  charges  for  the  freemens  goods  and 
others,  and  whereas  the  not  settling  and  adjusting  the  same  with  him  is  a  veiy  great 
Loss  and  Detriment  to  this  Corporation,  we  therefore  present  that  the  Maior  and 
Councell  doe  fortwith  take  proper  methods  to  adjust  and  settle  the  said  Mr.  Beere's 
accounts  by  arbitration  or  otherwise,  so  that  the  Corporation  may  hereafter  know  what 
aUowance  the  said  Mr.  Beere  is  Intitled  vnto  out  of  his  rents  upon  account  of  his 
Demands. 

Wee  present  that  a  lease  be  made  to  Capt.  Thomas  Batty  of  Stritches  Island  for  6l 
years  from  the  25  March  next  at  the  present  rent. 

Wee  present  that  a  lease  be  made  to  Tho.  Tuthall  Maior  of  the  peece  of  ground 
behinde  his  house  which  he  recovered  att  his  own  cost,  which  ground  was  out  of 
possession  from  the  corporation  16  years,  for  61  years  from  25  March  next  at  the 
present  rent 

Whereas  Hugh  Moore  an  antient  freeman  is  deprived  of  his  sight  and  is  returned 
in  arrears  to  this  Corporation  wee  present  that  not  only  the  arrears  be  forgiven  him  but 
that  alsoe  no  rent  be  demanded  him  till  he  recover  his  sight. 

We  present  that  Mr.  Tho.  Tothall  shall  pay  no  rent  for  the  two  ends  of  the  bridge 
he  not  enjoying  the  same,  nor  for  the  three  quarter  of  an  acre  but  since  the  time  he  hath 
enjoyed  the  same. 

[1716]  We  finde  and  present  that  there  is  a  list  of  arrears  returned  us  and  that 
due  by  solvent  persons  which  are  amounting  to  the  sum  of  nine  pounds  three  shillings 
and  eleven  pence  which  we  desire  to  be  fortwith  leavyed  by  distress  or  otherwise  in 
order  to  pay  what  debt  is  due  by  the  Corporation. 

[1724]  We  find  and  present  that  some  lands  and  severall  pieces  of  ground 
belonginge  to  this  Corporation  are  vnsett  viz,  a  piece  of  ground  neere  two  mile  bridge 
formerly  tenanted  by  Coll.  Hamerton  and  land  neere  Spaw  well  commonly  called  the 
wood  that  them  {sic)  with  the  rest  may  be  putt  to  Cant  (bb). 

Some  years  later  wholesale  charges  were  made  of  misappropriating  the 
corporate  estate,  but  the  evidence  is  not  now  forthcoming.  There  are  indeed 
two  transactions  of  a  questionable  character.  In  1741  the  mountain  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  commons  were  leased  to  John  Lackey,  M.D.,  at  the  yearly 
rent  of  £60  l8s.  6d.  for  lives  renewable  for  ever.  Again  in  1774  a  fee  farm 
grant  of  23  acres  at  Newtown  Anner  was  made  to  Sir  William  Osborne,  the 
rent  reserved  being  5s.  7d.  an  acre. 

If  the  corporation  took  care  of  their  estate  they  do  not  seem  to  have 

fulfilled  any  other  functions.    The  condition  of  the  town  in  point  of  sanitation 

was  infamous.    The  householders  swept  the  street  in  front  of  their  houses  at 

their  discretion,  the  corporation  being  merely  concerned  in  keeping  clear  the 

open  sewer  which  ran  along  the  middle  of  the  street,  making  its  way  somehow 

to  the  river.     Nor  was  this  sewer  regularly  cleared.    In  1716  the  D'Ouir 

Hundred  Jury  reported  : — 

Wee  finde  and  present  that  the  scavanger  hath  neglected  his  duty  for  the  time 
past  in  not  carrying  off  the  dirt  according  to  his  contract,  wee  desire  that  he  may  for 
the  future  be  obliged  to  carry  off  the  same  twice  a  week. 


fbbj  Presentments,  etc.,  P.R.O. 


122  History  of  Clonmel. 

In  1724  the  jury  had  still  to  complain. 

Wee  finde  and  present  that  Mr.  William  Ottenbury  be  a  fitt  person  to  be  scavinger 
to  the  west  parte  of  this  town  alsoe  Mr.  Archibald  Owens  for  the  east  parte  and  that 
their  salleryes  be  not  paid  them  till  their  performance  be  approved  of  by  the  Councell. 

The  following  gives  another  picturesque  view  of  old  Clonmel : — 

[1724]  Wee  finde  and  present  that  John  Evans  bell  man  for  being  Remiss  in  his 
office,  for  not  taking  care  to  keepe  the  streets  free  from  Strange  Beggars  and  from  Piggs 
and  particularly  for  his  neglect  of  takeing  care  of  the  Key  and  Court  house  for  which 
he  receives  salleryes  undeservedly,  wee  therefore  present  that  his  sallery  may  be  stopt 
till  he  improves  his  Diligence. 

Again  in  1750 : — 

Whereas  the  Inhabitants  of  the  towne  of  Clonmel  labour  under  great  Evills  and 
Inconveniencies  not  only  from  the  filth,  sudds  and  Excrements  frequently  thrown  into 
the  streets  of  this  town  by  leasy  and  nasty  persons,  and  by  the  Inhabitants  frequently 
neglecting  to  sweep  before  their  doors  when  publick  Notice  is  for  that  purpose  given 
but  also  from  the  great  number  of  Piggs  permitted  to  wander  about  the  said  streets  to 
the  greate  annoyance  of  the  Inhabitants,  for  prevention  whereof  be  it  Enacted  and 
Ordained  that  if  any  person  or  persons  whosoever,  shall  from  hence  forth  throw  or 
leave  or  cause  to  be  thrown  or  left,  in  any  of  the  Streets,  Lanes,  or  Passages  of  this  Town 
any  Sudds,  ffilth,  Ashes,  or  Excrements  or  shall  neglect  to  sweep  before  their  doors  in 
the  usual  manner  after  reasonable  notice  given  for  that  purpose,  or  shall  keepe  their 
Piggs  in  the  streets  or  permit  them  to  wander  therein  after  due  notice  given  hereof  by 
the  Bellman,  that  every  such  offender  shall  for  such  or  any  of  the  above  offences  forfeit 
any  sum  not  exceeding  fine  shillings  to  be  adjudged  by  the  Mayor  of  the  town  for  the 
time  being  according  to  the  nature  of  such  offence,  such  forfeiture  to  be  recovered  in  a 
summary  way  by  taking  summons  before  the  Mavor  for  the  time  being  and  to  be 
disposed  off  to  the  Poor  of  the  parish  of  Clonmel  aforesaid  any  By  law  or  usage  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

At  this  period  the  streets  afforded  strange  smells  but  equally  strange 
sights  and  sounds.  The  shoemaker  worked  al  fresco^  while  the  pewterer 
from  his  booth  made  the  air  ring  with  sonorous  activity.  One  of  the 
most  characteristic  street  scenes  was  removed  by  Act  of  the  Council, 
17th  April,  1748.  • 

Whereas  it  has  been  found  by  experience,  that  the  exposing  of  butchers  meat  to 
sale  in  the  High  street  of  the  said  Town  of  Clonmel  is  offensive  not  only  to  the 
Inhabitants  but  to  Strangers  passing  through  the  said  town,  and  the  butchers  blocks  in 
the  said  street  are  an  obstruction  to  passengers  and  sometimes  an  occasion  of  mischief. 
To  prevent  which  the  Common  Council  of  the  said  town  and  borough,  encouraged 
John  Power  Esq.  deceased  to  erect  shambles  in  the  said  town  in  a  convenient  place  and 
since  his  decease,  the  said  Common  Council  of  the  said  town  have  encouraged  Elizabeth 
the  widow  and  relict  of  the  said  John  Power  to  proceed  in  the  said  undertaking,  which 
shambles  are  completely  finished  at  the  expense  of  the  said  Elizabeth  Power,  and  twenty 
seven  stalls  for  Butchers  Inhabitants  are  contrived  within  the  said  shambles  and  ten 
stalls  for  Butchers  Strangers  are  erected  without  the  said  shambles  but  adjoining 
thereunto,  for  which  the  said  several  stalls  the  said  Elizabeth  Power  hath  agreed  to 
accept  of  17s  and  4d  yearly  being  4d  by  the  week  to  be  paid  weekly  for  each  and  every 
stall  which  is  a  reasonable  and  low  price  for  them.    To  the  end  therefore  that  the 


History  of  Clonmel.  123 

Butchers  of  the  said  town  and  borough  as  well  Inhabitants  as  Strangers,  may  be  obliged 
to  resort  to  the  said  shambles  and  not  elsewhere  within  the  said  town,  which  will  be  a 
means  to  preserve  order  and  decency  in  the  streets  of  the  said  town  and  give  the  mayor 
of  the  said  town  and  borough  a  fairer  opportunity  of  seeing  and  examining  whether  the 
butchers  meat  designed  for  the  food  of  the  inhabitants  be  sound  and  wholesome  and 
dressed  in  such  a  manner  as  the  law  directs.  Be  it  enacted,  eta,  every  Butcher 
offending  shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  twenty  shillings  sterling  for  the  use  of  the  poor  of  the 
parish  of  the  said  town  of  Clonmel,  to  be  paid  by  the  chamberlain  into  the  hands  of  the 
minister  and  churchwardens  of  said  parish. 

A  destructive  fire  which  occurred  in  1765  throws  further  light  on 
corporate  ways.  The  Ryalls  opened  at  their  bank  a  fund  to  provide  the 
town  with  a  fire  engine  (cc).  The  share  taken  by  the  Corporation  in  the 
business  appears  in  an  entry  of  the  following  year. 

Ordered  that  four  pounds  be  allowd  to  the  person  that  shall  attend  the  fire  engine 
belonging  to  this  Corporation,  the  person  to  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  Bailiffs  and 
Burgesses  the  Rev.  Jos.  Moore  and  as  many  of  the  subscribers  as  please  to  attend. 

How  the  duties  of  lighting  and  paving  were  fulfilled  may  be  gathered 
from  the  proceedings  of  the  House  of  Commons,  26th  February,  1766,  when 
a  clause  was  inserted  in  a  bill  to  enable  (among  others)  the  vestry  of  Clonmel 
to  raise  money  upon  the  inhabitants  for  paving,  gravelling  or  cleaning  the 
streets  and  lanes,  and  for  fixing  up  lamps  to  enlighten  {sic)  such  streets  and 
lanes.  Under  the  spur  probably  of  this  threatened  legislation,  the  corporation 
on  the  following  24th  June  made  a  grant  of  £7  13s.  for  a  new  pavement  in 
Bridge  Lane,  then  the  most  frequented  thoroughfare  in  the  town.  Hence- 
forward the  minute  books  record  the  sporadic  attempts  of  the  corporation  to 
fulfil  one  of  their  elementary  duties. 

29  September  1768.  Ordered  that  the  Bridges,  Quay,  and  Streets  of  Clonmel  be 
immediately  repaired,  and  that  Mr.  Hayman-do  undertake  the  same,  and  that  if  the 
same  be  not  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Burgesses  and  Council  of  this  Corporation 
that  the  same  is  to  be  at  the  expense  of  the  said  repairs  and  that  the  Mayor  and 
Baylives  of  this  Corporation  be  the  Judges  thereof. 

The  lighting  of  the  town,  however,  was  undertaken  by  the  vestry.  The 
following — one  of  many  similar  entries — appears  in  the  minutes  of  St.  Mary's 
vestry. 

[1783]  Ordered  that  £50  be  laid  out  on  the  parish  and  applotted  for  lighting  the 
lamps  for  the  growing  yeare,  Only  upon  such  persons  as  inhabit  within  the  town  and 
suburbs  thereof  as  far  as  the  lamps  extend.  Messrs.  John  Bagwell  and  Edward  Howell 
were  appointed  to  make  such  applotment. 

The  corporation  in  truth  had  no  money  for  paving  or  lighting;  the 
balances,  after  liberal  salaries  to  the  officials,  were  devoted  to  junketing. 

(cc)  Dec.  12.  "Gave  Phineas  Riall  towards  the  Fire  Engine  3  guineas.  Gave  Rev.  Jos.  Moore 
charity  to  help  the  poor  whose  goods  were  burnt  5  guineas — William  Perry." 


124  HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 

Disburst  for  the  Corporation  of  Clonmell  at  Bally  McAdam  June  the  5th,  1704. 


Ingredients  for  the  Punch 

01 

3 

0 

Pd  for  Beefe 

00 

6 

? 

Two  quarters  of  Mutton 

00 

2 

Two  doz  of  Chickens 

00 

2 

4 

Fireing 

00 

I 

II 

Corks 

00 

0 

3 

Salt  pepper  flour  Butter 

00 

0 

II 

Tobacco  and  Pipes 

00 

3 

0 

Four  bottles  lost  or  broke 

00 

0 

8 

Pd  woman  for  dressing  meat  and  turning  spitt 

00 

I 

6 

Bread 

00 

5 

0 

For  R  Bonds  horse,  ffletchers  horse  Robert  Masons 

horse  Drumers  horse 

00 

6 

0 

For  the  Drumer  for  his  former  and  present  service 

00 

4 

0 

Four  bottles  Cyder 

00 

3 

0 

Sword  Bearers  Horse 

00 

I 

6 

To  the  Meares  man  Tho  Moore 

00 

I 

6 

To  flFran  Mullowney  and  Walter  Strapp 

00 

6 

0 

3£    10    0 
Ville  de  Clonmel  j     gy  j^y^^  ^.^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^^  Clonmell. 

You  are  hereby  Impowered  &  authorized  to  pay  vnto  Mr  Henry  Cleere  the  above 
sunie  of  Three  pounds  Tenn  Shillings  being  for  the  above  uses. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  Seale  of  Mayoralty  this  lith  of  July  1704. 

John  Wilson  Mayor. 
To  Mr  Her :  Beere  Chamberlaine  of  the  said  Towne. 

One  department  of  municipal  work  deserves  notice — the  defence  of  the 
town.  Throughout  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Whig  party 
lived  in  constant  apprehension  of  a  Jacobite  invasion.  Their  minds  were 
haunted  by  visions  of  Popish  massacres,  old  Irish  landowners,  brass  money 
and  French  despotism.  The  corporation  of  Clonmel  took  care  that  the 
followers  of  the  Pretender  should  not  surprise  the  town.  The  Protestant 
apprentices  had  saved  Derry  so  also  they  were  the  mainstay  here. 

[1710]  We  present  that  Stanley  Cranwell,  William  Cranwell,  John  Poynts,  Stopkeys, 
William  Smith,  John  Gibs,  John  Cowly  be  sworn  free  of  this  corp<)ration.  We  present 
that  the  above  named  persons  may  each  of  them  give  a  muskett  into  the  armory  of  the 
town  such  as  served  their  tyme  in  Towne. 

The  arrival  of  the  Chevalier  Charles  Stuart  in  Scotland  realized  the 
worst  fears  of  the  Hanoverians.  Clonmel  however  was  forearmed.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  corporation,  1st  January,  1745,  it  was 

"Ordered,  In  consequence  of  the  rebellion  of  the  Popish  Pretender  that  there  be 
immediately  an  inspection  made  into  all  the  walls  castles,  gates  and  fortifications  of 
this  town  in  order  immediately  to  fortify  and  repair  the  same  and  put  the  same  in  a 
position  of  defence  at  the  expense  of  the  Corporation  and  that  they  do  forthwith  report 
the  same  to  this  Council  that  the  Corporation  may  immediately  lay  in  a  sufiicient  fund 
for  carrying  on  the  said  work  with  all  speed  and  that  the  Mayor  as  soon  as  such  estimate 
be  given  in,  do  immediately  call  a  Council  for  this  purpose." 


History  of  Clonmel.  125 

Though  the  population  increased  steadily  from  1700  onward,  the. 
trade  of  Clonmel  remained  merely  local.  The  country  around  was 
still  a  prairie.  Joseph  Barrett,  at  Abbey,  John  Perry,  Knocklofty,  Stephen 
Moore,  Chancellorstown,  John  Carleton,  Darlinghill,  John  Bagwell,  Kilmore, 
and  several  others,  occupied  upwards  of  a  thousand  acres  each.  In 
1699  for  example.  Benjamin  Vaughan  held  the  lands  of  Ballyboe,  Ballinvoher, 
Ballyvaughan,  Killurney,  Ballyknockan,  Cloughcorrigeen,  Ballyglasheen  and 
others,  his  stock  numbering  between  3,000  and  4,000  sheep.  Of  cattle  there 
were  only  18  cows  and  18  plough  bullocks.  Though  the  staple  product,  wool, 
declined  in  value  from  14s.  6d.  a  stone  in  1700  to  6s.  in  1728,  the  huge  grazing 
farms  still  obtained,  the  sheep  walks  being  partly  turned  to  pastures  for  black 
cattle.  John  Carleton,  of  Darlinghill,  died  in  1730.  His  executors'  accounts 
show  5,130  sheep,  valued  at  £2,320;  147  rams,  £427;  and  535  head  of  black 
cattle,  £1,188  (dd).  Enormous  though  these  figures  are,  the  cattle  ranches  of 
Tipperary  in  1776,  as  described  by  Young,  dwarf  them  into  insignificance. 

Farms  are  generally  large  commonly  3  or  4000  acres  and  rise  up  to  10,000  of  which 
quantity  there  is  one  farm,  this  is  Mr.  Macarthy's  of  Spring  House  near  Tipperary  and 
is  I  suppose  the  most  considerable  one  in  the  world.  Here  are  some  of  the  particulars 
of  it. 

9,000  acres  in  all — ^£10,000  rent— 8,000  sheep — 2,000  lambs — 530  bullocks — 80  fat 
cows--£20,000  value  of  stock — 200  yearlings — 200  two-year  olds — 200  three-year  olds — 
80  plough  bullocks— 180  horses,  mares,  and  foals— 150  to  200  labourers — 200  acres 
tillage  (ee). 

I  had  heard  much  of  the  late  Mr.  Keating's  farm  of  Garrinlea  as  the  largest  that 
ever  was ;  his  son  gave  me  the  following  particulars  of  it. 

£10,000  a  year  rent,  13,800  Irish  acres,  3,000  head  of  black  cattle,  16,300  sheep,  300 
horses,  500  couple  of  ducks,  300  turkies,  90  hogsheads  of  cyder  a  year.  He  had  most 
of  the  ground  from  Golden  to  Clonmel  (ff). 

Owing  to  the  sparsity  of  population  the  condition  of  the  working  classes 
throughout  this  period,  compares  favourably  upon  the  whole  with  the  state  of 
things  revealed  a  century  later  by  the  Commission  of  1834.  A  working  man's 
wage-;  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Clonmel  in  1700  was  5d.  a  day,  an  artizan's 
being  lid. ;  a  bushel  of  wheat  cost  3s.  3d.,  of  peas  3s.,  a  barrel  of  oats  2s.,  a 

(dd)  For  a  notice  of  Vaughan  see  "  A  Tipperary  Fanner  and  Waterford  Trader  of  Two  Centuries 
Ago."  Waterford  Archaeological  Journal  VIII.,  32.  Executors'  accounts,  Robert  Marshall,  John  Perry 
and  Richard  Clutterbook,  M.S. 

(ee)  •*  Sept  20, 1775.  ^  *iave  spent  some  days  most  agreeably  at  Mr.  Macarty's  of  Springhouse 
where  hospitality  was  displayed  in  its  best  manner,  divested  of  those  qualities  which  of  old  tarnished 
the  lustre  of  that  virtue  in  Ireland.  There  was  no  constraint  in  the  article  of  wine  nor  indeed  in  any 
other.  There  was  as  much  ease  as  in  the  house  of  an  English  Duke.  This  ancient  family  have 
seen  much  of  the  world.  The  eldest  daughter  is  married  to  a  colonel  in  the  [German]  Imperial 
service,  who  is  also  an  officer  of  state  at  court.  The  eldest  son  whom  I  met  at  the  assembly  is  an 
officer  in  the  same  service  and  Miss  Macarty  is  but  lately  returned  from  visiting  her  sister.  Here  we 
were  at  meals  even  on  Sunday  regaled  with  the  bag-pipe  which  to  my  uncultivated  ear  is  not  an 
instrument  so  unpleasant  as'  the  lovers  of  Italian  music  represent  it."— Philosophical  Survey  of 
South  of  Ireland.    Campbell,  Dublin,  1776,  p.  141. 

(jf)  Tour  in  Ireland,  1776-9.    Arthur  Young  I.,  pp.  390-1  • 


126  HISTORY   OF   CLONMEL. 

chicken  id.,  a  lamb  is.,  a  ewe  2s.,  a  wether  4s.,  a  fat  cow  22s  (gg).  But 
employment  was  not  constant,  and  wages  were  rarely  paid  in  cash.  The 
grazier  allotted  a  plot  of  land  for  potatoes  and  grass  for  the  cow — at  this 
time  every  labourer  being  possessed  of  one  cow  or  sometimes  more.  In  seasons 
when  the  potato  crop  partly  failed  there  was  acute  distress,  verging  occasion- 
ally on  famine.  The  years  1708,  1709,  1727  and  the  three  following  ones,  so 
great  was  the  scarcity,  it  was  proposed  to  make  a  certain  proportion  of  tillage 
compulsory  by  law,  that  the  population  should  not  be  absolutely  dependent 
on  the  potato.  Of  the  awful  famine  of  1739-1740  no  local  details  are 
obtainable  beyond  the  fact  that  a  subscription  list  for  the  relief  of  the  poor 
was  opened  in  Clonmel.  Some  measure  of  the  scourge  is  afforded  by  an 
occurrence  of  the  year  1741.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  the  people  banded 
themselves  together  to  prevent  the  corn  grown  in  the  country,  such  as  it  was, 
being  exported.  They  stopped  the  boats  at  Carrick.  The  military  escort  of 
horse  and  foot  fired  on  the  crowd.  Five  were  killed,  eighteen  wounded,  and 
a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  Lords  Justices  offering  a  large  reward  for 
the  apprehension  of  those  who  escaped.  In  1755  the  potato  crop  again 
failing,  the  poor  were  reduced  to  terrible  straits  during  the  winter  and 
following  spring.    They  asked  for  bread  and  received  a — bullet 

Clonmel  12  May  1756. 

Sir — As  there  have  been  lately  severall  Riotts  and  Tumults  committed  in  this  town 
in  the  night  time  by  at  least  Two  or  Three  hundred  persons  or  Mobb  under  pretence  of 
stopping  of  com  from  being  taken  out  of  Town  and  have  broake  open  severall  houses 
and  windows  and  took  away  severall  Baggs  of  Oat  Meal  and  God  knows  what  may  be 
the  consequences  if  not  prevented  and  as  the  Civill  force  cannot  be  able  to  quell  such 
Riotters  if  they  are  suffered  to  go  on  without  the  aid  of  the  Military  Power  I  thought  it 
my  duty  to  acquaint  you  hereof  in  order  that  you  may  Lay  the  same  before  His  Grace 
the  Lord  Lieut  and  Privy  Council  of  this  Kingdom  that  they  may  doe  therein  what  in 
their  great  wisdom  they  may  think  convenient. 

I  am  Sir  your  most  humble  servt, 

John  Hayman  Mayor  (hh). 

But  apart  from  periodical  famine,  the  state  of  the  labourers  and  working 
people  generally,  grew  worse  as  the  century  advanced.  The  disproportion 
between  wages  and  prices  steadily  increased.  In  1762  in  the  district  of 
Clonmel  a  labourer  had  5d.  a  day,  a  mason,  carpenter,  and  slater  13d.,  a 
cooper  I5d.,  a  harness  maker  l8d.  On  the  other  hand  wheat  was  lid.  a 
stone,  (potatoes  3s.  3d.  a  barrel,  oats  8s.  a  barrel,  a  load  of  turf  13d.,  a  barrel 
of  coal  3s.,  a  yard  of  frieze  13d.,  a  yard  of  flannel  8j^d.  Occasionally  prices 
were  higher  still ;  in  1766  for  example  a  barrel  of  potatoes  cost  7s.  7d.,  and  a 

(^)  Commonplace  Book  of  Benjamin  Vaughan,  penes  Captain  Vaughan  Arbuckle. 

(hh)  Mayor  of  Clonmel  to  Chief  Secretary,  Civil  Corresp.,  Miscell.  C.  23,  No.  1287,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  127 

stone  of  wheat  I4d.  But  this  is  not  all ;  the  cottier  being  paid  not  in  money 
but  by  the  truck  system,  i.e.,  a  patch  for  potatoes  and  grass  for  his  cow,  these 
were  set  at  the  highest  grazier's  estimate.  Now  as  a  wether  in  1 766  was 
value  for  l8s.  6d,,  a  three  year  old  bullock  £5  8s.,  and  a  fat  bullock  £6  5s., 
the  cabin  and  garden  were  let  at  £3,  and  the  grass  £2  yearly  (ii). 

The  result  is  described  in  a  letter  of  a  visitor  to  Tipperary  in  September 
1775.  "The  manner  in  which  the  poor  of  this  country  live  I  cannot  help 
calling  beastly.  For  upon  the  same  floor  and  frequently  without  any 
partition  are  lodged  the  husband  and  wife,  the  multitudinous  brood  of 
children,  all  huddled  together  upon  straw  or  rushes  with  the  cow,  the  calf, 
the  pig  and  the  horse,  if  they  are  rich  enough  to  have  one  "  (jj).  The  middle 
class  farmer  and  the  moderate  capitalist  scarcely  existed  ;  the  country  being 
divided  between  the  grazing  monopolists  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
semi-pauper  population  on  the  other.  As  neither  of  these  were  calculable 
factors  in  trade  and  commerce,  Clonmel  at  the  time  was  as  somnolent  as  a 
backwood  settlement.  One  had  often  to  send  out  of  town  for  a  pound  of 
green  tea  or  Bohea.  "  Ratteens,"  friezes  or  coarse  linen  might  be  bought 
from  John  Ferris  or  Ely  Blackmore,  but  when  William  Perry  desired  to  adorn 
himself  peacock-like  in  his  broad-cloth  coat,  velvet  vest,  doeskin  breeches  and 
three  corner  gold  lace  hat,  a  special  journey  to  Cork  had  to  be  made.  In  the 
town  which  half  a  century  later,  saw  the  magnificent  cabinet  work  of  Graham, 
it  was  hardly  possible  to  procure  a  chair.    Timber  and  other  building  materials 

(ii)  Perry  Papers,  cf.  Arthur  Young,  Tour  I.,  pp.  36-40.  While  the  hulk  of  the  population  were 
becoming  poorer,  it  is  curious  to  note  the  graziers  passing  into  the  ranks  of  the  gentry.  During  the 
period  1760-1800  parks  were  enclosed  and  planted,  and  mansions  built  at  Knocklofty,  Woodroff, 
Barne,  MarlBeld,  Kilmore,  Newtown  Anner,  etc.  William  Perry — to  take  an  example— succeeded  to 
Woodroff  estate  in  1759  on  the  death  of  his  uncle.  In  earlier  life  he  had  been  in  trade  in  Cork  with 
his  father  Samuel,  as  exporter  of  tallow  and  ox  guts.  Bringing  his  mercantile  training  to  the 
management  of  his  estate,  he  kept  a  set  of  letter-books,  ledgers,  and  petty  cash  books.  Between 
the  years  1760-1764  he  erected  the  house.  Bricks  were  burned  locally  at  a  cost  of  4/-  per  1000 
*'  common,"  and  7/6  "  stock."  Culm  was  bought  at  2/-  a  barrel,  and  lime  cost  2f  d.  a  barrel,  slates  12/- 
per  1000.  Pour  marble  mantel  pieces  tx)ught  from  Colles  of  Kilkenny  £1$,  '  Fourpenny '  nails 
2/6  per  1000,  *  Twopenny '  nails,  10/10,  a  stock  lock  3/3,  a  padlock  2/8J.  There  were  10  hearths  in 
the  house  for  which  a  yearly  tax  of  2/-  each  was  paid.  The  furniture  was  made  by  John  Walsh  of 
Waterford.  "Chinese  side  board  Table  ;f4-ii,  *  Chinese  card  Table  ;f 2-5-6,  10  chairs  £% 
*  Coope  with  2  tops  with  casters  ;f  1-2-9.  The  dinner  service  was  procured  from  Liverpool  "  2  large 
Square  Dishes  10/-,  2  Dishes  5/-,  2  great  middle  dishes  4/-,  4  main  middle  dishes  6/-,  4  dozen 
superfine  plates  ;f  1-4,  3  sallet  bowles  6/-,  i  large  drainer  2/6.  A  barrell  of  coal  cost  3/-.  Tallow 
was  sent  to  Dun vi lie  of  Clonmel  who  made  it  into  candles  at  the  rate  of  id.  per  lb.  and  soap  at  \d. 
More  instructive  however  are  the  wardrobe  items ;  gray '  ratteen '  cost  3/-  a  yard,  linnen  2/4,  ruffles 
;^i-5-3,  cloth  for  coat  20/-  a  yard,  velvet  for  vest  12/-,  gold  lace  for  hat  cost  17/4,  pair  of  shoes 
6/6,  of  buckles  for  ditto  4/8^,  of  stockings  6/-,  of  gloves  5/5,  a  pair  of  *  britches '  jfi-i,  a  '  bagg  wigg' 
18/6,  a  *  cutt  wigg  ii/4i.  Scarcely  less  curious  are  the  prices  paid  for  the  cellar  and  pantry  stock, 
Rump  and  sirloin  2\  per  lb,  butter  25/6  per  cwt.,  cheese  2\  per  lb,  a  salmon  i/io,  a  pair  of  turkeys 
lod,  hive  of  honey  lo/-,  green  tea  12/-  per  lb.,  Bohea  tea  6/6,  powdered  sugar  loid,  •  double  refined ' 
loaf  sugar  I5d.,  salt  5/-  per  stone,  tobacco  i/-  a  pound,  malt  10/-  per  barrel,  wine  £17  per  hogshead, 
whiskey  lod  per  quart,  brandy  I7d.  From  other  accounts  we  learn  that  the  county  cess  for  Iffa  and 
Offa  East  at  the  Spring  assizes  1762  was  8/11^  per  100  acres,  the  vestry  charges  for  New  Chapel 
and  Derrygrath  parishes  6/5  and  6/8}  per  100  acres  respectively. 

(jj)  Philosophical  Survey  of  South  of  Ireland,  Campbell,  Dublin,  1776. 


128  History  of  Clonmel. 

were  supplied  by  Messrs.  Penrose  of  Waterford,  though  one  William  Bagwell 
carried  on  business  in  a  small  way  on  the  quay  (kk).  Such  was  Clonmel  in 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  But  two  events  happened  about  this 
time  which  gave  it  a  new  life,  multiplied  its  population  four-fold,  and  won 
for  it  an  honoured  place  in  the  empire  of  commerce. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  improvement  in  the  navigation  of  the  Suir.  In 
1755  some  traders  of  Clonmel,  local  gentry,  and  a  few  merchants  of  Waterford 
petitioned  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  pointing  out  that  the  deepening  of 
the  river  for  navigation,  would  not  only  enrich  the  counties  adjacent  but  be 
of  considerable  benefit  to  the  nation  at  large. 

The  present  produce  of  the  county  of  Tipperary  consists  of  black  cattle,  sheep, 
butter,  rape  seed,  and  com  of  most  kinds ;  the  butter  is  sent  from  Clonmel  by  boat  to 
Waterford  where  it  is  exported ;  the  corn  is  carried  partly  to  the  same  port  by  water 
and  partly  to  Cork  by  land  carriage ;  some  of  the  rape  seed  is  much  used  by  the  oil 
mills  of  the  country  but  a  great  part  is  usually  carried  to  Waterford  for  exportation  to 
Holland.  The  carriage  of  those  commodities  from  Clonmel  is  at  present  attended  with 
great  expense  and  many  difficulties  upon  account  of  rocks  which  in  some  places  run 
across  the  river  at  one  of  which  the  water  falls  several  feet  so  that  the  boats  often  strike 
thereon  and  receive  great  damage,  sometimes  even  sink  and  the  goods  lost ;  and  in 
other  parts  by  large  stones,  banks  of  grass  and  the  like  which  so  far  obstruct  the  river 
that  the  boats  cannot  carry  especially  in  summer  time  above  one  third  of  the  burthen 
that  the  water  would  allow  them  were  all  those  obstacles  removed.  The  usual  expense 
of  hauling  a  boat  formerly  from  Carrick  to  Clonmel  was  from  twelve  shillings  to  one 
pound  but  of  late  the  men  who  are  employed  in  that  work  by  repeated  combinations 
have  advanced  their  wages  to  such  a  degree  that  it  frequently  amounts  to  forty  shillings 
exclusive  of  boatmen's  wages  which  are  sixteen  shillings  the  trip.  If  those  rocks  were 
blown  up  the  large  banks  of  gravel  taken  away  and  a  regular  channel  made  with  a 
small  gravel  road  on  one  side  of  the  river,  as  granted  by  Act  of  Parliament,  for  horses 
to  draw  instead  of  men,  the  expense  will  be  r^uced  to  about  one  third  of  what  was  at 
present  required  and  then  a  boat  instead  of  being  two  days  upon  her  passage  from 
Carrick  may  be  brought  up  in  six  or  eight  hours.  The  freight  of  goods  from  Waterford 
to  Clonmel  which  is  from  six  shillings  and  eight  pence  to  ten  shillings  the  ton  will  then 
be  reduced  to  three  or  four  shillings  at  most ;  and  butter  which  pays  in  summer  time 
six  pence  per  cask  will  then  be  carried  for  less  than  two  pence.  Among  the  many 
advantages  that  will  accrue  to  the  nation  by  this  improvement  of  inland  navigation  that 
of  tillage  will  be  the  most  considerable  the  com  of  the  county  Tipperary  being  esteemed 
a  good  deal  better  than  what  is  produced  in  many  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  then 
wheat  will  be  carried  from  Clonmel  to  Waterford  in  covered  boats  at  small  expense  and 
thence  shipped  to  Dublin,  Cork  or  other  parts  of  the  kingdom  and  the  Tipperary 
farmers'  produce  who  paid  from  2s.  6d.  to  3s.  6d  a  barrel  for  the  large  quantities  they 
send  to  Cork  will  then  be  carried  for  one  half  which  will  tend  greatly  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  tillage  in  this  country.  We  therefore  pray  your  House  to  take  the  said 
navigation  into  consideration  and  to  do  therein  as  to  you  shall  seem  meet. 

The  following  year,  1756,  a  parliamentary  grant  of  £1,500  was  passed 
for  "  making  the  river  Shure  navigable  from  Carrick  on  Shure  to  ClonmelL" 


(kk)  This  was  not  William  M.P.  in  1756  but  an  "odious  approximation"  as  Charles  I^mb 
would  say.  He  was  tenant  to  William  Perry  who  writes  21st  May,  1766  to  Mr.  John  Lawton  of 
Cork  "  Our  uncle  Bagwell  just  now  spoke  to  me  to  know  if  I  could  lend  him  iso£  which  he  wants 
to  complete  his  building  in  Clonmell.  I  should  be  much  better  pleased  to  let  him  have  it  than  most 
I  know  as  he  has  a  very  pritty  thing  now  in  Clonmell  worth  I  believe  7  or  8oO;f  and  is  the  most 
punctuall  man  that  can  be  in  paying  me  his  rent." 


History  of  Clonmel.  129 

But  like  most  of  the  undertakings  of  the  time,  the  money  seems,  in  great  part  at 
least,  to  have  found  its  way  into  other  channels  than  the  river.  In  1761  a 
committee  of  the  Commons  consisting  of  Sir  William  Osborne,  John  Bagwell 
and  others,  was  appointed  to  report  on  the  work,  to  ascertain  what  portion 
of  the  funds  was  unapplied,  and  in  whose  hands  these  funds  were.  At 
length,  five  years  later,  the  channel  was  sufficiently  deepened  and  the  rocks 
removed  to  permit  the  free  passage  of  boats  of  ten  tons.  A  quarter  of  a 
century  subsequent,  the  matter  became  again  urgent.  On  February  15th, 
1790,  the  corporation  of  Clonmel  together  with  the  traders  and  manufacturers 
petitioned  the  Commons. 

The  town  of  Clonmel  for  a  considerable  time  past  has  been  growing  in  commerce 
and  manufactures,  and  if  encouraged  is  likely  to  become  a  place  of  extensive  trade ;  its 
situation  on  the  banks  of  the  Suir  a  large  navigable  river  in  the  heart  of  a  most  fertile 
country,  has  essentially  contributed  to  render  the  said  town  a  very  eligible  mart  for  all 
kinds  of  grain,  which  are  purchased  and  sent  from  thence  to  Dublin  by  the  Grand  Canal 
and  coastways,  also  to  a  variety  of  foreign  markets  both  in  a  manufactured  and 
unmanufactured  state,  and  in  such  great  abundance,  that  the  said  town  and  its  environs 
may  without  any  exaggeration  be  considered  one  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  best  corn 
market  in  the  kingdom  from  which  not  only  Clonmel  and  the  county  of  Tipperary  but 
the  neighbouring  counties  and  the  kingdom  in  general  derive  material  advantage ;  the 
tow  path  or  trackway  of  the  said  river  which  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  purpose  of 
navigation  has  been  by  floods  and  various  causes  rendered  nearly  impassable  in  many 
places  for  the  horses  to  haul  up  the  boats.  Your  suppliants  therefore  humbly  pray 
that  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  County  of  Tipperary  may  be  enabled  to  present  from  time 
to  time  such  sums  as  shall  appear  necessary  for  the  improvement  of  the  said  tow  path 
or  track  way  (//). 

Nothing,  however,  was  done  until  the  following  year,  when  on  a  similar 
petition  the  Solicitor  General  and  Stephen  Moore  were  ordered  to  prepare  a 
bill  to  empower  grand  juries  to  make  presentments  for  the  purpose. 

The  other  event  which  contributed  to  the  prosperity  of  the  town  was  the 
foundation  of  the  milling  industry,  intimately  connected  as  it  was,  with  the 
breaking  up  of  the  cattle  ranches  and  the  introduction  of  tillage.  In  1757 
Edmund  Sexten  Perry,  afterwards  Speaker  of  the  Irish  Commons,  carried 
through  a  Bill  which  granted  bounties  on  the  land  carriage  of  corn  to  Dublin. 
For  every  five  hundred-weight  of  flour  brought  to  that  market,  a  premium  of 
three  pence  per  mile  (deducting  the  first  ten  miles)  was  granted  ;  for  every 
five  hundred  of  wheat  and  barley,  three  halfpence,  and  of  oats  one  penny. 
Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  economic  soundness  of  this  measure,  its 
effects  on  the  agriculture  of  the  country  were  important  and  wide-spread. 
In  1759  there  were  brought  to  Dublin  from  Co.  Tipperary  1,103  quarters  of 
corn  and  meal,  the  bounty  earned  being  £276  4s.  4d.,  but  there  is  no  mention 


(II)  Parliamentary  Records,  P.R.O. 


130  History  of  Clonmel. 

of  flour.  Seven  years  later  we  find  1,502  cwts.  of  flour  from  Tipperary,  sent 
for  the  most  part  from  the  mills  of  Dalton  and  Coughlan  of  Carrick,  and 
Doherty  of  Moorstown.  In  1769  the  earliest  of  the  local  millers  appears  in 
the  Dublin  market — William  Ryan  of  Abbey,  who  sent  45  cwt.  This  year, 
however,  was  nearing  completion  at  Marlfield  a  mill  on  a  scale  that  had  never 
been  seen  before.  Stephen  Moore  seems  to  have  inherited  all  the  energy 
and  enterprise  of  his  great-grandfather,  Richard  of  the  Commonwealth 
period.  His  career — banker,  grazier,  miller,  agriculturist — stands  out  in 
sharp  contrast  with  those  of  the  squalid  squires  of  Tipperary  at  the  time. 
Arthur  Young  who  visited  Marlfield  in  1776  gives  the  following  details  : — 

His  mill  was  built  seven  years  ago  and  cost  £15000;  the  wages  of  the  millers 
including  candles,  coals,  soap  tallow,  etc  £700  or  £800  a  year;  it  contains  nine  stones 
for  wheat  and  four  for  oatmeal ;  it  has  a  very  complete  apparatus  for  sifting,  cleaning 
etc.  and  granaries  of  uncommon  magnitude  holding  lOOOO  barrels ;  began  to  be  worked 
with  only  3,000  barrels  of  wheat  in  a  year,  which  has  risen  gradually  to  20,000  barrels  in 
1776  a  very  strong  proof  of  the  great  increase  of  tillage  in  the  neighbourhood.  Very 
much  of  it  is  between  Clonmel  and  Cashel,  in  which  tract  there  was  formerly  more 
sheep  in  one  parish  than  now  in  three ;  also  much  in  the  Cork  road  to  Clogheen 
but  no  mountain  heath  ground  improved.  The  change  has  been  from  sheep  to  bullocks. 
He  has  a  prospect  of  doing  yet  more  and  at  the  same  time  other  mills  have  been  erected 
that  grind  much,  perhaps  the  whole  is  not  short  of  40,000  barrels.  The  farmers  do  not 
bring  their  wheat  from  a  greater  distance  than  sixteen  miles.  Mr.  Moore  finds  it 
necessary  to  kiln-dry  all.  I  mentioned  to  him  the  bad  colour  of  all  the  wheat  in  his 
own  and  every  other  mill  in  Ireland ;  he  attributed  it  only  to  wet  harvests.  He  sends 
his  flour  to  Dublin  on  the  bounty,  which  rather  more  than  pays  the  expense  of 
carriage  6d.  per  cwt.  Never  exports  on  his  own  account  but  sends  a  little  to  Water- 
ford.  It  goes  to  Dublin  in  cars  which  take  each  eight  to  ten  cwt.  that  is  from 
four  to  five  bags.  He  used  to  pay  3s.  a  cwt.  in  winter  and  3s.  6d.  in  summer  for  84 
miles  but  now  the  price  is  2s.  6ci.  in  summer  and  3s.  in  winter.  Mr.  Moore  tried 
English  broad  wheeled  wagons  with  high  priced  strong  horses  but  they  did  not  answer 
at  all :  he  has  found  the  cars  to  carry  much  greater  loads. 

Mr.  Moore  contracts  for  biscuit,  which  he  bakes  in  large  quantities  and  bread  for 
the  whole  town  of  Clonmell.  He  has  eight  ovens  going  for  biscuit.  Starch  he  also 
makes  large  quantities  of.  Adjoining  his  flour  mill  he  has  erected  a  rape  mill  for 
making  oil ;  the  seed  is  all  raised  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  cake  sells  at  48s.  a  ton 
and  is  exported,  some  to  Holland  but  most  to  England  for  manure  (mm). 

From  the  24th  June,  1771,  to  24th  June,  1772,  Moore  sent  to  Dublin  13,842 
cwts.  of  flour,  receiving  a  bounty  of  £2,838  15s.  4d. ;  the  following  year  the 
quantity  was  13,207,  and  the  bounty  £2,705  8s.  lid.  The  slight  decrease  was 
probably  due  to  the  Quaker  opposition.  In  that  year  John  Grubb  opened 
the  Anner  Mills,  sending  to  Dublin  5,428  cwts.,  the  bounty  paid  being 
£1,094  15s.  lid.  After  some  keen  competition,  a  working  arrangement  was 
come  to  between  Moore  and  Grubb.  An  imaginary  line  was  drawn  through 
the  Main  Guard,  north  and  south.     All  farmers  west  of  this  line  had  perforce 


(mm)  Tour  in  Ireland  I.,  pp.  395-6.     Unfortunately,   it  may  be  added,  Moore  a  few  years 
subsequent  met  the  fate  which  often  befalls  over-speculation,  the  bankruptcy  court. 


History  of  Clonmel,  i3i 

to  sell  their  corn  to  Moore,  all  east,  to  Grubb  (nn).  On  the  collapse  of  Moore 
some  years  later,  the  milling  trade  was  largely  monopolized  by  the  Quakers. 
About  1778  a  member  of  that  body,  Simmons  Sparrow,  the  son  of  a  local 
baker,  who  had  owned  a  modest  mill  at  Tubberaheena,  opened  the  huge  Suir 
Island  mills,  and  soon  occupied  the  premier  position  (00).  He  was  followed 
in  the  same  locality  by  the  firm  of  Robert  Grubb  &  Co.  In  November,  1781, 
Edward  Collins  obtained  a  lease  from  the  corporation  of  the  old  corporation 
mill  on  Little  Island,  and  erected  thereon  new  mills  at  a  cost  of  £l2,000.  He 
had  previously  taken  over  the  Marlfield  mills  from  the  assigns  of  Stephen 
Moore  (pp).  Three  years  later,  in  1784,  Thomas  Morton  exchanged  his  trade 
of  distiller  for  that  of  corn  miller,  and  took  the  Manor  mills  from  James 
Keyes  on  a  lease  for  lives  renewable,  at  a  rent  of  nearly  £100  a  year.  About 
the  same  period  John  Bagwell  purchased  the  lease  of  Marlfield,  and  carried 
on  extensive  corn  milling  and  biscuit  making  there.  Within  the  next  thirty 
years  a  network  of  corn  mills  was  spread  over  the  country  until  every  river 
was  dammed  and  every  mountain  stream  pent  up  (qq).  When  in  I797it  was 
proposed  to  abolish  the  system  of  bounties,  the  milling  industry  was  so  firmly 
established,  that  it  stood  in  no  need  of  public  subsidies.  "  The  principal 
millers,"  said  Lord  Clare,  "  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Clonmell,  a  part  of  the 
kingdom  from  which  there  is  a  considerable  influx  of  corn  to  the  city,  do  not 
complain  of  the  bill ;  on  the  contrary  many  have  declared  that  they  will  not 
suffer  any  loss  from  it "  (rr). 

Besides  flour  milling  there  were  at  this  period  a  number  of  minor 
industries.  In  1785  Clonmel  counted  fourteen  manufacturers  of  tobacco  who 
paid  to  the  revenue  for  that  year  2d.  per  5  lbs.  on  16,499  lbs.,  and  8d.  per  5  lbs. 
on  5,931  lbs.  The  tanning  of  leather  had  also  been  carried  on  for  a 
considerable  time  by  the  enterprising  quakers,  Peter  Banfield,  Thomas  and 
Samuel  Rigg.    The  woollen  manufacture  was  inconsiderable.     "  The  poor 


(nn)  Information  penes  Mr.  B.  Clibborn,  a  descendant  of  Grubb. 

(00)  He  built  Oaklands  house,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Richard,  who  died  in  18 10. 

(pp)  Flour  sent  to  Dublin  by  land  carriage  from  24th  June,  1781,  to  24th  June,  1782.  Anner, 
John  Grubb,  4,534  cwts.,  bounty  £$^  15s.  Clonmel,  Simmons  Sparrow,  6,527  cwts.,  £%(k)  12s.  4d. 
Clonmel,  Robert  Grubb  &  Co.,  1,318  cwts.,  ;f  174  los.  8d.  Marlfield,  Edward  Collins,  6,234  cwts., 
;f83i  28. 

(qq)  It  was  not  without  much  searching  of  heart  the  landowners  saw  the  sheep  and  black  cattle 
disappear,  and  the  pastures  broken  by  the  plough .  As  a  preliminary  the  farms  had  to  be  sub-divided. 
"  1  did  not  expect  after  what  you  were  pleased  to  express  to  me  last  Feb.  that  you  would  have 
cottierd  out  my  Grounds  in  the  manner  you  have  which  must  be  attended  with  constant  disagreeable 
matter  to  me.  I  therefore  shall  insist  on  the  covenants  in  the  lease  being  performed." — W.  Perry 
to  Maurice  Lonergan,  5th  April,  1780.  "  In  consequence  of  .Liberty  given  me  by  Wm.  Perry  Esq. 
to  plough  a  field  of  8  or  9  acres  of  the  lands  of  Newcastle  which  by  his  lease  to  the  late  Joseph 
Cooke  was  reserved  from  being  ploughed  under  a  certain  Penalty  I  do  hereby  engage  to  manure  the 
said  field  with  Roach  Lime  at  the  rate  of  100  barrels  to  each  and  every  acre  at  the  least  and  that  after 
three  crops  have  been  taken  off  I  will  lay  down  the  same  for  grass  or  in  default  I  will  pay  the 
Penalty  specified.     15  March  1787,  Thomas  Kearney." — Perry  Papers. 

(rr)  Annals  of  Agriculture  xxix.,  p.  157. 


132  History  of  Clonmel, 

Catholicks  in  the  South  of  Ireland,"  notes  the  observant  Young,  "  spin  wool 
very  generally  but  the  purchasers  of  their  labour  and  the  whole  worsted  trade 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  Quakers  of  Clonmel,  Carrick,  etc."  fssj.  These  exported 
the  wool  in  yarn  to  Bristol  or  Norwich,  and  after  paying  freight,  landing 
duties  and  the  rest,  reaped  a  handsome  profit,  having  had  the  wool  spun  at 
the  living  wage  of  two  pence  a  day  ftt).  An  industry  which  dates  from  this 
period  and  which  after  many  vicissitudes  still  exists,  is  brewing.  During  the 
eighteenth  century  people  made  their  own  beer  as  well  as  baked  their  own 
bread,  and  among  the  household  expenditure  will  be  found  items  for  the 
purchase  of  hops  and  the  malting  of  barley  (uuj.  Tea  was  still  a  luxur}  only 
obtainable  by  the  wealthy,  and  instead  tnilk,  small  beer  and  cider  were 
drunk.  In  1785  there  were  in  Clonmel  128  maltsters,  the  number  of  malt 
houses  being  191.  The  following  year  the  first  malt  tax  was  levied  in  Ireland, 
Id.  per  bushel,  with  the  result  that  the  consumption  of  beer  declined  and 
spirits  increased.  A  considerable  amount  of  whiskey  was  distilled  by 
Thomas  Morton,  James  Daniel,  David  Malcomson  and  others,  and  sold  at  the 
price  of  3s.  4d.  a  gallon,  the  duty  being  only  is.  4J4d.  The  state  of  the 
brewing  industry  may  be  conjectured  from  such  advertisements  in  the  local 
newspapers  as  "Just  landed  at  Michael  Luther's  Stores  oh  the  Quay,  Clonmel, 
150  Tierces  best  London  porter  which  he  will  sell  at  Waterford  prices  free  of 
charges,  17  March  1792  "  (wj.  Ehiring  the  years  1791-1794  the  decline  in 
brewing  and  the  excessive  use  of  low-priced  spirituous  liquors,  were  much 
discussed  in  the  Irish  parliament,  and  at  length  a  resolution  was  come  to 
withdrawing  the  tax  on  beer.  The  effects  were  immediately  felt.  The 
following  year,  1795,  the  firm  of  Thomas  and  Samuel  Morton  began  the 
erection  of  the  brewery  and  stores  in  Morton  Street  (long  known  as  Brewery 
Lane)  on  a  scale  equal  to  the  Cork  and  Dublin  breweries.  They  were 
followed  three  years  later  by  Messrs.  Greer  and  Murphy  in  Dowd's  Lane  and 
Nelson  Street,  where  the  industry  carried  on  by  the  representatives  of  the 
family,  still  flourishes  after  the  lapse  of  a  century. 

Many  of  the  Clonmel  business  folk  at  this  period  accumulated  consider- 
able fortunes,  and  their  families  passed  into  the  ranks  of  the  county  gentry 
and  thus  became  permanently  associated  with  the  locality.  The  following, 
being  the  earliest  list  of  the  traders  of  the  town,  may  be  therefore  of  sulSicient 
interest  for  insertion  here. 

(ss)  Tour  II.,  p.  65. 

(tt)  Ibid  I.,  p.  299.  In  June,  1763,  William  Perry  of  Woodroff  sold  John  Ferris  of  Clonmel 
looi^  stones  of  wool  at  iis.  per  stone,  the  amount  being  ;f55o  i6s.  6d. 

(nu)  1766  Ap.  4— Pd.  the  miller  at  Abbey  for  grinding  2^  bar  malt  before  and  2  now  3s.  4d. 
Oct.  3— Pd.  Jos.  Kendrick  for  3  lb.  hops  at  2s.  8d. — 8s.— Perry  Papers. 

(VI*)  Clonmel  Gazette. 


History  of  Clonmel,  133 

Directory  of  Clonmell,  1787  (wwJ. 

Bankers,  William  &  Phineas  Riall,  their  hours  of  attendance  from  10  to  2  o'clock. 

Their  holidays  Christmas  Easter  and  Whitsun  holidays  only. 
Bagwell  John  Esq,  proprietor  of  the  Mills  at  Marlfield  and  Corn  Merchant. 
Baldwin  James  Esq  proprietor  of  the  rape  mills  near  Clonmel. 
Behilly  Thomas,  grocer,  Main  Street. 
Bell  Henry  dealer  in  Spirits,  Hawk  Street. 

Boardman  Hannah,  clothier  and  worsted  manufacturer,  Irishtown. 
Bradford  Joseph,  Cutler  Main  Street. 
Brennock  Bartholomew,  chandler  &  soap  boiler,  Main  St. 
Brown  Catherine,  Mercer,  Main  St. 
Bryan  Denis,  Glover  hosier.  Main  St. 
Butler  John  Hardware  Merchant,  Main  St. 
Cantwell  Thomas,  victualler  &  tanner  Irishtown. 
Carey  Rev.  Richard,  free  school  Church  lane. 
Carey  William,  leather  Cutter  Main  St. 
Castell  John,  Tanner  Main  St. 
Chaytor  Thomas,  Boarding  School  Barrack  St. 

Close  Richard;  Linen  &  Woollen-draper  &  proprietor  of  bleach-green  Main  St. 
Cole  George,  Attorney  at  law  Church-lane. 
Collett  Francis,  Sadler  Hawke  St. 

„      John,  Grocer  &  tanner  Main  St. 

„      Benjamin,  druggist  &  apothecary  Main  St. 

„      Stephen,  Sadlier  cap  &  whip  maker    „ 

„      Robert,        „     Main  St. 
Collins  Edward,  Printer  &  Wine  Merchant  Barrack  St. 
Commin  Philip,  Merchant  dealer  in  hardware  &  ironmonger  Main  St. 
Commin  Richard,  Woollen  draper  Main  St. 
Constable  Robert,  Surgeon  &  apothecary  Barrack  St. 
Corbett  Mary,  Grocer  Main  St. 
Craven  J,  BaJcer  „ 

Crotty  John  Woollen  draper  Irish  Town. 
Daniel  James,  Clotheir  Abbey  St. 

„      John,  Shoemaker  &  leather  cutter  Main  St. 
Davis  Samuel,  Clotheir  Main  St. 

„      Richard,      „        Powerstown  near  Clonmel. 

„     Simon,  Shoe  maker  Hawk  St. 
Den  mead  Adam  &  Henry,  ironmonger  white  Smith  &  Auctioneers,  Hawk  St. 
Dillon  Walter,  Leather  cutter  Main  St. 
Dudley  &  Mason,  Hardware  merchants  Main  St. 

„       Jonathan,  M.D.  Barrack  St. 

„       Robert,  Miller  &  Corn  Merchant  Suir  Mills. 
Dumville  Henry,  Soap  boiler  &  Chandlier  Main  St 

„        John,  Grocer  &  Spirit  Merchant  Watergate  St. 
„        James,  Soap  boiler  &  Chandlier  Main  St. 
Dunn  Philip,  Coach  maker  Hawk  St. 
Dunn  Thomas,  turner  „ 

Dwyer  Edmund,  distiller  Suir  Island. 
„         Confectioner  Main  St. 

„     William,  Dealer  in  Spirits  Hawk  St. 
English  Edmond,  Attorney  at  Law  &  Notary  Public  Watergate  St. 
Fell  Richard,  Painter  &  Glazier  Main  St. 
Fennessy  Thomas,  Nursery  &  Seedsman  Irish  town. 
Fitzpatrick  Richard,  Brewer  Irish  town. 

(WW)  Small  8vo.,  the  imprint  unfortunately  wanting,  penes  J.  £.  Grubb,  Esq.,  Carrick-on-Suir. 


134  History  of  Clonmel. 

Fitzgerald  Richard,  Grocer  Main  St. 
Flood  Michael,  Apothecary       „ 
Godwin  Eliza,  Boarding  School  Meeting  House  Lane. 
Going  Stephen,  Chandlier  Irish  town. 
Gordon  Thomas,  Merchant  Brewer  tanner  Suir  Island. 
Gorman  William,  Grocer  Main  St. 
Green  George,  M.D.  „ 

.  Gregory  Robert,  White  Smith  Irish  town. 
Grubb  Joseph,  Merchant  &  Clothier  Barrack  St. 

„     Samuel,  Butter  &  Com  Merchant  Main  St. 

„    John  &  Joseph,  Grocers  Main  St. 

„     Thos.  &  Samuel,  Millers  &  Com  Merchants  Suir  Island. 

„     Grubb  &  Beeby,  Clothiers  &  Merchants  Main  St 

„     Sarah,  Miller  &  Com  dealer  Anner  Mills. 

„     George,  Clothier  Hawk  St. 
Hackett  Valentine,  Baker  Bridge  Lane. 
Harris  Richard,  M.D.  Obstich  Professor  Barrack  St. 
Harvey  John,  Sadler  Hawk  St. 

„       Theophilus,  Boot  &  Shoe  Maker  Hawk  St. 
Hayman  Rebecca,  Grocer  Main  St* 

„         Samuel,  Attorney  at  law  &  Notary  Public  Church  Lane. 
Hayden  Thomas,  tanner  Irishtown 
Hickman  Wray,  Clothier  Abbey  St. 
Hill  John,  Silver  Smith  Barrack  St.. 
Hines  Francis,  Pewterer  &  Brass  founder  Main  St. 
Holliday  Mary,  Milliner  Main  St. 
Hope  Thomas,  Slater  Hawk  St. 
Howell  Edward  &  John,  Millers  &  Corn  Merchants  Corporations  Mills  Suir  Island. 

„       Edward,  Sadler,  Main  St. 
Hynes  Peter,  Boot  &  Shoe  maker  Main  St. 
Jones  Richard,  Clothier  &  tanner  Suir  Island. 
Kearney  Michael,  Ironmonger  Main  St. 

„         Elinor,  Grocer  Main  St. 

„        Andrew,  Baker       „ 

„        Catherine,  Grocer    „ 
Keating  Walter,  Grocer  Ironmonger  Main  St. 

„        John,  Baker  Hawke  St. 
Kelly  Wm,  Linen  &  Woollen  draper  Main  St. 
Kendrick  Joseph,  Grocer  Main  St. 
Kelly  John,  Spirit  merchant  &  porter  rQom  Main  St. 
Kennedy  Ralph,  Sadler  &  Cap  Maker  Main  St. 
Keily  Patrick,  tanner  Irish  town. 
Keily  John,  Linen  draper  Main  St. 

„     Jeremiah,  Soap  Boiler  &  chandlier  Main  St. 
Kingdom  Wm,  Clothier  Hawke  St. 
Leary  Ann,  Boot  &  Shoe  maker  Main  St. 
Lee  Arthur,  Surveyor  of  excise  Church  Lane. 
Legg  John,  Boot  &  Shoe  maker  Hawke  St. 
Lester  George  &  Richard,  Painters  &  Glaziers  Hawke  St. 
Lewis  Michael,  Sadlier  &  bridle  cutter  Main  St. 
Lloyd  Mary,  Mercer  Main  St. 
Lonergan  Stephen,  Grocer  „ 
Lowe  Philip,  Vintner  Bear  Inn  Main  St. 
Lord  Thomas,  Printer  Market  St. 
Lucas  Thomas,  Surgeon  &  Apothecary  Barrack  St. 
McCheane  Jeremiah,  Weigh  master  &  Butter  merchant  quay. 

Mary,  Grocer  Irishtown. 
McKenna  Edmond,  Wine  Merchant  Main  St. 


History  of  Clonmel.  135 

Malone  James,  Woollen  Draper  &  tobacco-nist  Main  St. 
Morgan  Philip,  Gun  Maker  Main  St. 
Morton  Thomas,  distiller  Barrack  St. 

„      James,  Miller  &  Com  Merchant  Bridge. 
Murphy  John,  Soap  Boiler  &  tobacconists  Main  St. 

„        Bridget,  Linen  draper  haberdasher  Main  St. 

„        Thomas,  Grocer  Main  St. 

„        Francis,  Boot  &  Shoe  maker  Main  St. 
Neagle  Patrick,  Surgeon  Main  St. 
O'Neill  Cornelius,  Grocer  &  linen  draper  Main  St. 
Pearson  William,  Attorney  at  law  Barrack  Street. 
Pedder  Benjamin,  Clothier  &  dyer  Main  St. 
Phelan  James,  Linen  &  Woollen  draper  Main  St. 
Quin  John,  hardware  Barrack  St. 
Rigg  Samuel,  tanner  Irishtown. 
Rivers  Richard,  Merchant  Brewer  and  tanner  Main  St. 
Rodolphus  Rumbold,  Auctioneer  Church  Lane. 
Ryan  Widon  &  Son,  Vintners  Globe  Inn  and  livery  stables  East  gate. 
Ryan  Cavan,  linen  draper  Main  Street. 
Ryan  Eliza,  linen  draper  Main  street. 
Sargent  Richard,  clothier  Irishtown. 

Shaw  Thomas,  woolen  draper  timber  merchant  and  postmaster  office  Main  Street. 
Shaw  Moses,  grocer  Bridge  Lane. 
Sparrow  Simmons,  corn  merchant  Suir  Island. 
Stockdale  and  Malcomson,  linen  drapers  and  grocers,  Main  Street. 
Taylor  John,  hosier  and  linen  draper  Main  Street 
Taylor  Thomas,  corn  merchant  Irishtown. 
Taylor  Samuel,  Baker  and  grocer  Main  Street. 
Taylor  William,  woolen  draper  and  Taylor  Irishtown. 
Thompson  William,  goldsmith  and  watchmaker  Barrack  Street. 
Thompson  John,  leather  cutter  Irishtown. 
Vaughan  John,  Staffordshire  warehouse  Watergate  St. 
Villers  Robert,  grocer  Main  Street. 

Wallace  John,  clerk  and  receiver  of  customs  and  excise  office  Watergate  St. 
Wall  John,  glass  and  china  man  Main  Street. 
Walsh  Michael,  grocer  Main  Street. 
Walsh  Elinor,  haberdasher  Main  Street. 
Walsh  David,  white  smith  Hawk  St. 
Weston  Thomas,  attorney-at-law  Watergate  Street. 
Weston  John,  salt  and  lime  works  Raheen  near  Clonmel. 
White  Henry,  haberdasher  Main  Street. 
White  James,  haberdasher  and  merchant  Main  Street. 
White  Agnes,  Tobacconist  Irishtown. 
Whitton  Elizabeth,  tallow  chandler  Irishtown. 
Wilkinson  Robert,  sadler  Main  Street. 
Wood  Joseph,  merchant  Main  Street. 
Wood  Josiah,  corn  merchant  Main  Street. 
Airy  Phineas,  gent.  East  gate  near  Clonmel. 


CLONMEL  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  (Continued). 

JF  the  picture  of  Clonniel  in  the  eighteenth  century,  growing  in  trade 
and  population,  is  a  pleasing  one,  there  were  certain  aspects  of  social 
and  municipal  life  which  are  not  pleasant  to  contemplate  nor  easy 
to  write  about  dispassionately.  The  penal  code  has  not  yet  had  an 
historian  ;  perhaps  its  very  atrocity  and  preterhuman  completeness  of  cruel 
detail,  have  given  rise  to  the  assumption  that  it  never  found  its  way  outside 
the  statute  book  (xx).  Unfortunately,  however,  the  slightest  original  research 
among  the  records  of  the  time — property  evidences,  documents  connected 
with  the  civil  administration,  domestic  correspondence — reveals  not  merely 
its  multiplex  operations,  but  discovers  everywhere  the  spirit  of  which  it  was 
only  the  legal  embodiment.  And  therefore,  as  will  be  observed,  the  local 
authorities  so  far  from  mitigating  the  rigours  of  the  code,  often  gave  it  a 
special  force  and  edge  in  the  execution. 

In  1697  the  Act  of  William  IIL,  c.  26,  was  passed.  By  section  I,  all  popish 
archbishops,  bishops,  vicars,  deans,  Jesuits,  monks  and  friars  were  ordered  out 
of  the  kingdom  by  1st  of  May,  1698.  Section  2  forbade  anyone  harbouring  or 
concealing  them  under  a  penalty  of  £20  for  the  first  offence.  If  convicted  a  third 
time  the  penalty  was  forfeiture  of  all  goods  and  chattels  and  of  freehold  estate 
for  life.  Proclamation  was  made  forthwith.  In  vain,  however ;  few  if  any 
departed,  and  so  the  Catholic  bishop  of  Waterford,  Dr.  Pierce,  together  with  the 


(xx)  The  best  account  of  the  Penal  Laws  in  their  operation,  is  to  be  found  in  Lecky's  Ireland  in 
the  1 8th  Century.  But  one  chapter  in  a  four  volume  book  is  quite  disproportionate.  The 
Croniwellian  Settlement  and  the  Penal  Code  have  shaped  the  whole  course  of  Irish  history  in 
modern  limes. 


History  of  Clonmel.  157 

regular  clergy  were  all  seized  and  imprisoned  in  Waterford  gaol.  There  they 
were  kept  for  more  than  a  year  pending  their  transportation  as  provided  by 
statute.  In  1698  shipping  was  obtained  and  twenty-six  were  put  on  board 
for  France.    It  was  high  treason  to  return,  but — 

Quid  leges,  sine  moribus 

Vanse  proficiunt  ? 
Benedict  Sail,   Francis    Doyle  and  others,   we  learn  from  the  Franciscan 
records,  were  a  few  years  later,  again  in  Clonmel. 

Meanwhile  certain  persons  were  noticed  in  the  country,  strongly 
suspected  to  be  Jesuits,  regular  priests  and  agents  of  the  Pretender — so 
correspondents  reported  to  Secretaries  Southwell  and  Dawson.  Accordingly 
Parliament  set  to  work  again.  "  Whereas  two  acts  lately  made  for  banishing 
all  regulars  of  the  popish  clergy  out  of  this  kingdom  and  to  prevent  popish 
priests  from  coming  into  the  same,  maybe  wholly  eluded  unless  the 
government  be  truly  informed  of  the  number  of  such  dangerous  persons  as 
still  remain  among  us  for  remedy  whereof  be  it  enacted,"  etc.  Priests  were 
to  repair  to  the  next  quarter  sessions  of  the  peace  to  be  held  in  their  several 
counties,  and  there  furnish  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown  with  such  particulars  of 
their  age,  abode,  place  of  ordination  and  the  like  as  would  enable  them  to  be 
subsequently  identified.  Pursuant  to  the  Act,  at  the  quarter  sessions  for 
Tipperary  held  at  Nenagh,  nth  July,  1704,  a  register  of  the  priests  of  the 
county,  sixty-two  in  number,  was  made.  In  that  list  were  Edward  Comerford, 
Doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  Dr.  Tonnery,  the  parish  priest  of  Clonmel — men 
who  had  defended  theses  and  carried  off  the  highest  honours  at  foreign 
universities — or  others  of  ancient  lineage  as  James  Butler  of  the  Ormond 
family,  parish  priest  of  Kilcash,  and  Eustace  Brown  of  Emly,  kinsman  of 
Lord  Kenmare.  Or  again,  Luke  White,  son  of  John  White,  Mayor  of  Clonmel 
during  the  Cromwellian  siege,  who  having  eaten  the  bitter  bread  of  exile 
fifty  years  before,  might  now  in  his  last  days  have  been  left  in  peace  (yy). 
The  sinister  object  of  the  statute  came  out  five  years  later.  The  Act  8  Ann, 
cap.  3,  sect.  23,  enacted  "  All  popish  priests  who  have  been  registered  in 
pursuance  of  the  former  act/^r  registering  the  popish  clergy  shall  take  the  oath 
of  abjuration  before  the  25th  day  of  March,  1710,  in  one  of  the  four  courts  at 
Dublin,  or  at  some  quarter  sessions  when  such  popish  priests  have  been 
registered,  and  upon  neglect  or  refusal,  and  after  the  25th  day  of  March 
celebrating  mass  or  olfficiating  as  a  popish  priest,  such  popish  priest  shall 
incur  such  penalties  as  a  popish  regular  clergyman  convict  by  the  laws  of 


(yy)  A  List  of  the  Names  of  the  Popish  Priests,  &c.     Dubh'n  :  Printed  by  .Andrew  Crook, 
Printer  to  the  Queen's  Most  Excellent  Majesty,  1705. 


138  History  of  Clonmel. 

this  realm  is  liable  unto."  The  priests  had  now  three  alternatives — to  desert 
their  flocks  and  flee  the  country,  to  abjure  their  faith,  or  lastly,  to  face  the 
penalties  of  high  treason.  They  chose  the  third  course.  Forthwith  in 
company  with  the  hunted  sons  of  the  former  Irish  landowners,  they  were 
proclaimed  at  the  assizes  tories  and  rebels  out  upon  their  keeping,  or  again 
rewards  were  offered  for  their  apprehension  ranging  from  £50  to '  £20 
according  to  their  ecclesiastical  status.  But  though  the  degraded  Parliament 
resolved  that  "the  prosecuting  and  informing  against  papists  was  an 
honourable  service,"  (zz)  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  friendly  Protestants  of  the 
neighbourhood  that  no  one  would  inform.  A  professional  spy  soon  arrived 
in  the  town. 

Clonmell  ye  loth  of  Jany  1712. 

May  it  please  yr  Excellencies. 

I  have  been  disappointed  in  serving  ye  Govmt  in  ye  County  of  Wexford  by  ye  ill 
management  of  some  of  ye  Justices  of  ye  Peace  there  as  it  shall  appeare  before  yr 
Excellencies  in  Council  in  a  very  short  time ;  in  ye  meane  time  there  is  extraordinary 
good  service  to  be  done  in  this  towne  by  takeing  of  severall  persons  of  greate  note  of 
ye  Popish  clergy  lately  come  from  France  and  Rome,  more  particular  Thomas  Ennis 
[Rev.  Thomas  Hennessy,  S.J.]  who  goes  under  the  name  of  a  Popish  bishop, :  he  acts 
here  after  the  Rules  of  a  Cardinal! :  on  the  sixth  of  this  inst.  called  twelfth  day,  he  was 
in  a  Bishops  habit  with  a  mighter  [mitre]  upon  his  head  and  all  other  extream  rich 
Robes  belonging  to  that  order,  he  celebrated  high  mass  in  ye  Mass  house  without  the 
West  gate  of  this  towne,  where  he  had  a  vast  company  of  people  which  showed 
him  as  much  Reverence  as  if  he  had  been  ye  Pope  by  kissing  his  hands,  and  ye 
very  ground  whereon  he  trod,  all  which  I  was  an  eye  witness  off.  There  is  another 
person  here  who  takes  upon  him  ye  title  of  a  Bishop,  he  goes  by  ye  name  of  Mr. 
Bourk  but  his  right  name  is  Salt,  [Rev.  B.  Sail,  O.S.F.]  There  is  also  another  whose 
name  is  Father  Adams,  he  is  turned  father  Confessor  in  particular  to  ye  women 
and  is  manageing  a  way  to  put  upp  a  private  Nunnery,  all  those  I  have  seen 
officiate.  I  must  take  leave  to  assure  yr  Excellencies  they  are  very  dangerous 
persons.  Thomas  Ennis  has  of  late  years  been  a  great  spy  in  ye  Court  of  England, 
They  all  go  by  contrary  names :  one  them  is  ye  Titulate  bishop  of  Derry  who  has 
been  already  taken  by  the  Lords  Justices  and  Council  but  was  Rescued  out  of  ye 
Custody  of  Capt  Mfchael  Cole  as  his  Grace  ye  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and  Mr.  Justice 
Cook  can  inform  yr  Excellencies,  and  give  better  satisfaction  of  the  truth  hereof. 
I  think  it  fitt  to  give  you  the  names  of  the  persons  who  entertains  them  privately 
in  their  howses  viz.  Richard  Stritch  and  Patrick  Morony  Merchts,  James  Sherlocke 
apothecary  and  one  Tonory,  these  are  ye  persons  who  entertains  them  and  in  whose 
howses  their  goods  and  papers  are  now  concealed.  I  also  think  it  requisite  to  give 
yr  Excellencies  an  Account  of  severall  of  ye  persons  who  have  heard  and  saw  them 
Officiate  as  aforesaid,  viz.  Thomas  Pursell,  Francis  Morony,  Nicholas  White,  Michael 
Davan  Merchts,  John  Maugher,  William  Morony,  Patrick  ffitz  Patrick,  James 
Sherlock  apothecary,  Richard  Stritch  and  Patrick  Morony  Merchants,  James  Tonnory, 
these  are  ye  names  of  ye  most  materiall  persons  who  to  my  certaine  knowledge,  have 
been  hearing  them.  I  desire  they  may  (if  yr  Excellencies  thinks  fitt)  be  examined  upon 
Oath  of  what  they  knowe  concerning  ye  persons  aforesaid.  I  am  credibly  informed 
there  are  some  Protestants  in  this  town  who  are  largely  bribed  by  those  disaffected 
persons  iFor  winking  at  their  actions.    I  have  this  night  been  in  private  with  Major 


(zz)  Commons  Journal  III.,  p.  319. 


History  of  Clonmel.  139 

Cuthbcrt  Wilkinson  Collector  of  Clonmell,  with  whom  I  advised  concerning  this  matter, 
his  advice  to  me  was  to  apply  myself  to  yr  Excellencies  for  an  order  not  only  to  ye 
Civill  magestrates  but  alsoe  to  ye  Commanding  officer  of  ye  troops  of  this  Barracks, 
to  take  with  him  as  many  men  as  maybe  sufficient  for  apprehending  these  men 
without  which  (ther^e  being  so  vast  a  number  of  Popish  mobb  in  this  towne)  it 
cannot  possibly  be  done:  and  withall  humbly  begg  (if  yr  Excellencies  thinks 
convenient)  to  mention  particularly  in  that  order  Thomas  Batty  and  Robert  Hamerton 
Esquires  Justices  of  ye  Peace  for  this  County  to  act  in  this  affair  as  yr  Excellencies 
shall  thinke  fitt,  and  that  the  order  and  letters  maybe  enclosed  to  ye  Collector  who 
is  a  Gentleman  that  I  find  would  be  very  ready  to  serve  ye  Government  if  he  were 
in  Commission  of  Peace  and  I  humbly  desire  that  no  letter  or  order  may  be  writt 
directly  to  ye  Mayor  of  ye  Town,  or  to  any  other  person  except  those  who  are 
nominated  above  for  some  good  reasons  which  shall  hereafter  appeare  before  yr 
Excellencies  and  in  so  doing  I  doubt  not  but  ye  service  will  be  compleated  to  yr 
Excellencies  satisfaction.  I  humbly  beg  there  may  be  directions  given  that  I  may 
be  safely  protected  in  ye  Execution  hereof,  or  otherwise  I  shall  be  knoct  in  ye  head. 
I  would  have  directed  this  to  yr  Excellencies  but  fearing  there  should  be  any 
notice  taken  thereof  in  ye  Post  Office  here,  have  given  it  to  Major  Wilkinson  to 
mclose  to  Sir  Thomas  Southwell.  I  must  further  beg  leave  to  acquaint  yr  Excellencies 
that  there  is  great  disorder  on  foot  in  this  town  I  am  afraid  to  explain  myself  fully 
before  1  can  before  yr  Excellencies.  Had  I  any  person  here  who  is  a  stranger  in  this  place 
in  whom  I  could  trust,  I  could  putt  him  in  a  way  to  see  those  people  Officiating  in  their 
habits  for  there  is  no  one  here  I  dare  have  discovered  my  self  and  design  to,  but  ye 
Collector  and  one  Richard  Scott  who  is  officer  of  Excise  in  ye  town  of  Clonmel,  who 
makes  it  his  business  in  his  walk  to  take  a  vew  of  those  people  as  well  as  ye  howses 
wherein  they  lodge.  I  humbly  beg  when  they  are  apprehended  that  they  may  not  be 
allowed  to  have  any  conference  with  each  other.  I  alsoe  humbly  beg  (if  yr  Excellencies 
thinks  fitt  to  write  to  ye  Mayor  of  ye  town)  that  it  may  be  enclosed  to  ye  Collector  with 
order  not  to  be  delivered  to  ye  Mayor  till  I  think  fitt.  With  all  humility  and  obedience 
I  beg  leave  to  subscribe  my  selfe  yr  Excellencies  most  obedient  humble  servt. 

Edv^tard  Tyrrell  (a). 

By  the  same  post  Tyrrell  sent  a  letter  to  the  Protestant  Archbishop  of 
Dublin.  "  I  have  writt  to  their  Excellencies  ye  Lords  Just,  under  a  cover  in 
Major  Cutberth  Wilkinsons  packett,  Collector  of  Clonmell,  directed  to  Sir 
Thomas  Southwell,  wherein  I  have  given  them  an  account  at  large  of  a 
Cardinall  that  now  is  in  this  towne  from  ye  Pope  lately  come  over  as  also 
of  some  other  Bishops  and  Popish  clergy  that  are  now  in  private  meetings 
and  among  them  there  is  ye  titulate  Popish  Bishop  of  Derry  whose  name  is 
Edmund  Cane  but  goes  here  by  ye  name  of  Addams.  I  doe  remember  that 
yr  Grace  was  in  ye  Councill  about  three  years  agoe,  when  an  order  passed 
for  apprehending  ye  said  Cane  and  directions  being  sent  to  Capt.  Michael 
Cole  Justice  of  Peace  in  this  county  who  apprehended  ye  said  Cane  but  was 
Rescued  from  ye  said  Justice,  in  short  I  must  assure  yr  Grace  there  is  about 
nine  hundred  of  those  sort  of  persons  landed  in  this  kingdom  what  without 
doubt  is  not  come  upon  any  good  design  "  (b). 


(a)  Endorsed  To  their  Excellencies  ye  Lds  Justices  of  Ireland.— Civil  Correspondence,  Miscell- 
aneous, P.R.O.  Dublin. 

(b)  Ibidem. 


140  History  of  Clonmel. 

Wilkinson  probably  soon  found  that  in  his  effort  to  obtain  the 
Commission  of  the  Peace,  Tyrrell  could  be  of  little  assistance.  The  issue  of 
the  matter  we  learn  therefore  from  the  following  : — 

Clonmel  January  21,  1712. 

Sir— I  receaved  yours  of  the  17th.  By  direction  of  theyr  Excellencies  ye  Lords 
Justices  and  Councell  and  inclosed  in  it  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Edward  Tyrrell  to  theyr 
Excellencies  ye  lOth  instant  from  this  town  setting  forth  he  could  discover  severall 
Popish  Bishops  and  Regulars  that  were  then  in  Clonmell.  Pursuant  to  directions,  on 
receipt  of  the  Letter  I  immediately  inquired  of  Major  Wilkinson,  ye  Collector,  and  Mr. 
Scott,  the  Excise  officer,  what  they  knew  of  this  matter  and  finde  Tyrell^  was  in  this 
town  for  a  boute  a  fortnight  until  last  Saturday  having  notice  given  him  by  Major 
Wilkinson  that  he  was  advised  not  to  have  any  further  commerce  with  him,  he 
immediately  went  out  of  this  town  as  he  pretended  towards  Corke  which  is  all  I  can 
hear  of  this  matter  only  that  from  a  greater  concours  of  papists  then  usuall,  resorting 
this  town  of  late,  I  believe  there  have  been  some  such  persons  here  of  the  Romish  Clergy 
as  above  mentioned.  But  for  the  present  I  think  they  are  dispersed,  not  from  any 
apprehension  of  being  discovered  by  Tyrell  but  severall  of  the  chief  of  the  papist 
inhabitants  of  this  town  happening  att  this  time  to  be  summoned  to  take  the  oathes, 
theyr  clergy  have  taken  ye  alarme  and  are  absconded. 

I  am  Sir 

Your  most  humble  servt, 

Tho.  Batty  ^cA 

The  priest  hunting  continued  at  intervals  through  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  It  was  particularly  active  about  1715  and  1745,  when  the 
Hanoverian  succession  was  threatened  by  the  Jacobites.  Early  in  1714 
reports  began  to  reach  the  Executive  that  the  magistrates  of  Tipperary  were 
not  as  efficient  as  they  might  be,  in  executing  the  popery  laws.  The  Chief 
Secretary,  Dawson,  complained  to  the  High  Sheriflf,  John  White.  White 
wrote  from  Cappagh  2nd  June,  1714. 

Inclosed  I  send  you  a  letter  which  I  received  from  severall  of  the  Justices  of 
the  peace  of  this  county,  which  they  desired  may  be  layd  before  their  Excellencies 
the  Lords  Justices,  with  full  assurance  that  they  will  strictly  putt  the  laws  in 
Execution  against  all  Popish  priests  and  all  other  persons  whatsoever  who  shall 
refuse  to  abjure  the  pretender  and  will  not  be  ameanable  to  the  laws.  I  persume  I  may 
in  a  short  time  give  their  Excellencies  a  good  account  of  the  proceedings  of  all  the 
Justices  of  the  peace  of  this  County,  most  of  whom  have  assured  me  that  they  will  in 
their  respective  Barronys,  putt  the  laws  in  Execution  according  to  their  Excellencies 
Directions,  against  all  persons  obnoxious  to  the  laws  (d). 

Nine  days  later  the  justices  met  at  Cashel  in  long  consultation,  and 
White  assured  Dawson  the  best  results  would  follow  from  the  meeting  (c). 
And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word. 

Tipperary  June  23,  1714. 

Sir — In  obedience  to  the  directions  which  we  received  from  his  Grace  the  Duke  of 
Shrewsbury  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the  Kingdom  and  Counsel!  by  their  letter  of  the  28 

(c)  Endorsed  to  James  Dawson  Esqr,  att  her  Maties  Castle,  Dublin. — Civil  Correspondence,  4  Q 
II,  i,P.RA 

(d)  Civil  Correspondence  P.R.O. 

(c)  White  to  Dawson,  Cappagh,  12th  June,  17 14— Ibid. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i4i 

of  May  last,  we  summoned  the  principal  popish  inhabitants  of  the  Barony  of  Clanwilliam 
td  appear  before  us  at  Tipperary  on  the  22  inst.  on  purpose  to  inquire  into  the  matter 
contained  in  the  said  letter,  but  our  summons  not  being  regarded  by  them,  we  were  forct 
to  have  recourse  for  information  to  the  meaner  sort  of  people  by  whom  we  found  that 
Thomas  Grace  and  David  Hedderman  popish  priests  (and  not  qualified  by  law  to 
exercise  their  function)  have  of  late  Sellebrated  Mass  in  the  Parishes  of  Tipperary, 
Latten  and  Six)nell,  for  which  we  issued  warrants  against  them.  As  to  the  other  matter 
which  we  were  directed  to  inquire  into,  we  cant  yet  receive  satisfactory  information  by 
reason  that  those  who  are  privie  to  them,  refuse  to  appear  to  give  information  concerning 
them  but  we  desire  you  will  assure  their  Excellencies  the  Lords  Justices,  that  we  will 
use  all  proper  means  to  discover  whatsoever  has  been  practiced  to  preiudice  her  Matie 
and  the  peace  of  her  kingdom.  We  must  observe  to  you,  that  we  summoned  some  new 
converts  whose  conduct  and  behaviour  gave  us  grounds  to  feare  they  were  not  sincere 
Protestants,  with  purpose  to  tender  the.  abjuration  oath  but  they  also  refused  to  appear, 
for  which  reason  we  have  Issud  warrants  against  them.  We  purpose  soon  to  meet 
again  on  this  occasion  and  you  shall  be  informed  of  our  proceedings  that  you  may  give 
their  Excellencies  account  of  the  same. 

We  are  Sir,  Your  humble  servants 

Jas  DAV\rsoN 
loNA  Ashe 
William  Barker 

MATHEV\r  BUNBURY^/y. 

After  the  Jacobite  collapse  of  171 5,  the  priests  for  some  years  enjoyed 
comparative  peace.  One  of  the  two  in  Clonmel,  a  Jesuit  named  Gorman, 
wrote  in  1725  .— "  Father  Hennessy  and  I  have  charge  of  the  whole  of  Clonmel 
and  its  neighbourhood  for  a  league  out.  We  have  to  attend  sick  calls 
constantly  by  day  and  often  by  night.  We  instruct,  each  of  us,  after  the 
Gospel  of  his  Mass  on  all  Sundays  and  holidays,  and  we  chant  vespers  in  our 
own  fashion,  after  which  we  expound  the  Christian  doctrine ;  and  it  does  us 
good  to  see  how  eagerly  the  people  attend.  I  can  say  with  truth  that  as  I 
write,  there  are  eight  Catholics  in  this  district  to  one  heretic.  With  all  our 
labours  and  sufferings  we  have  excellent  health,  thank  Grod,  and  are  not 
wanting  in  the  necessaries  of  life.  At  the  end  of  this  month  Parliament  will 
meet  and  only  God  knows  what  will  becorhe  of  us,  but  His  holy  will  be 
done'V^A  Sometimes  however  as  when  word  went  abroad  that  a  Protestant 
had  changed  his  religion  and  become  Catholic,  there  was  an  outburst  (h). 

County  of  Tipperary  to  wit.  At  a  General  Assizes  and  General  Gaol  Delivery  held 
at  Qonmel  in  and  for  the  County  of  Tipperary  the  16  day  of  March  1750. 

We  the  Grand  Jury  at  said  Assizes  in  lawful  manner  Sworn  and  charged.  Present 
John  Hally  late  of  Killerke  in  the  County  of  Tipperary,  popish  priest,  who  stands 

(f)  Civil  Correspondence  P.R.O. 

(g)  Spanish  Original,  Rev.  Thomas  Gorman  to  Rev.  John  Harrison,  Clonmel,  13th  August^  1725— 
Archives,  Irish  College,  Salamanca. 

(h)  "  If  any  persons  shall  seduce  persuade  or  procure  any  person  that  shall  profess  the  Protestant 
religion  to  forsake  the  same,  and  to  profess  the  popish  religion,  or  reconcile  them  to  thu  church  of 
Rome,  persons  so  seducing  as  also  every  Protestant  who  shall  be  so  perverted  and  reconciled  to 
Popery  shall  for  the  said  offences  being  thereof  convicted  incur  the  penalty  oi  premunire,  2  Ann, 
c.  6,  s.  I. 


142  History  of  Clonmel, 

indicted  as  of  record  remaining  in  the  Crown  Office  of  said  County,  for  that  he 
contemptuously  and  unlawfully  did  endeavour  to  seduce  and  pervert  Charles  Moore,  a 
professed  Protestant  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  as  by  Law  established,  from  his  said 
profession,  and  Excite  and  abett  him,  the  said  Charles  Moore,  to  receive  and  embrace  the 
form  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  for  which  he  hath  not  yet  received  Tryal, 
as  b)^  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown  certified  to  be  a  Torie,  robber  and  rapparee  of  the  popish 
religion,  out  in  Arms,  and  on  his  keeping  and  not  ameanable  to  Law,  and  we  pray 
your  Lordships  he  may  be  represented  as  such  to  their  Excellencies  the  Lords  Justices 
and  Council  of  this  kingdom  to  be  forthwith  proclaimed. 

Thomas  Maude,  Danl.  Gahan,  Jonathan  Lovett,  Stephen  Moore,  U.  Barker,  Hugh 
Massey,  Kingsmell  Pennefather,  John  Roe,  Math.  Bunbury,  Francis  Sadleir,  Thomas 
Luther,  Francis  Despard,  Richard  Pennefather,  Samuel  Waller,  Phanuell  Cooke, 
Minchin  Carden,  John  Lapp  Judkin,  John  Jephson,  William  Pennefather,  Laurence 
Clutterbuck,  John  Bayly,  Tho.  Damer,  Nathaniel  Taylor  (i). 

If  the  clergy  were  regarded  as  vermin  and  hunted  as  such,  the  penal  code 
attacked  the  Catholic  laity  with  perhaps  still  greater  ferocity.  For  at  the 
worst,  the  priest  was  only  put  in  prison  or  transported,  but  the  unhappy 
layman  was  pauperized  and  degraded.  He  could  not  farm  land,  for  his 
interest  in  it  could  not  go  beyond  thirty-one  years  fj),  neither  could  he  trade, 
for  his  merchandize  was  taxed  by  tolls  and  guild  dues  from  which  his 
Protestant  neighbour  was  free  (k).  If  he  had  money,  he  could  not  lend  it  on 
mortgage  or  buy  property,  for  then  the  first  Protestant — scheming  attorney 
or  other — who  discovered  the  transaction,  filed  a  bill  in  chancery  and 
claimed  the  whole  (IJ.  Had  he  children,  he  could  not  educate  them  at  home, 
for  the  popish  schoolmaster  was  on  the  same  footing  as  the  popish  priest  (m), 
nor  abroad,  under  penalty  of  outlawry  and  forfeiture  of  his  goods  and 
chattels  fn) ;  and  if  he  died  leaving  them  minors,  the  Court  appointed 
Protestant  guardians  who  brought  them  up  to  hate  his  creed  foj. 

The  few  Catholic  gentlemen  who  survived  the  Cromwellian  and 
Williamite  confiscations  were  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  law.  Socially 
ostracized,  they  were  denied  even  the  solace  of  outdoor  sport.  They  could 
not  hunt,  for  any  Protestant  who  discovered  them  in  possession  of  a  horse 
above  the  value  of  £5,  tendered  that  sum,  mounted  the  horse  and  rode 
away  fpj.  They  could  not  shoot,  for  they  were  disarmed  themselves,  and 
neither  Protestant  servant  nor  Protestant  neighbour  could  keep  arms  for  them 
under  the  severest  penalties  (g).  A  few,  indeed,  by  special  grace  were 
privileged.    On  30th  March,  1 705,  Col.  Thomas  Butler  of  Kilcash,  Thomas 


(ij  I  doe  hereby  certify  that  the  above  Original  Presentment  was  made  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  the 
County  of  Tipperary  at  the  Assizes  and  General  Gaol  Delivery  held  at  Clonmel  in  and  for  the  County 
of  Tipperary  the  16  day  of  March  1750  which  I  certifyc  the  22  day  of  April  1751 — John 
Quinlan,  D.C. — Presentments,  Co.  Tipperary,  P.R.O. 

(j)  2  Ann,  Cap.  6,  sect.  8. 

(kj  Municipal  by-laws,  e.g.  Clonmel  1713,  itifra. 

(I)  8  Ann,  cap.  3,  sees.  28  and  31.    Also  Howard's  Cases,  p.  294,  etc. 

fmj  7  William  III.,  cap.  4,  sec.  9.     8  Ann,  cap.  4.  sec.  16. 

(n)  7  William  III.,  cap.  4,  sec.  i.  fp)  7  Wm.  III.,  cap.  5,  sec.  9. 

(0)  2  Ann,  c,  6,  s.  5.  (qj  7  Wm.  III.,  cap.  5,  sec.  3. 


History  of  Clonmel.  145 

Dwyer  of  Bellacomnisk,  John  Kennedy  of  Polenonnan,  Nicholas  Purcell  of 
Loughmoe,  and  Thomas  Travers  of  Burgess,  were  licensed  to  carry  a  gun,  a 
case  of  pistols  and  a  sword.  Eight  years  later  James  Hakett  of  Lisvea, 
Michael  Kearney  of  Clonbroganlin,  Denis  Meagher  of  Cloneen,  Nicholas 
Morris  of  Latteragh,  and  John  Ryan  of  Inch  were  added  to  the  list.  But 
some  were  too  dangerous  (to  their  bigoted  neighbours  perhaps)  to  be  entrusted 
with  guns.  Col.  James  Butler  of  Kilmoyler,  Charles  McCarthy  of  Rehill, 
George  Mathew  of  Thurles,  and  George  Mathew  of  Thomastown,  had 
permission  to  wear  a  sword  merely  (r).  Even  with  those  privileged,  the 
licence  was  occasionally  suspended.  By  proclamation  of  August  7th,  1714, 
they  were  ordered  to  surrender  their  arms  to  the  nearest  Justice  of  Peace, 
John  White,  High  Sheriff  of  Tipperary,  writes  that  he  has  distributed  the 
proclamations  to  the  following  Tipperary  justices — James  Harrison,  Henry 
Pritty,  Thomas  Drysdale,  Charles  Langley,  Esqrs. ;  John  Hickey,  Clk. ; 
Mathew  Bumbury,  John  Creaghton,  William  Waller,  Richard  Lewis,  Edward 
Imens,  Oliver  Grace,  John  Carleton,  William  Latham,  John  Marshall,  Esqrs. ; 
the  Mayor  of  Clonmel  and  the  Sovereign  of  Fethard  (s).  What  must  have 
been  the  feelings  of  Colonel  Thomas  Butler  of  Kilcash,  grand-nephew  of  the 
great  Duke  of  Ormond,  as  he  handed  over  his  sword,  his  pistols  and  his  gun 
to  Richard  Whitehand,  the  Protestant  shoemaker  Mayor  of  Clonmel,  or  of 
George  Mathew  of  Thomastown,  who  in  desperation,  took  the  sacrament  in 
the  Established  Church  at  Grolden  to  save  his  horses  from  a  Protestant  trader 
who  one  day  in  William  Street,  Cashel,  tendered  the  legal  five  pounds  (t). 
No  wonder  if  some  such  as  Lord  Cahir  and  Sir  Redmond  Everard  fled  from 
the  scene  and  lived  and  died  in  voluntary  exile  abroad. 

Though  there  was  no  public  statute  excluding  the  Catholics  as  such,  from 
the  corporation,  yet  in  practice  from  the  Revolution  onward  they  ceased  to 
have  any  civic  rights.    But  they  did  not  go  do^n  without  a  struggle. 

Whereas  dififerences  have  arisen  between  Francis  Morony,  Derby  Fensy,  John 
Meagher,  Nicholas  Stritch,  Nicholas  Purcell  and  Michael  Davum  all  inhabitants  of  the 
town  of  Clonmel  in  the  behalf  of  themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  Roman  Catholicks  of 
the  said  Town  on  the  one  parte,  the  Mayor  and  bailiffs  of  the  said  Town  in  behalf  of 
themselves  and  the  common  Council  of  the  other  parte,  concerning  the  assessing, 
apploting  and  leavying  severall  sumes  of  money  from  the  said  Roman  Catholicks  in 
and  of  the  said  Town  under  pretence  or  colour  of  incidents  and  charges  for  reliefe,  and 
whereas  both  parties  under  a  Rule  of  the  Court  of  Regalities  of  Tipperary  submitted  to  the 
arbitration  of  us  the  undersigned,  Sir  Theobald  Butler  and  Nathaniel  Lucas  Counsellors 
at  Law,  it  appeared  vnto  us  that  the  present  dispute  was  concemeing  a  certain  sum  of 
money  to  be  raised  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town  of  Clonmel  in  generall  for 
purchaseing  from  his  grace  the  Duke  of  Ormond  a  lease  for  lives  renewable  for  ever  at  the 
rent  of  seaven  pounds  per  annum  and  a  yeares  rent  for  a  fine  for  each  renewall  of  a  peece 
of  ground  on  which  the  Barrackes  have  been  built  within  the  said  Towne  for  quartereing 


(r)  Proclamations  1705-17 13,  P.R.O. 

(s)  White  to  Dawson,  Cappagh,  loth  April,  1715 — P.R.O.  (t)  Local  tradition. 


144  History  of  Clonmel. 

souldiers  for  the  time  being  in  the  said  Town,  for  keeping  the  towne  clocke  and  for  the 
paing  for  the  judges  lodging  in  the  said  town  of  Clonmell  and  the  said  rent  and  fines 
for  renewall,  and  the  interest  for  the  amount  of  the  said  purchase  money  which  was 
borrowed,  and  it  appearing  to  us  that  the  said  Corporation  had  no  ground  of  theyre 
owne  within  the  said  town  that  they  could  give  for  building  the  said  barrackes  upon, 
and  that  the  building  thereof  keeping  the  said  Clocke  and  providing  lodgings  for  the 
Judges  as  hath  been  vsually  done  whether  for  the  safety,  convenience  and  advantage  of 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town  and  that  the  said  Roman  Catholick  inhabitants  of 
the  said  town  did  partake  of  the  benefitt  of  it,  yet  it  hath  not  appeared  to  us  that  there 
was  any  legall  authoritie  to  levey  the  same  without  consent,  and  all  the  said  parties  on 
both  sides  being  willing  to  have  the  said  money  raised,  the  same  being  for  the  generall 
good  of  the  said  town  so  as  the  same  might  be  equally  indifferently  applotted  and 
assessed  upon  all  the  inhabitants  in  proportion  to  each  persons  substance  and  abilitie. 
Wee  the  said  arbitrators  by  consent  of  all  the  said  parties  on  both  sides  do  therefore 
order  and  award  that  the  purchase  money  payed  or  to  be  payed  for  the  said  ground, 
whereupon  the  said  barrackes  is  built  and  the  interest  thereof  till  the  same  be  payed 
together  with  the  said  rent  of  seaven  pounds  per  annum  and  fines  for  renewalls  regard 
being  had  to  the  expenses  at  law,  be  equally  indifferently  assessed  upon  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  town  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  and  Wee  do  further  order  and 
award  that  no  other  money  whatsoever  under  the  notion  of  incidents,  charges  or 
otherwise  shall  be  levyed  without  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town  but 
what  shall  be  grounded  upon  and  warranted  by  lawe  or  by  some  Act  or  Acts  of 
Parliament  and  unto  the  intent  to  take  away  all  grounds  of  complaint  condeming 
psirtiallitie  or  inequallitie  in  assessing  or  applotting  the  said  present  summes  of  money 
as  aforesaid,  or  concerning  the  assessment  or  applottment  of  any  other  sum  hereafter 
to  be  levyed  by  consent  or  otherwise  as  well  upon  the  Protestants  as  upon  the  Roman 
Catholick  inhabitants  of  the  said  town,  and  for  settleing  a  good  correspondence  between 
them  in  that  particular.  Wee  do  further  order  and  award  that  in  as  much  as  by 
antient  usage  in  the  said  town  all  such  assessments  and  applottments  have  been  made 
by  twelve  men  of  the  said  town,  that  the  same  shall  be  hereafter  made  by  twelve  of  the 
most  knowing,  able  and  indifferent  persons  of  the  said  town  whereof  six  shall  be  of  the 
most  knowing,  able  and  indifferent  of  the  Protestants  and  the  other  six  of  the  most 
knowing,  able  and  indifferent  of  the  Roman  Catholicks  or  the  major  part  or  number  of 
them  to  be  indifferently  chosen  by  the  mayor  and  bailiffs  of  the  said  town  for  the  time 
being,  and  that  they  do  from  time  to  time  make  all  such  applottments  and  assessments 
equally  and  indifferently  upon  every  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town 
apportionatlie  according  to  his  substance  and  abilitie,  and  Wee  do  further  order  and 
award  by  like  consent  that  the  persons  hereafter  named  be  the  twelve  persons  for 
assessing  and  applotting  the  said  town  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  that  is  to  say 
(Protestants  Capt.  Thomas  Batty,  Hercules  Beere,  Phillip  Carleton,  Henry  Cleare, 
Phineas  Ryell  and  John  Moore  gentlemen).  (Roman  Catholickes  Francis  Marony, 
John  Meagher,  Richard  Stritch,  Nicholas  Purcell,  Thomas  Pursell  and  Richard  Daniell). 
And  we  do  further  award  that  the  said  Corporation  shall  out  of  their  Revenue  pay  the 
scavenger  for  keeping  clean  the  said  town  of  Clonmel  without  putting  the  inhabitants 
at  any  time  hereafter  to  the  charge  thereof,  shall  spend  the  same  to  the  best  advantage 
and  that  the  yearly  rent  arising  to  them  thereout  shall  be  applied  to  the  case  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  town  in  proportion  to  so  much  of  such  incidental  charge  as  any 
of  them  should  otherwise  bei  obliged  to  pay  according  to  the  true  intent  hereof,  all 
which  we  make  and  publish  as  our  award  in  the  premisses  under  our  hands  and  seales 
the  24  day  of  September  1703. 

Theobald  Butler. 


Nathaniel  Lucas. 


History  of  Clonmel.  145 

It  is  declared  that  in  all  assessments  or  applottments  to  be  made  according  to  this 
award,  all  the  assessors  hereinbefore  named  and  all  others  hereafter  to  be  named,  shall 
be  duely  summoned  to  attend  at  a  certain  time  and  place  in  order  to  make  such  assess- 
ments and  that  the  applottments  shall  be  made  according  to  the  order  of  the  major 
parte  of  those  that  will  appear  to  make  the  same  (u). 

This  Magna  Charta  of  the  Catholics  which  secured  that  there  should  be 
no  taxation  without  representation,  was  the  work  of  Sir  Toby  Butler  the 
ablest  lawyer  of  his  day.  But  like  the  celebrated  Articles  of  Limerick,  of 
which  he  was  also  the  draughtsman,  the  terms  of  it  were  never  kept.  The 
corporation  devised  another  system  of  taxing  the  Catholics,  steady,  silent 
and  absolutely  effective,  which  was  clothed  with  legal  forms  and  could  not 
be  directly  impeached.  This  was  to  exclude  them  from  the  freedom  and 
thereby  compel  them  as  outsiders  to  pay  tolls  and  quay  dues  on  all  goods 
and  merchandize  they  brought  into  the  town.  In  1713  a  by-law  for  the 
purpose  was  passed.  This  by-law  is  instructive  on  another  account;  it 
shows  that  in  persecuting  ingenuity  the  Corporation  of  Clonmel  could  surpass 
the  Parliament  itself.  For  it  was  only  in  1733  (7  Geo.  II.,  c.  6)  and  1746 
(19  Geo.  IL,  c.  I,  s.  4,  7)  that  parliament  became  cognizant  of  a  "constructive 
papist,"  i.e.,  a  Protestant  who  had  married  a  Catholic  wife.  Now  "a  Protestant 
of  this  class  was  in  the  eye  of  the  law  a  more  odious  Papist  (to  use  the  language 
of  the  Court)  than  a  real  and  actual  Papist  by  profession  and  principle  "  (v)- 

At  a  generall  Assembly  of  the  Town  and  Borough  of  Clonmell  at  the  Tholsel 
thereof  before  the  Mayor,  Bailiffs  fifree  Burgesses  and  Commons  of  the  said  Borough 
the  5th  Day  of  June  1713. 

....  It  is  ordered  that  no  Person  or  Persons  hereafter  shall  be  sworn  free  of 
this  Borough  without  taking  the  Oath  of  Abjuration  and  the  other  Oaths,  and  that  no 
Papist  or  person  professing  the  Popish  Religion,  be  admitted  on  any  Pretence  or  Account 
whatsoever  free.  We  also  present  order  and  enact  that  no  Protestant  who  shall  inter- 
marry with  any  Papist,  or  woman  professing  the  Popish  Religion,  shall  be  admitted 
free  unless  such  woman  conforms  herself  to  the  Church  of  Ireland  as  by  Law  established 
within  a  year  and  a  day  after  such  Intermarriage. 

What  the  tolls  levied  on  the  goods  of  the  Catholic  non-freemen  at  the 
gates,  the  bridge  and  the  quay,  were  in  amount,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing 
as  no  schedule  of  the  period  exists  (w).  They  were  denounced  as  an 
intolerable  burthen  even  at  the  dawn  of  municipal  reform.  At  the  Commission 
of  1833  a  Catholic  trader  stated  that  they  meant  to  him  a  sum  of  150 
guineas  (x).    They  certainly  were  not  lighter  during  the  penal  times.    But 

(u)  Chancery  Rolls  of  the  Palatine  of  Tipperary—P.R.O. 

(v)  Rives  V,  Roderick.  Cases  on  the  Laws  against  the  Further  Growth  of  Popery.  Howard, 
Dublin  1766. 

(w)  In  1763  "  Quayage  "  on  10  barrels  of  coal  was  6d.,  on  60  deals  8d. — Perry  Papers. 

(x)  "  I  am  a  native  of  this  town,  and  have  carried  on  business  a  great  number  of  years.  I  was 
promised  my  freedom  by  Mountcashel  and  was  handed  over  to  Bagwell  who  gave  me  only  fine 
promises  while  he  gave  my  neighbours  Davy  Malcomson,  Tommy  Hughes  and  Jemmy  Douglas'  their 
freedom.  They  had  corn  stores  near  mine,  but  they  had  no  tolls  to  pay  while  I  was  mulcted  every 
way  out  of  150  guineas." — Evidence  of  Daniel  O'Brien.     Report  of  Commission,  Clonmel,  1833. 


146  History  of  Glonmel. 

however  oppressive  they  were,  it  might  be  pleaded  in  extenuation  that  they 
were  in  part  devoted  to  public  purposes.  Such  a  claim  could  not  be  made 
for  two  other  taxes  imposed  upon  Catholic  traders.  These  were  "  Intrusion 
Money"  and  "Quarterage." 

From  l68l  down,  the  traders  and  artizans  of  the  town  were  divided  into 
three  guilds  or  corporations — the  Merchants,  the  Cordwainers  and  the 
Brewers.  Each  had  a  house  or  guild  hall,  elected  its  master  (or  mayor,  as  he 
was  sometimes  called)  and  assembled  regularly  to  discuss  trade  matters.  By 
the  charter  of  incorporation  no  one  who  was  not  a  member  of  these  guilds 
"  could  have,  occupy,  or  in  any  wise  retail,  sell  or  buy  any  merchandizes, 
mercimonies  or  wares  of  what  kind  or  sort  soever,"  or  exercise  any  trade  or 
handicraft  within  the  town  or  burgagery.  Further,  "  none  but  reputable 
persons  and  these  being  Protestants "  were  admitted  as  members,  though 
other  Protestants  could  follow  their  trade  without  hindrance.  In  law, 
therefore,  no  Catholic  shopkeeper  or  artisan  had  a  right  to  be  in  Clonmel ;  if 
he  was  there,  he  was  a  trespasser  in  a  strictly  Protestant  preserve,  and  was 
fined  accordingly.  When  he  entered  the  town  or  opened  shop,  he  paid 
"Intrusion  Money,"  from  five  shillings  to  half  a  guinea  and  upwards, 
according  to  his  capacity ;  if  he  remained  he  paid  every  quarter  a  tax  called 
"  Quarterage,"  from  6d.  to  3s.  This  state  of  things  continued  for  nearly  a 
century,  but  at  length  the  worm  began  to  turn.  The  decision  in  the  case 
Mahony  v.  Streete,  Mayor  of  Cork,  in  which  damages  were  obtained  against  the 
Mayor  for  imprisonment  on  account  of  quarterage,  put  heart  into  the  Catholics. 
In  1764  an  agitation  against  the  payment  of  the  tax  was  begun  in  Clonmel, 
and  the  corporation  feeling  insecure  petitioned  parliament,  25th  January,  1766. 

That  Papists  were  admitted  [into  the  guilds]  on  condition  of  good  Behaviour  and 
on  their  paying  a  small  sum  quarterly  according  to  their  different  circumstances  for 
the  support  of  the  necessary  charges  attending  the  said  Companies ;  which  contributions 
these  Quarter  Brothers  did  from  time  to  time  voluntarily  agree  to,  and  promise  in 
writing  to  pay,  and  have  continued  to  perform  for  upwards  of  ninety  years  past,  whereby 
the  Companies  have  been  enabled  during  that  period  to  relieve  the  necessities  of 
sundry  of  their  reduced  Brethren,  bury  their  dead,  relieve  their  sick,  cloath  and  pay  the 
servants  of  their  respective  Companies,  provide  proper  Ensigns  and  Regalias,  support 
the  Dignity  of  the  Fraternity  and  many  other  necessary  purposes  without  which  the 
different  Companies  could  not  possibly  subsist.  That  within  these  two  or  three  years 
last  past,  and  particularly  since  these  deluded  insurgents  called  White  Boys  have 
intruded  themselves  in  this  County,  sundry  of  these  Quarter  Brothers  countenanced 
by  those  miscreants,  under  the  specious  pretence  of  Redressing  Grievances  have  refused 
to  pay  said  Quarterage,  alledging  that  such  demand  is  not  warranted  by  law,  and  being 
thereupon  distrained  according  to  the  antient  Bye  laws  and  common  usage  of  said 
Corporation,  they  have  given  every  vexatious  opposition  that  Art,  Malice  or  Ingenuity 
could  devise  to  the  great  Disquiet  of  the  Peace  and  Good  Harmony  of  the  said  Town 
and  the  Protestant  Interest  thereof.    Wherefore  etc.  (yj. 

(y)  Parliamentary  Records,  P.R.O. 


History  of  CXonmel.  i47 

The  Catholic  party  sent  a  counter  petition  the  following  month. 

The  petition  of  the  Merchants  Traders  Manufacturers  and  Artists  [artisans] 
Inhabitants  of  Clonmel 

Humbly  Sheweth.  That  your  Petitioners,  peaceful  and  loyal  subjects,  have  been 
repeatedly  and  most  severely  distressed  of  late  in  their  persons  and  circumstances 
because  they  endeavoured  by  legal  means  to  decline  the  payment  of  arbitrary  Fines 
and  of  an  annual  tax  called  Quarterage,  imposed  upon  and  exacted  from  them  as  the 
price  of  exercising  their  respective  employments  and  arts,  by  the  different  guilds 
established  in  the  said  town.  That  your  Petitioners  endeavoured  to  decline  the  payment 
of  these  Fines  and  this  tax,  because  they  have  been  advised  that  the  exaction  of  them 
cannot  be  warranted  by  law  and  is  moreover  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  happy 
Constitution  of  this  Kingdom,  besides  that  they  apprehend  it  manifestly  tends  to  the 
discouragement  of  the  Trade  of  the  said  Town  and  neighbourhood.  That  your 
Petitioners  in  order  to  avoid,  as  much  as  in  them  lay,  all  vexatious  suits  and  contentions 
have  frequently  and  earnestly  applied  to  have  this  matter  amicably  referred  to  the 
decision  of  Counsel  learned  in  the  law  by  whose  judgeing  your  Petitioners  were  satisfied 
to  abide,  but  the  guilds  always  rejected  every  application  of  this  sort.  That  these  Fines 
and  tax  having  been  hitherto  levied  in  a  manner  the  most  oppressive,  and  afterwards 
squandered  away  for  the  most  part  as  your  Petitioners  have  good  reason  to  think 
in  feasting  and  excess,  no  purpose  of  public  or  private  advantage  has  been  in  reality 
answered  by  them,  on  the  contrary  they  have  been  made  instrumental  to  encourage  a 
spirit  of  idleness  and  dissipation  subversive  of  industry,  and  have  fomented  heats  and 
animosities  prejudicial  to  the  peace  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  town.  That  your 
Petitioners  relying  in  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  Parliament,  feel  the  greatest  satisfaction 
in  being  informed  by  the  votes  of  your  House  with  regard  to  a  Petition  of  the  Mayor, 
Bailiffs,  Free  Burgesses  and  Commonalty  of  the  Borough  of  Clonmel,  that  your  House 
has  been  pleased  to  take  cognizance  of  this  matter,  and  your  Petitioners  cheerfully  and 
submissively  wait  for  such  determination  upon  the  legality  of  these  fines  and  the  tax 
called  Quarterage,  as  the  House  shall  think  proper  to  make.  And  praying  your  House 
to  take  the  premisses  into  consideration,  and  to  permit  your  Petitioners  to  support  their 
case  by  Counsel  and  grant  them  such  relief  as  to  your  House  shall  seem  meet. 
(Signed)  Patrick  Kearney,  Samuel  White,  Patrick  Seealie,  Thomas  White,  William 
Browne,  Michael  Wall,  Andrew  Keany,  Thomas  Bohelly,  James  Kearney  (z). 

Some  of  the  quarterage  was  spent  in  this  way: — 

"  Clonmell  July  I.  [1767.I  This  day  being  the  Anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  the 
Boyne  fought  by  King  William  of  ever  glorious  and  immortal  memory,  the  morning  was 
ushered  in  with  ringing  of  Bells,  the  Ensigns  or  Standards  of  the  different  Companies 
of  this  Corporation  were  displayed  from  the  Tholsel,  and  the  Mayor,  Bailiffis,  Burgesses, 
Freemen  and  Gentlemen  of  the  different  Corporations  with  Orange  Cockades,  proceeded 
at  Six  o'clock  in  the  Morning  to  perambulate  the  Liberties  and  Franchises  according 
to  antient  custom ;  and  the  Evening  concluded  with  Bonfires,  Illuminations  and  other 
publick  Demonstrations  of  Joy  "  (aa). 

For  upwards  of  ten  years  the  struggle  against  intrusion  money  and 
quarterage  was  carried  on,  sometimes  in  Clonmel,  sometimes  in  the  House 
of  Commons  (bb).    Meanwhile  a  great  change  had  come  over  parliament ; 

(z)  Endorsed.  Presented  by  Mr.  Robert  FitzGerald,  Veneris,  28  Feby.,  1766.— Parliamentary 
Records,  P.R.O. 

(aa)  Public  Register  or  Freeman's  Journal,  July  4th— 7th,  1767. 

(bb)  Among  the  Parliamentary  Records  there  are  two  further  petitions  from  the  Corporation, 
one  in  1768,  the  other  in  1774.  At  foot  of  the  former  are  the  signatures  '  Thomas  Shaw  Master  of 
Merchants,'  *Theophilus  Henry  Master  of  Cordwainers,*  *John  McCheane  Maior  of  Brewers.'  The 
seal  of  the  merchants  is  circular,  argent,  a  bee  within  a  border,  wavy.  Inscription,  "  The  Merchants 
Seal  of  Clonmel."  The  seal  of  the  cordwainers  is  oval,  argent,  3  hammers,  2  and  i.  Crest,  an 
esquire's  helmet  under  a  hammer.  The  brewers'  seal  is  a  mash  of  the  two  former,  one  being 
impressed  on  the  other. 


148  History  of  Clonmel, 

the  American  colonies  were  in  revolt;  the  message  "No  taxation  without 
representation"  had  gone  forth;  the  Irish  administration  therefore  was 
advised  by  Chatham  to  concede  some  measure  of  toleration,  and  the  project 
of  legalizing  quarterage  was  abandoned. 

But  tolls,  quay-dues,  intrusion  money  and  quarterage,  were  not  the  only 
form  of  oppression  which  the  Catholic  traders  underwent.  The  Gavelling 
Act  and  the  Discovery  Act  have  attracted  much  notice,  but  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  any  part  of  the  penal  code  contributed  so  much  to 
impoverish  and  degrade  the  people  at  large  as  the  sections  of  the  Acts  of 
William  and  Anne  which  made  education  a  felony.  Throughout  the  greater 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  no  Catholic  could  teach  school  in  Clonmel 
under  the  penalty  of  transportation  for  the  first  offence,  and  high  treason  for 
the  second  (cc).  Towards  the  end  a  Catholic  by  application  to  the  Protestant 
bishop,  having  satisfied  him  he  was  a  person  of  good  morals  and  the  like, 
could  obtain  licence  to  teach  from  the  Consistory  Court  (dd).  We  get  glimpses 
of  the  law  in  operation  from  such  reports  as  that  of  James  Castell,  Mayor  of 
Clonmel  in  173 1,  to  the  Committee  of  the  Irish  House  of  Lords. 

There  is  but  one  Private  Popish  Schoolmaster,  as  I  can  finde  in  the  said  Towne, 
whose  name  is  Cornelius  Lynch,  and  goes  from  house  to  house  to  instruct  Popish 
children  (ee). 

At  a  later  period  when  there  was  greater  connivance,  some  three  or  four 
"philomaths"  were  located  in  different  parts  of  the  town,  but  so  utterly 
destitute  were  the  Catholics  of  any  regular  system  of  education,  that  a  list  of 
seven  schools  in  1820  does  not  contain  a  single  Catholic  one  (jf). 

To  such  Catholics,  however,  as  were  willing  to  barter  their  religion,  the 
doors  of  knowledge  were  flung  wide  open.  By  indenture  dated  7th  May, 
1685,  Richard  Moore  of  Clonmel,  and  Stephen  Moore  of  Hoar  Abbey  conveyed 
to  Charles  Alcock  and  Thomas  Batty,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  the  lands  of 
Clonbough  and  Tulla  mac  James,  683ac.  2r.  lip.  for  the  purpose  of  erecting 
and  maintaining  "  a  Free  School  for  the  education  and  teaching  of  all  the 
Protestant  freemen's  children  of  the  town  of  Clonmel  gratis."  Power  of 
appointing  and  removing  the  master  or  masters  was  vested  in  James,  Duke  of 
Ormond,  Richard  and  Stephen  Moore  and  their  heirs,  together  with  the 

(cc)  "  Whatsoever  person  of  the  popish  religion  shall  publickly  teach  school,  or  shall  instruct 
youth  in  learning  in  any  private  house,  or  shall  be  entertained  to  instruct  youth  as  usher,  under- 
master,  or  assistant  by  any  protestant  schoolmaster,  he  shall  be  esteemed  to  be  a  popish  regular 
clergyman,  and  be  prosecuted  as  such,  and  incur  such  penalties  and  forfeitures  as  any  popish  regular 
convict  is  liable  unto  by  the  laws." — 8  Ann.  c.  3,  sec.  16. 

(dd)  Among  the  papers  of  a  parish  priest  of  Carrick,  Dr.  Connolly,  still  remembered  there,  was 
found  such  licence  granted  to  him  by  R.  Hobson,  Surrogate  of  Waterford. 

(ee)  Parliamentary  Returns,  P.R.O. 

(ff)  Piggott's  Directory,  Manchester,  1820. 


History  of  Clonmel.  149 

Mayor  of  Clonmel  for  the  time  being.  The  Free  School  was  built  close  to 
St.  Mary's  Church,  and  its  primary  intent  being  to  benefit  the  children  of  the 
free  burgesses  and  commonalty  of  the  town,  it  came  to  be  known  as  the 
Corporation  School  (gg).  While  the  Free  School  held  out  temptations  to  the 
better-class  Catholics,  there  was  another  school  which  openly  and  professedly 
proselytized  the  helpless  and  destitute  poor.  This  was  the  Charter  School. 
In  the  first  fervour  of  the  movement  to  bring  the  blessings  of  the  GosjJel 
within  reach  of  "the  poor  creatures,  our  fellow-subjects,"  as  Boulter  termed 

(g^)  In  later  times,  as  in  earlier,  the  Free  School  earned  an  evil  reputation  for  proselytism.  The 
Revv.  Samuel  O'SuIlivan,  Mortimer  O'SulIivan,  William  Phelan,  William  A.  Butler — to  name  only  a 
few — changed  their  creed  there,  preliminary  to  obtaining  scholarships  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

The  history  of  the  school  as  far  as  it  can  be  gleaned  may  be  set  down  here.  The  earliest  head 
master  appears  to  have  been  Andrew  Coulter  ;  his  tomb  which  may  still  be  seen  in  St.  Mary's 
Church,  bears  the  following  inscription  : — HicJacet  Corpus  Andre^e  Coulter,  nuper  schol.  et  Bach. 
Clonmeliensis  JQui  obiit  20  Julii  Anno  Domino  1706.  Et  anno  63  Aetatis  Suae.  In  1733  John 
Hayman,  a  native  of  Youghal,  was  master.  That  year  Sir  Thomas  Prendergast  and  Guy  Moore 
were  candidates  for  the  borough  in  a  parliamentary  election  when  Hayman  acted  as  the  returning 
officer.  In  the  petition  against  Moore's  return,  it  was  proved  that  Hayman  had  spoken  and 
canvassed  for  Moore,  that  he  had  been  tutor  to  Moore's  children,  and  though  not  worth  ;^5o,  he  had 
oflFered  that  sum  to  be  spent  in  Flahavan's  public-house  on  condition  of  Flahavan's  voting  for  Moore. 
The  next  master  to  whom  there  is  reference,  was  Rev.  J.  D.  Harwood.  In  the  Corporation  Minute 
Book,  29th  May,  1755,  is  the  memorandum:  "It  appears  by  affidavit  of  the  Rev.  John  Dalton 
Harwood  schoolmaster  of  this  town  since  the  25  of  March  last  before  the  Mayor  of  this  Corporation 
that  he  layd  out  and  expended  on  new  buildings  made  in  addition  to  the  Schoole  house  the  sum  of 
one  hundred  and  twelve  pounds  and  seven  pence  half  penny  stg.  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  said 
schoole.  In  consideration  therefore  in  case  he  dyes  or  be  removed  from  said  schoole  that  he  or  his 
Executors  t)e  allowed  the  three  fourths  of  the  above  sum  so  expended  in  said  building  by  the  person 
or  persons  that  shall  hereafter  be  made  or  inducted  into  said  schoole,  next  after  his  Decease  or 
Remuvall  and  that  a  Deede  may  be  made  under  the  Common  Seale  of  said  Corporation  to  the  said 
Rev.  John  Dalton  Harwood  to  the  purpose  to  secure  the  payment  thereof." 

Harwood  appears  to  have  been  followed  by  Rev.  Richard  Carey,  under  whom  the  school 
obtained  its  greatest  measure  of  success.  In  18 16  on  application  from  the  Commissioners  of 
Education  to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  endowments  and  government  of  the  school  were  vested  in 
the  Commissioners,  on  the  grounds  of  mismanagement.  The  old  school  (which  occupied  the  site  of 
the  present  Protestant  Parochial  Schools)  having  become  ruinous,  the  site,  ir.  28p.,  was  exchanged 
(Feb.  28th,  1824)  with  William  Bagwell  for  the  present  one  which  contains  3r.  28p.  A  sum  of 
^'4,600  was  then  raised  on  the  endowments  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  new  buildings,  the  last 
instalment  of  which  was  repaid  only  in  November,  1905.  These  were  built  to  accommodate  118 
pupils  with  apartments  for  36  boarders.  Rev.  Robert  Bell  was  at  this  period  appointed  head  master 
by  William  Bagwell,  who  as  patron  exercised  all  corporate  rights.  Bell  was  followed  about  1850  by 
Rev.  Thomas  Kettlcwell.  The  Endowed  Schools'  Commission  in  March,  1856,  found  29  on  the  roll, 
the  education  given  satisfactory,  but  the  general  management  deplorable  ;  the  house  did  not  contain  a 
solitary  boarder.  On  the  death  of  Kettlewell  in  1874  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hutchinson  was  appointed,  and 
the  school  was  for  some  years  fairly  successful.  Rev.  Mervyn  Kennedy  succeeded  August  ist,  1882, 
by  the  nomination  of  Stephen  Earl  of  Mountcashell,  and  John  Marquess  of  Ormonde.  A  commission 
under  the  Educational  Endowments'  Act  which  sat  in  1889  found  that  the  school  was  ^"943  in  debt, 
and  i8th  March,  1890,  a  new  scheme  for  its  government  was  approved  of  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant  in 
Council.  By  this  scheme  the  interest  of  the  corporation  in  the  school  was  ignored,  and  a  governing 
body  created  of  seventeen  persons  exclusively  Protestant.  Furthermore,  as  an  instance  of  how  a 
strict  trust  may  be  stretched,  the  endowment  which  Richard  Moore  gave  to  the  freemen  of  the  town 
being  Protestants,  was  shared  with  those  whom  he  would  style  in  the  language  of  the  time  "  sectaries 
and  phanatiques,"  namely,  Presbyterians,  Methodists  and  Quakers.  The  head  masters  since  have 
been  W.  R.  Hatte  appointed  8th  September,  1897,  died  loth  April,  1901  ;  R.  H.  Ashmore  appointed 
20th  May,  1901,  resigned  August,  1903  ;  J.  H.  McClelland  appointed  2nd  October,  1903. 

Among  the  distinguished  personages  who  received  their  early  education  at  the  Clonmel  Free 
School  were  John  Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  John  Scott,  Earl  of  Clonmel,  Archdeacon  Lee,  S.F.T.C.D., 
Dr.  Leahy,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  W.C.  Taylor,  William  Archer  Butler,  Richard  Baron  Pennefather, 
Edward  Pennefather,  Chief  Justice. 


150  HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 

them,  bishops  and  country  gentlemen,  parliaments  and  lords  lieutenant,  vied 
with  one  another  in  founding  schools  and  granting  endowments.  On  23rd 
April,  1747,  Sir  Charles  Moore  of  Powerstown  granted  39  acres  a  little  to  the 
east  of  the  town,  at  a  rent  of  £ll  a-year.  Subscriptions  were  collected,  and 
a  large  school  built  at  a  cost  of  £900.  A  rent-charge  of  £75  on  711  acres,  was 
subsequently  bequeathed  by  John  Dawson.  For  a  time  there  was  some 
success.  In  1766  forty  children  of  Catholic  parents  were  instructed  "in 
English  and  arithmetic,  in  husbandry  and  housewifery,  in  the  Scriptures  and 
the  principles  of  the  Protestant  established  religion,"  being  provided  with 
diet  and  lodging.  But  the  enthusiasm  died  out ;  the  undisguised  souperism 
of  the  scheme  disgusted  the  more  rational  Protestants,  and  when  Howard, 
the  philanthropist,  visited  the  Clonmel  Charter  School,  it  was  already  in 
extremis. 

Clonmel  School  June  I2th  1787,  twenty  nine  boys.— House  dirty :— Wanted  beds 
and  bedding. — In  the  infirmary  only  two  bedsteads  and  a  little  dirty  straw  and  lumber. 
Pantry  empty :— children  half  starved  and  almost  naked.— Usher  no  allowance :  —the 
master  said,  he  paid  one,  as  he  was  too  old  to  teach.  Allowance  for  soap  and  candles 
only  £5.  On  application  to  the  local  committee  for  allowance  for  necessaries  the 
answer  was  "  the  Society  is  too  poor ;  they  cannot  afford  it."  The  last  report  in  the 
book  was  June  1st,  1785. 

Howard's  visit  was  not  without  effect. 

May  5th  1788,  27  Boys.  I  found  this  school  in  much  better  order ;  the  bed  rooms 
were  clean. — By  hearing  several  of  the  boys  read,  I  was  convinced  that  proper  attention 
is  now  paid  to  that  important  part  of  their  education. — The  Society's  clothes  are  so 
very  bad,  that  if  the  boys  be  not  clothed  again  before  Christmas  they  must  be  almost 
naked  (M). 

The  Charter  School  dragged  on  -its  wretched  existence  until  1823  when 
it  was  closed,  the  endowments  amounting  to  £163  a  year  being  transferred  to 
the  Protestant  Parochial  School. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  surest  way  to  make  a  religious  body  flourish  is 
to  persecute  it  (ii).  This  statement,  however,  has  limitations  which  are 
obvious  to  every  student  of  history.  When  the  Catholics  of  Clonmel  emerged 
from  the  penal  times,  they  were  reduced  to  utter  impotence,  social  and 
commercial.  Old  men,  not  long  deceased,  used  recall  a  time  when  there  was 
not  in  the  town  a  trader  of  that  religion  who  could  sell  by  wholesale  a  ton  of 
coal  or  a  stone  of  sugar  fjjj.  And  furthermore,  the  effects  of  the  penal  code 
were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  material  ones.  The  spirit  of  the  people 
was  completely  broken,  and  as  citizens  they  had  lost  all  self  respect.    In 

(hhj  An  Account  of  the  Principal  Lazarettos,  etc.,  London,  179 1. 
(ii)  Sanguis  martyrum,  semen  ecclesiae. — TertuUian. 

(jj)  The  Directory  of  1787,  supra,  may  be  consulted,  but  it  is  to  be  noted  that  several  names, 
apparently  Catholic,  were  not  so,  e.g.,  Comins,  Daniel,  Keating,  Murphy,  White. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i5i 

1790  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  lord  lieutenant,  visited  the  town ;  the 
Catholics  headed  by  Dr.  Egan,  bishop  of  the  diocese,  presented  an  address — 
their  first  articulate  utterance  since  James  11.  had  entered  Clonmel  a  century 
before.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  address  was  written  two  years  after 
the  proclamation  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  and  fifteen  after  the  American 
Declaration  of  Independence — written  too  at  a  time  when  they  were  denied 
the  elementary  rights  of  freemen. 

To  his  Excellency  John  Earl  of  Westmoreland  Lord  Lieutenant  General  and 
General  Governor  of  Ireland. 

The  Humble  Address  of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Clonmel. 
May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

The  Roman  Catholics  of  Clonmel  at  the  same  time  that  they  share  in  the  joy 
universally  diffused  through  all  ranks  of  people  here  by  your  Excellency's  presence, 
cannot  but  consider  themselves  peculiarily  happy  in  being  admitted  to  avail  themselves 
of  so  precious  an  opportunity  to  express  their  unalterable  allegiance  to  the  Person  and 
Government  of  the  best  of  Sovereigns  and  to  express  it  at  the  feet  of  his  Majesty's 
immediate  representative,  his  Excellency  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland — a  representative 
whom  they  feel  most  endeared  to  them  as  well  from  his  Majesty's  confidence  in  him,  as 
from  his  own  distinguished  public  and  private  virtues  and  his  beneficient  applauded 
administration. 

Permit  it  to  be  added.  May  it  please  your  Excellency,  on  their  part  that  earnest 
as  far  as  can  depend  on  them  to  promote  your  Excellency's  well  known  generous 
intentions  for  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  this  nation,  and  coinciding  with  the 
fellow  subjects  of  their  communion  throughout  the  kingdom,  in  inviolable  attachment 
to  his  Majesty's  Royal  Person,  Family  and  Government  in  a  demeanour  peaceful  and 
duly  submissive  to  the  laws,  they  have  nothing  more  at  heart  than  thus  to  contribute 
by  the  mite  of  their  best  exertions,  to  render  your  Excellency's  rule  over  this  country, 
smooth,  successful  and  honorable  whilst  they  hope  by  such  conduct,  springing  in  them 
from  principle,  and  cherished  in  them  by  inclination,  to  insure  a  continuance  of  that 
protection  which  they  gratefully  acknowledge  to  have  hitherto  enjoyed  under  the 
auspices  of  your  Excellency. 

May  the  visit  with  which  your  Excellency  honours  this  town  be  as  satisfactory  to 
yourself  and  to  the  Countess  of  Westmoreland  as  it  is  grateful  to  the  Publick  at  large 
and  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Clonmell  in  particular. 

For  and  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Clonmell. 

Wm.  Egan. 
Clonmell  Oct.  20  1790. 

While  the  penal  code  reduced  the  great  mass  of  the  people  to  serfdom, 
its  effects  on  the  gentry  who  executed  it  were  even  worse  ;  it  brutalized  them. 
Administering  laws  which  made  plunder  a  virtue ;  set  up  as  pashas  who 
might  practice  every  abuse  of  power  and  heap  on  the  people  every  indignity 
without  limit  or  question,  it  is  no  wonder  if  they  often  lost  that  self- 
restraint,  that  forbearance,  that  poise  and  balance  of  mind  which  separates 
the  civilized  man  from  the  savage.  "  The  habits  of  the  Irish  gentry,"  says 
Goldwin  Smith,  "grew  beyond  measure  brutal  and  reckless,  and  the 
coarseness  of  their  debaucheries  would  have  disgusted  the  crew  of  Comus. 
Their  drunkenness,  their  blasphemy,  their  ferocious  duelling,  left  the  squires  of 
England  far  behind.     If  there  was  a  grotesque  side  to  their  vices  which 


152  History  of  Clonmel. 

mingles  laughter  with  our  reprobation,  this  did  not  render  the  influence  less 
pestilent  to  the  community  of  which  the  malice  of  destiny  had  made  them 
the  social  chiefs.  Fortunately  their  profligacy  was  sure  in  the  end  to  work 
its  own  cure ;  and  in  the  background  of  their  swinish  and  uproarious  drinking 
bouts,  the  Encumbered  Estates'  Act  rises  to  our  view  "  (kk).  And  the  gentry 
of  Tipperary  were  not  better  than  their  class.  The  great  mansions  and  parks 
which  are  scattered  through  the  county,  still  witness  to  their  extravagance  if 
they  do  not  always  to  their  taste.  They  played  the  role  of  "  fine  old  Irish 
gentlemen,"  and  convinced  the  world  that  they  were  not  avaricious  by 
squandering,  and  that  they  were  not  cowards  by  fighting  (II).  Their  drinking 
habits  were  best  left  to  the  charities  of  history.  In  the  last  generation  stories 
were  told  how  in  a  drunken  frenzy,  one  gambled  away  an  estate  by  the 
townland ;  another  having  won  a  parliamentary  election,  celebrated  the 
victory  in  a  bacchanalian  orgie  with  his  supporters,  the  member  himself 
dying  of  delirium  tremens  shortly  after  (mm).  A  third  invited  his  mortgagee 
to  dine  and  blacked  the  face  of  his  drunken  guest,  but  the  mortgagee  had 
his  revenge  by  foreclosing  the  itiortgage  and  levelling  the  house  (nft). 
Another  obtained  a  knighthood  by  wild  buff'oonery  at  a  saturnalia  in  honour 
of  the  lord  lieutenant,  who  visiting  Tipperary  did  as  Tipperary  did  (oo). 
Even  the  punctilious  William  Perry  excused  his  neglect  of  correspondence 
on  the  ground  he  had  been  celebrating  the  "  Old  Glorious,"  while  William 
Bagwell  in  his  leases  inserted  as  consideration  for  renewal  "  six  bottles  of 
right  good  f rench  clarett "  (pp). 

In  the  great  Irish  characteristic  of  fighting,  the  Tipperary  gentry  earned 
special  distinction.  "  Tipperary  and  Galway,"  writes  Sir  Jonah  Harrington, 
"  were  the  ablest  schools  of  the  duelling  science.     Galway  was  most  scientific 


(kk)  Irish  History  and  Irish  Character,  Oxford,  1862,  p.  140 ;  c.f.,  Madden's  "  Resolutions 
Proper  for  the  Gentlemen  of  Ireland,"  Dublin,  1744.  Young's  Tour  passim,  Historical  MSB.,  15 
Rep.,  Pt.  vii.,  pp.  312-332.  "  Ireland 90  Years  Ago,"  Sir  Jonah  Harrington's  Personal  Sketches,  etc.,  etc. 

fllj  "  Backwardness  will  be  attributed  to  the  man  who  does  not  fight  upon  every  trifling  occasion 
as  avarice  is  objected  to  him  who  does  not  ruin  himself  by  fashionable  extravagance."  Charlemont 
Papers,  Hist.  MSB.  12,  Rep.  x.,  p.  108. 

(mm)  Related  by  the  late  John  Bagwell,  M.P.,  of  a  kinsman,  one  of  the  Bagwells  of  Kilmore. 

(nn)  This  elegant  episode  was  told  by  one  of  the  Grubbs  who  was  guest  with  Osborne,  the 
mortgagee,  at  Kilmore  on  the  occasion. 

foo)  Sir  Richard  Jones,  who  long  lived  in  a  large  house  on  the  quay  near  the  present  brewery. 
The  honour,  however,  was  recalled  the  following  day,  but  it  was  too  late,  for  Lady  Jones  had 
already  communicated  with  her  friends. 

fPp)  "  The  agreeable  company  of  your  nephew.  Will  Newman  and  some  other  friends  to  drink 
the  Old  Glorious  prevented  my  acknowledging  your  letter."— W.  G.  Carleton,  13  Feb.  1760.  "Six 
bottles  of  right  good  french  clarett  and  a  rump  of  beef  as  a  renewal  fine  on  the  fall  of  each  life." — 
Lease  of  Burgagery,  Bagwell  to  Domville,  i8th  Oct.,  1755.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
Irish  squirearchy  sinned  alone.  The  great  Pitt  and  his  pot  companion,  Viscount  Melville,  often 
edified  parliament ;  a  wag  of  the  time  wrote — 

Can't  see  the  Speaker  Will,  can  you  ? 
Don't  see  the  Speaker,  Mel  ?    I  see  two. 

The  Irish  drinking  bout  only  was  more  bestial. 


History  of  Clonmel,  iss 

at  the  sword.  Tipperary  most  practical  and  prized  at  the  pistol."  This  skill 
in  the  use  of  arms  came  of  a  long  course  of  breeding.  At  an  earlier  period 
they  proclaimed  at  assizes  the  old  Irish  landowners  still  haunting  the  country 
to  be  "  Tories  and  Rapparees,"  and  forthwith  shot  them  at  discretion  (qq). 
When  the  enemy  were  shot  or  fled,  they  found  excuses  for  pistoling  one 
another.  The  case  of  Stephen  Moore  who  consistently  "  removed "  the 
opponents  of  his  family  interest,  has  been  already  referred  to,  but  the 
curious  memorial  of  his  career  deserves  fuller  notice. 


Here    Lyes    the    Body 
OF   James    Slatterie 
The    Second    Son    of 
M"*     John     Slatterie 
WHO    was    Ki[ll]ed 

BY     JOHN     MANDEVILLE 

The  XIV  Day  of  May 
17io    in    the    24th 
Year  of  His  Age 
And  John  Slatterie 
Co[uncellor]  At  Law 
A  Mem[ber]  of  [Pa]rl[mt] 

WHO    WAS    KIL[l]e[D] 

By  Stephen  Moor 
Y^  13  OF  N"*   1726 


Mandeville  and  his  second  in  the  duel,  James  St.  John,  who  were 
Catholics,  fearing  legal  penalties  petitioned  the  Duke  of  Ormond  and 
received  a  pardon  I2th  September  following  (rr).  Many  indeed  of  these 
fights  were  embittered  by  religious  feeling.    At  the  election  for  Tipperary 

(qq)  For  example  :— "  We  hear  from  the  County  of  Tipperary  that  John  Sergeant  shot  one 
Dunlee  a  noted  and  proclaimed  Tory  as  he  was  crossing  the  road."— D«6/f«  Evening  Post,  May  i8th, 

1734- 

(rr)  Palatine  Rolls,  P.R.O.  The  tomb  lies  close  to  the  ruined  church  of  Kilgrant.  It  consists 
of  a  horizontal  slab  some  seven  feet  by  four,  resting  on  a  base  of  masonry.  An  attempt  to  obliterate 
the  inscription  is  indicated  by  the  portions  of  the  words  in  brackets.  Three  other  members  of  the 
family  are  named  in  a  part  of  the  inscription  carried  round  the  edge. 


154  History  of  Clonmel. 

consequent  on  the  death  of  George  IL,  the  opposing  conducting  agents  were 
Thomas  Prendergast  of  Ballylomasna,  and  Daniel  Gahan  of  Coolquil.  Feeling 
ran  high,  and  Gahan  challenged  Prendergast's  right  to  act  or  even  to  vote  at 
all,  on  the  grounds  his  wife  was  a  papist,  being  one  of  the  Keating  family. 
Both  parties  adjourned  to  the  Green  behind  the  courthouse ;  Prendergast 
was  shot  dead  and  Gahan  escaped  from  the  infuriated  crowd  only  by 
mounting  a  horse  and  riding  boldly  across  the  river.  But  in  truth,  the 
Tipperary  gentry  were  ready  to  fight  in  any  cause  or  none ;  everyone  had, 
at  some  time,  to  defend  "his  honour."  Lord  Llandaff,  Hely-Hutchinson,  Lord 
Clonmel  (to  name  only  a  few)  were  all  "out."  Even  John  Bagwell,  brought 
up  by  the  Harpers  in  Cork,  a  strict  Dissenter,  had  to  qualify  with  a  few 
scalps  at  his  belt  for  admission  into  the  savage  tribe.  He  was  "  out "  three 
times  fssj. 

Sir  Jonah  Barrington  gives  the  code  of  honour  in  extenso,  and  with 
unconscious  satire,  lawyer  that  he  was,  reports  cases  illustrative  of  its 
working. 

The  practice  of  Duelling  and  Points  of  Honour  settled  at  Clonmell  Summer  Assizes 
1777  by  the  Gentlemen  Delegates  of  Tipperary,  Gal  way,  Mayo,  Sligo  and  Roscommon 
and  prescribed  for  general  adoption  throughout  Ireland. 

RULES. 

I. — The  first  offence  requires  the  first  apology  though  the  retort  may  have  been 
more  offensive  than  the  insult.  Example.  A  tells  B  he  is  impertinent,  &c.  B  retorts 
that  he  lies ;  yet  A  must  make  the  first  apology,  and  then  after  one  fire  B  may  explain 
away  the  retort  by  subsequent  apology. 

2. — But  if  the  parties  would  rather  fight  on,  then  after  two  shots  each,  but  in  no 
case  before  B  may  explain  first  and  A  apologise  afterwards. 

3. — If  a  doubt  exists  who  gave  the  first  offence,  the  decision  rests  with  the  seconds ; 
if  they  can't  agree  the  matter  must  proceed  to  two  shots  or  to  a  hit  if  the  challenger 
require  it. 

4. — When  the  lie  direct  is  the  first  oifence,  the  aggressor  must  either  beg  pardon, 
exchange  two  shots  previous  to  apology,  or  three  shots  followed  by  an  explanation,  or 
fire  on  till  a  severe  hit  be  received  by  one  party  or  the  other. 

5. — As  a  blow  is  strictly  prohibited  amongst  gentlemen,  no  verbal  apology  can  be 
received ;  the  alternatives  therefore  are  the  offender  handing  a  cane  to  the  injured 
party  to  be  used  on  his  own  back,  at  the  same  time  begging  pardon ;  firing  on  until  one 
or  both  is  disabled,  or  exchanging  three  shots  and  then  asking  pardon. 


fss)  The  last  notable  Tipperary  gentleman  who  seems  to  have  engaged  in  an  "  affair  of  honour  " 
was  Richard  Butler,  second  and  last  Earl  of  Glengall.  In  the  twenties,  a  publication  flourished  in 
London  called  The  Age.  It  gave  special  prominence  to  the  scandals  of  the  upper  classes,  and  being 
well  informed  and  the  names  hardly  disguised  by  hyphens,  society  was  much  fluttered.  Lord 
Glengall  publicly  charged  Lord  William  Lennox  with  being  the  writer  of  some  particularly  venomous 
paragraphs.  In  reply  to  a  demand  for  an  explanation,  Glengall  affirmed  the  truth  of  the  accusation, 
and  a  meeting  was  the  result.  The  duel  was  fougl\t  at  Cowes  Castle,  August,  1826,  Colonel  Anson 
being  second  to  Glengall,  and  Lieutenant  Gordon  of  the  Blues  to  Lennox.  According  to  the 
Hampshire  Telegraph  •*  an  exchange  of  shots  took  place  without  doing  any  person  injury  ;  the  seconds 
then  declared  that  enough  had  been  done  by  both  parties,  and  the  principals  left  the  ground  without 
explanation."  The  Times  report,  however,  states  that  after  the  shots  Lord  Lennox  declared  himself 
satisfied. 


History  of  Clonmel.  iss 

6.— If  A  gives  B  the  lie  and  B  retorts  by  a  blow,  being  the  two  greatest  oflFences 
no  reconciliation  can  take  place  till  after  two  discharges  each  or  a  severe  hit ;  after  which 
B  may  ask  A's  pardon  humbly  for  the  blow  and  then  A  may  explain  simply  for  the  lie. 
N.B.--Challenges  for  undivulged  causes  may  be  reconciled  on  the  ground  after  one  shot. 

7. — But  no  apology  can  be  received  in  any  case  after  the  parties  have  actually  taken 
their  ground  without  exchange  of  fires. 

8. — In  the  above  case  no  challenger  is  obliged  to  divulge  his  cause  of  challenge,  if 
private,  unless  required  by  the  challenger  to  do  so  before  the  meeting. 

9. — ^All  imputations  of  cheating  at  play,  races,  &c.,  to  be  considered  equivalent  to 
a  blow,  but  may  be  reconciled  after  one  shot  on  admitting  their  falsehood  and  begging 
pardon  publicly. 

10. — Any  insult  to  a  lady  under  a  gentleman's  protection  to  be  considered  as  by  one 
degree  a  greater  offence  than  if  given  to  the  gentleman  personally. 

II.— Offences  originating  from  the  support  of  ladies*  reputation  to  be  considered  as 
less  unjustifiable  than  any  others  of  the  same  class. 

12. — In  simple  unpremeditated  recontres  with  the  small  sword  the  rule  is  first  draw, 
first  sheathe ;  unless  blood  be  drawn  then  both  sheathe  and  proceed  to  investigation. 

13. — No  dumb-shooting  or  firing  in  the  air  admissible  in  any  case ;  children's  play 
must  be  dishonourable  on  one  side  or  the  other  and  is  accordingly  prohibited. 

14. — Seconds  to  be  of  equal  rank  in  society  with  the  principals  they  attend,  inas- 
much as  a  second  may  either  choose  or  chance  to  become  a  principal  and  inequality 
is  indispensable. 

15. — Challenges  are  never  to  be  delivered  at  night  unless  the  party  to  be  challenged 
intend  leaving  the  place  of  offence  before  morning ;  for  it  is  desirable  to  avoid  all  hot- 
headed proceedings. 

16. — The  challenged  has  the  right  to  choose  his  own  weapon,  unless  the  challenger 
gives  his  honour  he  is  no  swordsman,  after  which  however  he  cannot  decline  any 
second  species  of  weapon  proposed  by  the  challenged. 

17. — The  challenged  chooses  his  ground ;  the  challenger  chooses  his  distance ;  the 
seconds  fix  the  time  and  terms  of  firing. 

18. — The  seconds  load  in  presence  of  each  other  unless  they  give  their  mutual 
honours  they  have  charged  smooth  and  single,  which  should  be  held  sufficient. 

19. — Firing  may  be  regulated — ^first  by  signal ;  secondly  by  word  of  command ;  or 
thirdly  at  pleasure.  In  the  latter  case  the  parties  may  fire  at  their  reasonable  leisure 
but  second  presents  and  rests  are  strictly  prohibited. 

20. — In  all  cases  a  miss  fire  is  equivalent  to  a  shot,  and  a  snap  or  a  non-cock  is  to 
be  considered  as  a  miss-fire. 

21. — ^Seconds  are  bound  to  attempt  a  reconciliation  before  the  meeting  takes  place, 
or  after  sufficient  firing  or  hits  as  specified. 

22. — Any  wound  sufficient  to  agitate  the  nerves  and  necessarily  make  the  hand 
shake,  must  end  the  business  for  that  day. 

23. — If  the  cause  of  meeting  be  such  that  no  apology  can  or  will  be  received,  the 
challenged  takes  his  ground  and  calls  on  the  challenger  to  proceed  as  he  chooses ;  in 
such  cases  firing  at  pleasure  is  the  usual  practice. 

24. — In  slight  cases  the  second  hands  his  principal  but  one  pistol,  but  in  gross  cases 
two,  holding  another  case  ready-charged  in  reserve. 

25. — When  seconds  disagree  and  resolve  to  exchange  shots  themselves,  it  must  be 
at  the  same  time  and  at  right  angles  with  their  principals,  thus : — 


156  History  of  Clonmel. 

If  with  swords,  side  by  side  with  five  paces  interval. 

N.B. — All  matters  and  doubts  not  herein  mentioned  will  be  explained  and  cleared 
up  by  application  to  the  committee  who  meet  alternately  at  Clonmell  and  Gal  way,  at 
the  quarter  sessions,  for  that  purpose. 

Crow  Ryan,  President, 


^^^^^^.\  Secretaries  (tt). 
Amby  Bodkin,  J 


This  grotesquely  scientific  barbarism  could  in  the  end  only  work  its  own 
destruction.  Duelling  became  partly  a  profession,  partly  a  pretence.  But  it 
took  some  time  before  the  public  could  see  the  comic  side  of  such  fights  as — 

Clonmel  June  I.  Last  Tuesday  morning  a  duel  was  fought  in  a  field  near  Springs 
house  between  Alexander  English  of  Springfield  Esq.  and  Robert  Bradshaw  of  Alleen 
Esq.  Each  fired  a  case  of  pistols,  and  a  ball  from  one  of  Mr.  Bradshaw's  shots  grased 
the  right  thigh  of  Mr.  English  without  doing  any  injury,  each  gentleman  behaving  with 
becoming  valour.  The  second  to  Mr.  English,  James  Thomill  of  Tipperary  Esq.  To 
Mr.  Bradshaw  Edward  Croker  of  BrufF  in  the  county  of  Limerick  (uu). 

Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  of  the  local  duellists  was  "  Counsellor  " 
Walsh.  David  Walsh  was  the  representative  of  a  family  settled  near 
Clonmel,  probably  from  the  time  of  King  John  ;  the  townlands  "Mooretown- 
walsh,"  "  Croanwalsh,"  and  others  record  their  territorial  importance.  His 
great  grandfather,  John  Walsh,  at  the  Cromwellian  period  was  Ormondes  law 
adviser,  and  therefore  succeeded  in  recovering  considerable  part  of  the 
estates.  In  1780  "  the  Counsellor  "  was  returned  to  parliament  for  Fethard 
in  the  O'Callaghan-Ponsonby  interest.  At  the  bar  Walsh's  leadership  was 
acknowledged ;  in  parliament  he  seemed  destined  to  achieve  equal  fame. 
During  the  debate  consequent  on  the  Declaration  of  Irish  Independence  he 
showed  a  sagacity  and  foresight  which  his  leader,  Grattan,  unfortunately 
lacked.  A  contemporary  has  sketched  the  episode :  "  Mr.  David  Walshe,  an 
able  pertinacious  lawyer,  courageous  and  not  conciliating,  had  a  clear  head, 
a  suspicious,  perverse  mind,  and  a  temper  that  never  would  outstretch  itself 
to  meet  pacific  objects.  He  debated  well  but  was  too  intemperate  to  acquire 
or  maintain  a  general  popularity.  His  speech  on  this  memorable  night 
concluded  with  these  remarkable  expressions  : — 

"  I  repeat  it  that  until  England  declares  unequivocally  by  an  Act  of  her 
own  Legislature,  that  she  had  no  right  in  any  instance  to  make  laws  to  bind 
Ireland,  the  usurped  power  of  English  legislation  never  can  be  considered  by 
us  as  relinquished.  We  want  not  the  concessions  of  England  to  restore  us 
our  liberties.  If  we  are  true  to  ourselves,  we  possess  the  fortitude,  we  possess 
the  will,  and  thank  God  we  possess  the  power  to  assert  our  rights  as  men  and 
accomplish  our  independence  as  a  nation  "  (vv), 

fit)  Personal  Sketches  and  Recollections  of  His  Own  Times. — Glasgow  Edition,  pp.  261-5. 

fuu)  Freeman* s  Journal,  June,  1775. 

(w)  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Irish  Nation,  Barrington,  p.  108. 


History  of  Clonmel.  is? 

Walsh  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  gunpowder,  though  several  of  his  duels 

were  of  the  opera-bouflfe  order : — 

We  hear  from  Clonmell  that  a  dispute  having  arose  last  week  between  Captain 
Byron  of  the  army  and  Mr.  Walsh  of  that  town,  they  resolved  on  deciding  it  by  a  Duel 
at  an  appointed  Place  in  the  country  where  they  accordingly  met  and  each  Gentleman 
discharged  a  Pistol.  One  was  hit  on  the  Instep  which  broke  the  buckle  in  his  shoe,  and 
the  other  had  a  Ball  passed  through  his  skirt  and  coat  pocket  on  which  the  Seconds 
interfered  afresh  and  happily  prevented  further  ill  consequences  by  reconciling  the 
parties  (ww). 

His  encounter  with  the  celebrated  Curran  was  equally  wonderful. 

Curran,  when  a  stripling  unknown  to  fame  provoked  a  quarrel  in  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Clonmel  with  Walsh,  the  mob  favourite  of  the  day,  and  they  went  out  accompanied 
by  the  whole  court,  except  the  judge  and  jury.  They  were  taken  to  a  field  well  enclosed 
with  hedges,  and  placed  in  opposite  comers  just  as  if  they  had  been  a  pair  of  bulls 
turned  into  a  paddock.  The  whole  population  from  the  outside  of  the  fence  eagerly 
watched  and  encouraged  their  mutual  advances.  They  both  fired  and  missed  :  "lame 
and  impotent  conclusion,"  provocative  of  derisive  cheers  amid  the  echoes  of  which  the 
combatants  re-entered  the  court  to  receive  the  ironical  congratulations  of  their  long- 
robed  brethren.    The  affair  had  occupied  three  quarters  of  an  hour  (xx). 

After  many  a  fight,  the  end  of  the  old  fire-eater  came  with  a  fearful  and 
pathetic  fitness.  Broken  in  fortune  and  character,  he  lived  for  many  years  in 
the  fine  mansion  at  the  corner  of  Mary  and  Peter  streets..  One  evening  in 
1802,  the  sole  retainer  who  shared  the  house  with  him,  returned,  unable  to 
obtain  the  necessaries  of  life.  A  few  minutes  later  Walsh's  career  closed. 
The  pistol  with  which  he  had  paid  the  mistaken  debt  of  honour  to  others, 
rendered  a  like  service  to  himself  (yyj. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  centiu-y  the  gentry  began  to  raise  their  eyes 
above  the  level  of  the  table  or  the  saddle.  The  volunteer  movement,  and  the 
agitation  for  parliamentary  independence,  were  inspiring  ideals.  For  the 
first  time  the  Cromwellian  landowners  appear  in  Irish  history  with  that  dignity 
which  the  passion  for  a  cause  confers.  The  earliest  volunteer  corps  raised  in 
Tipperary  was  a  company  formed  on  May  1st,  1776,  by  Sir  Cornelius  Maude, 
together  with  a  troop  of  horse  under  Captain  Benjamin  Bunbury.  Not  until 
three  years  later,  June  4th,  1779,  the  "  Clonmel  Independents  "  were  formed. 


(ww)  Freeman's  Journal^  June  14,  1764. 

(ax)  BenUey's  Magazine,  June,  1853. 

(yy/  Duelling  was  not  altogether  confined  to  the  gentry,  nor  its  pernicious  influence  limited  by 
social  rank.  The  Catholic  archbishop  of  Cashel,  as  well  as  the  bishops  of  Waterford,  had  repeatedly 
to  warn  the  people  against  the  practice.  **  Spectators  are  severely  punished  by  the  church  because 
by  their  presence  they  countenance  that  horrid  crime  and  thereby  excite  the  passions  of  the  unhappy 
duellists  and  encourage  them  to  murder  each  other.  A  person  who  is  mortally  wounded  in  a  duel 
even  though  he  may  repent  and  be  absolved,  is  to  be  denied  Christian  burial.  Moreover,  the 
following  persons  incur  ex-communication,  viz.  :— He  who  sends  a  message  verbal  or  written,  for 
fighting  a  duel ;  the  bearer  of  said  message  ;  and  the  person  who  accepts  or  receives  it,  although 
there  should  be  no  duel." — Statutes  of  Archbishop  Bray,  p.  104.  It  is  probable,  too,  that  the  example 
of  their  "  betters  "  gave  not  a  little  encouragement  to  faction  fighting. 


158  History  of  Clonmel. 

They  consisted  of  two  companies,  one  light  battalibn,  the  uniform  being 

scarlet  coat  with  black  facings  and  white  buttons,  white  vest  and  breeches. 

The  following  was  the  staff:— 

Colonel,  Richard  Moore. 

Major,  John  Watson. 

/William  Lloyde. 

I  George  Robbins. 
Lieutenants,    ^  John  Jones. 

[Terence  McGrath. 

^Hugh  Meagher, 
Adjutant,  John  Kelly. 

Chaplain,  Nicholas  Milly  O'Doyle. 

Surgeon,  Robert  Constable. 

Secretary,  Thomas  Morton. 

Still  more  picturesque  was  the  troop  of  horse  formed  6th  January,  1781, 

known  as  the  "  Clogheen  Union."    The  uniform  was  scarlet,  faced  light  blue ; 

edged  silver  lace,  white  buttons,  silver  epaulets,  white  jackets  edged  red. 

The  furniture  was  goat  skin  turned  red  ;  the  staff — 

Colonel,  Cornelius  O'Callaghan. 

Captain,  Thomas  Clutterbuck. 

Lieutenant,  James  Butler. 

Adjutant,  Thomas  Vowell. 

Surgeon,  John  Foliot. 

"""sSS^}   Charles  Tuckey. 

The  "  Carrick  Union  "  and  "  Caher  Union  "  companies  were  almost 
entirely  Catholic.  The  former  was  enrolled  September,  1779;  the  latter 
January,  1781 ;  their  respective  staffs  being — 

Carrick, 

Colonel,  George  Earl  Tyrone. 

Major,  William  Alcock. 

Captain,  Edward  M.  Mandevil. 

T  ;o.,to«o«*e  i  Richard  O'Donnell. 

Lieutenants  [  wiUiam  Smyth. 

Ensign,  Richard  Sauce. 

Adjutant,  William  Smjrth. 

Cahir, 

Colonel,  Hon.  Pierce  Butler. 

Captain,  William  Hayes. 

Lieutenants.  {feiSh^H^J^, 
Ensign,  Pierce  Butler  (zz). 


(sz)  •'  Munster  Volunteer  Registry,  by  Richard  Kenna  of  Curraghmore  Rangers,  Light 
Dragoons."  The  *  Hon.  Pierce  Butler '  became  in  1786  loth  Baron  Cahir,  and  the  last  of  the 
ancient  line.  Lieutenant  Richard  Nagle  was  his  kinsman.  Kate  Nagle,  sister  of  Richard,  was  the 
theme  of  Lysaght's  poem — "  Lovely  Kate  of  Garnavilla." 


History  of  Clonmel.  i69 

The  "  first  Munster  Volunteer  review  was  held  in  a  field  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  near  Clonmel "  on  lOth  July,  1782.  The  Hibernian  Magazine  of  the 
date  contains  a  somewhat  eccentric  report  of  the  proceedings. 

The  artillery  and  infantry  assembled  on  the  Grand  Parade  and  marched  thence  to 
the  ground.  Tipperary  artillery  Captain  Clement  Sadlier,  2  field  pieces  on  the  right, 
Cashel  ditto  on  the  left.  Infantry,  Ormond  Union  4  companies,  Major  William  Barker. 
Waterford  First  Royal  Dragoons  3  companies.  Ormond  Independents  4  companies, 
Colonel  Daniel  Toler.  Cashel  Volunteers  4  companies.  Colonel  Richard  Pennefather. 
Limerick  Independents  4  companies,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Prendergast.  Iverk 
Volunteers  I  company.  Colonel  Richard  Cox.  Fethard  Volunteers  2  companies,  Lieut.- 
Colonel  Mathew  Jacob.  Carrick  Union  I  company.  Colonel  the  Rt.  Hon.  Earl  Tyrone, 
K.S.P.  Clonmel  Independents  2  companies.  Colonel  Richard  Moore.  Callan  Union  I 
company,  Captain  Richard  Elliot.  Tipperary  Volunteers  I  company.  Captain  D.  G. 
Russell. 

Twenty-one  rounds  of  artillery  on  the  flank  greeted  the  General  Henry  Prittie  on 
his  arrival  at  12  o'clock.  He  was  met  by  Lord  Le  Poer,  Colonel  of  3rd  Ulster 
Volunteers,  etc.,  etc.  The  evolutions  were  performed  to  the  entire  satisfaction  and 
applause  of  the  General  and  the  most  numerous  and  splendid  concourse  of  people  ever 
seen  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom.  The  General,  his  aides-de-camp,  the  Earl  of  Tyrone, 
Lord  Le  Poer  with  other  gentlemen  were  sumptuously  entertained  at  dinner  by  Colonel 
Moore  and  the  Clonmel  Independents  at  the  Court  House. 

With  the  spread  of  the  military  spirit,  the  sentiment  of  nationality  which 
had  been  dormant  since  the  days  of  Swift  awoke  again ;  the  strangely 
unfamiliar  words  "liberty"  and  "independence"  began  to  be  heard  once 
more  in  the  mouths  of  country  gentlemen  and  traders  in  towns.  It  is 
instructive  to  note  the  growth  of  national  opinion  in  Tipperary. 

[1780.]  A  most  respectable  and  numerous  meeting  of  freeholders  was  held  in 
Clonmel  on  30  March  presided  over  by  Lord  Kingsborough,  as  the  High  Sheriff  did  not 
attend.  Sir  Edward  Newenham  moved  several  spirited  resolutions  which  were  seconded 
by  John  Bagwell  of  Belgrove,  Counsellor  FitzGerald,  John  Bagwell  of  Kilmore,  Daniel 
Toler,  Mr.  Frazer,  and  others.  These  gentlemen  showed  that  unless  parliament  secured 
the  independence  of  the  kingdom  there  was  no  security  for  the  late  commercial 
advantages  (a). 

Two  years  later  mere  political  logic  gave  way  to  open  defiance  of 
England ;  the  artillery  on  the  flank  and  the  infantry  in  the  centre,  had  not 
thundered  in  vain  : — 

We  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Coiinty  of  Tipperary  at  Spring  Assizes  1782  assembled, 
think  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  country  and  ourselves,  calls  upon  us  thus  to  declare — 

That  the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland,  are  the  only  power  competent  to 
make  laws  to  bind  this  kingdom,  and  that  every  attempt  by  any  other  body  of  men  to 
exercise  this  right  is  unconstitutional  and  a  grievance. 

Francis  Mathew,  Sheriff. 

But  though  the  "  other  body  of  men  "  for  the  time  being  bowed  to  the 
inevitable,  yet  British  statesmen  henceforth  from  Portland  to  Pitt,  only  sought 
an  opportunity  to  undermine  the  parliamentary  fabric  raised  by  Grattan. 

(a)  Hibeniian  Magazine^  p.  229. 


160  HISTORY   OF  CLONMEL. 

Judicious  doles  from  the  pension  fund,  and  an  open  traffic  in  peerages, 
corrupted  the  members.  The  grudging  concession  of  the  limited  franchise, 
of  the  right  to  serve  as  jurors  and  purchase  land,  did  not  satisfy  the  Catholics 
while  it  exasperated  the  extreme  Protestants — the  staunchest  supporters, 
perhaps,  of  parliamentary  independence.  Finally,  the  excesses  of  the  French 
revolution  added  to  the  alarm  of  the  one,  while  they  extinguished  in  the 
other  all  hope  of  constitutional  reform.  To  this  train  of  combustibles  the 
spark  was  laid  by  the  Presbyterians  who  formed  the  body  known  as  the 
United  Irishmen.  Frankly  republican,  they  sympathised  with  the  French 
and  opened  negociations  for  a  French  invasion  of  Ireland  (b).  The  British 
Government,  now  in  panic,  let  loose  on  the  country  hordes  of  soldiery  and 
merciless  yeomanry  to  explode  the  disaffection  before  the  French  could 
arrive.  Picketing,  flogging,  half-hanging,  pitch  capping,  went  on  through- 
out a  great  part  of  Ireland.  In  Tipperary  the  agent  provocateur  selected  by 
Lord  Camden,  was  Thomas  Judkin  Fitzgerald,  High  Sheriff  of  the  county. 

Fitzgerald  who  lived  at  Lisheen,  near  Cashel,  belonged  to  the  half  savage, 
petty  gentry,  denounced  by  Young  and  the  writers  of  the  time  as  the  plague 
of  the  country.  His  real  name  was  Uniacke,  but  his  father  and  grandfather 
having  made  marriages  of  convenience,  adopted  the  names  Judkin  and 
Fitzgerald.  A  fitter  instrument  could  not  have  been  chosen.  Week  after 
week  Fitzgerald  and  his  Hessian  troop  scoured  the  country.  Peasants 
suspected  of  being  "  croppies  "  were  lodged  in  gaol.  On  market  days  a 
number  of  them  were  brought  forth,  stripped  half  naked  and  tied  to  a  car ; 
they  were  then  drawn  from  the  Main  Guard  to  the  West  Gate  and  back,  two 
soldiers  one  at  either  side  flogging  them  alternately  (c).  Nor  were  his  victims 
confined  to  the  humbler  class.  One  of  the  best  known  traders  in  Carrick,  a 
man  named  Doyle,  was  flogged  in  the  hope  of  extracting  some  information 
about  the  croppies,  but  he  had  none  to  give.  Similarly  Jeremiah  McGrath, 
the  innkeeper  of  Clogheen.  At  a  sessions  in  Cashel  under  the  Insurrection 
Act,  three  tenants  of  Lord  LandafF  were  tried  by  over  a  dozen  yeomanry 
magistrates  and  acquitted.  A  few  days  later  Fitzgerald  arriving  there, 
ordered  Mr.  Smithwick  and  Mr.  Butler,  of  Ballycarron,  to  bring  them  back 
under  the  penalty  of  being  flogged  themselves;  the  unhappy  men  were 
brought  back  and  flogged.  The  sheriff  imprisoned  Mr.  Denis  O'Meagher,  of 
Kilmoyler,  with  his  father  and  uncle,  and  Mr.  Smithwick,  at  that  time  a  man 
of  eighty ;  the  Hon.  Francis  Hutchinson,  however,  procured  their  release. 


(b)  These  parties  are  described  under  religious  names  as  the  most  convenient  classification. 
Their  raisott  d'etre  was  not  religion  but  other  motives,  political,  social  and  racial. 

(c)  Thirty  years  since,  a  woman  then  in  extreme  old  age  who  witnessed  this,  several  Saturdays 
from  a  window  in  the  Main  Street,  gave  the  revolting  particulars  to  the  writer. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i61 

Fitzgerald  boasted  in  Clonmel  one  day  that  he  would  have  a  papist  of  large 
fortune,  a  deputy  governor  of  the  county,  either  flogged  or  hanged.  John 
Lalor,  of  Cranagh,  being  the  person  pointed  at,  accompanied  by  Hutchinson 
immediately  proceeded  to  Clogheen  where  Fitzgerald  was  engaged  in 
flogging.  The  sheriff  denied  that  the  threat  was  intended  for  Lalor,  but 
Colonel  John  Bagwell,  who  was  a  close  friend  of  Lalor's,  at  once  set  out  for 
Dublin.  There  he  learned  from  Cooke,  the  Under  Secretary,  that  Fitzgerald 
had  actually  applied  for  a  warrant  to  arrest  Lalor  (d).  If,  indeed,  the  conduct 
of  this  miscreant  had  not  been  investigated  by  juries  of  his  own  class,  we 
should  reject  the  evidence  as  simply  incredible.  The  principal  merchant  in 
Carrick-on-Suir  at  this  period  was  Mathew  Scott.  His  personal  character 
and  his  numerous  acts  of  charity  and  benevolence  to  the  poor  of  that  town 
were  sworn  to  by  Charles  Wall  of  Coolnamuck,  Richard  Sause,  the  banker 
of  Carrick,  Rev.  James  Smyth,  Protestant  rector.  Captain  Lorenzo  H.  Jephson 
and  others.  In  April,  1798,  it  was  testified  that  he  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
Captain  Jephson  1,000  barrels  of  oats  to  be  sold  to  the  poor  at  a  low  price, 
and  at  the  same  time  raised  a  large  sum  of  money  to  carry  on  the  ratteen 
manufacture  for  the  purpose  of  giving  employment.  But  anyone  who 
sympathized  with  the  poor  and  the  down  trodden  in  those  days  was  a  marked 
man.  On  the  22nd  June,  1798,  the  High  Sheriff  with  a  party  of  Hessian  and 
yeomen  cavalry  came  to  Carrick  (e).  Scott  was  put  under  arrest,  being 
charged  by  the  sheriff  with  sending  pikes  to  Ross  concealed  in  oats.  In  vain 
did  the  unhappy  man  protest  that  he  had  never  sent  a  barrel  of  oats  to  Ross 
with  pikes  or  otherwise ;  in  vain  did  the  gentry  of  the  town  and  neighbour- 
hood assure  the  sheriff  of  his  loyalty  and  undertake  to  bail  him  in  the  sum 
of  £100,000.  He  was  brought  to  Clonmel  and  lodged  in  gaol.  Three  days 
later  General  St.  John,  commanding  in  the  district,  sent  Hackett,  the  mayor 
of  Clonmel,  to  intimate  to  Scott  that  he  should  be  released  on  finding  bail. 


(d)  On  the  occasion  of  their  visit  to  Clogheen  Fitzgerald  flogged  McGrath  supra.  Hutchinson 
described  the  episode  :  *'  I  was  myself  present  when  similar  acts  were  committed  by  Mr.  Fitzgerald . 
In  the  town  of  Clogheen  there  was  a  man  of  some  property  and  good  character  who  kept  an  inn  ; 
and  this  man  was  brought  out  of  his  house  by  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  tied  up  to  a  ladder  and  whipped.  When 
he  had  received  some  lashes  Mr.  Fitzgerald  asked  him  'Who  swore  you  ? '  The  man  answered 
he  never  was  sworn.  After  a  few  more  stripes  the  question  was  repeated  and  received  with  a 
similar  answer.  The  remedy  was  resumed  for  the  supposed  obstinacy  with  this  additional 
suggestion,  •  If  you  do  not  confess  I'll  cut  you  to  death.*  The  man  unable  to  bear  the  torture  any 
longer  then  did  name  a  person  who,  he  said,  had  sworn  him  ;  but  the  moment  he  was  cut  down  he 
said  to  Lord  Cahir,  *  The  man  never  swore  me,  but  he  [Fitzgerald]  would  cut  me  to  death  if  I  did 
not  accuse  somebody,  and  to  save  my  life  I  told  the  lie.'  "—Proceedings  in  House  of  Commons  on 
petition  of  T.  J.  Fitzgerald,  p.  38. 

(c)  On  this  occasion  he  arrested  Timothy  Lynch,  a  chandler  and  a  yeoman  of  Captain  Jephson's 
corps,  "  for  having  the  low  forehead  of  a  rebel,"  and  imprisoned  him  in  Clonmel.  He  struck  with 
his  sword  Laurence  Keating  walking  in  the  street,  and  bade  him  *'  as  a  damned  rascal  kneel  down 
and  take  off  his  hat  to  the  High  Sheriff,"  etc.,  etc. — all  put  in  evidence. 

M 


162  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  latter  declined,  but  appealed  to  the  general  for  immediate  trial  by  court 
martial.  The  High  Sheriff  being  summoned  from  Cashel,  made  the  excuse 
that  two  pf  his  witnesses  had  absconded,  and  Scott  despairing  of  a  trial 
entered  into  bonds  for  £20,000,  and  was  released  after  twelve  days' 
imprisonment. 

At  the  Clonmel  summer  assizes,  1/99,  in  the  case  of  Scott  v,  Fitzgerald 
for  £5,000  damages,  the  defence  set  up  by  the  sheriff  was  that  he  had  acted 
on  the  information  of  one  Stephen  Devanny.  On  cross  examination  it  came 
out  that  the  sheriff  had  taken  Devanny  with  him  from  Clonmel  gaol  in  order 
to  point  out  rebels  in  Carrick.  Furthermore,  Devanny  was  at  the  time 
undergoing  sentence  for  perjury  ffj. 

More  remarkable  still  were  the  facts  elicited  in  the  case  Wright  v. 
Fitzgerald  at  the  Assizes,  March  14th,  1799.  This  was  an  action  for  £l,000 
damages  brought  by  Mr.  Bernard  Wright,  a  teacher  of  French,  against 
Thomas  Judkin  Fitzgerald,  late  high  sheriff. 

"  William  Nicholson  Esq.  deposed  that  he  knew  both  plaintiff  and  defendant.  That 
plaintiff  hearing  the  high  sheriff  had  expressed  an  intention  of  arresting  him  (plaintiff), 
was  accompanied  by  witness  to  the  high  sheriff.  Witness  told  the  latter  Wright  had 
come  to  surrender  himself,  on  which  the  high  sheriff  said  to  Wright  *  Fall  on  your 
knees  and  receive  your  sentence  for  you  are  a  rebel,  and  you  have  been  a  principal  in 
the  rebellion ;  you  have  to  receive  five  hundred  lashes  and  then  to  be  shot.*  Witness 
endeavoured  in  vain  to  convince  the  high  sheriff  of  Wright's  innocence  whom  he  had 
known  from  his  childhood  and  had  always  known  to  be  a  loyal  man." 

"Solomon  Watson,  a  Quaker,  affirmed  that  he  had  known  defendant  having 
flogged  some  labourers  on  account  of  the  kind  of  waistcoats  they  wore.  He  had  known 
defendant  knock  down  an  old  man  in  the  street  for  not  taking  off  his  hat  to  him.  On 
29  May,  1798,  the  high  sheriff  told  witness  he  was  going  to  whip  a  set  of  rebels.  Saw 
Wright  brought  to  the  ladder  under  a  guard ;  had  his  hands  to  his  face,  seemed  to  be 
praying ;  saw  him  on  his  knees  at  the  ladder.  Defendant  pulled  off  Wright's  hat, 
stamped  on  it,  dragged  him  by  the  hair,  struck  him  with  his  sword  and  kicked  him  ; 
blood  flowed ;  and  then  dragged  him  to  the  ladder ;  selected  some  strong  men  and  cried 
*  Tie  up  citizen  Wright.'  Wright  begged  to  have  a  clergyman  but  his  request  was 
refused ;  then  the  flogging  began.  Defendant  ordered  first  fifty  lashes.  He  pulled  a 
paper  written  in  French  out  of  his  pocket,  gave  it  to  Major  Riall  as  furnishing  his 
reasons  for  flogging  Wright  (g).  Major  Riall  read  the  paper  and  returned  it. 
Defendant  then  ordered  fifty  lashes  more,  after  which  he  asked  how  many  lashes 
Wright  had  received,  being  answered  he  said  *Cut  the  waistband  of  the  rascal's 
breeches,  and  give  him  fifty  there.'  The  lashes  were  inflicted  severely ;  defendant  then 
asked  for  a  rope ;  was  angry  there  was  no  rope ;  desired  a  rope  to  be  got  ready,  while 
he  went  to  the  general  for  an  order  to  hang  him.  Defendant  went  down  the  street 
towards  the  general's  lodgings.  When  he  returned  he  ordered  Wright  back  to  jail, 
saying  he  would  flog  him  again  the  next  day. 


(f)  Mathew  Scott  Merchant  Pltff .,  Thomas  Judkin  Fitzgerald  Defend.     Clonmel  Assizes,  i  Aug., 

1799. 

(g)  In  the  debate  in  the  Commons  on  this  case  Hon.  Mr.  Yelverton  read  the  letter  of  which  the 
translation  ran  :  "  Sir,  I  am  extremely  sorry  I  cannot  wait  on  you  at  the  hour  appointed  being 
unavoidably  obliged  to  attend  Sir  Laurence  Parsons.     Yours,  Baron  Clues.    To  B.  Wright,  Esq." 


History  of  Clonmel.  i63 

"  Major  Riall  being  examined,  deposed  that  the  high  sheriff  produced  two  papers, 
one  of  which  being  in  French  he  (the  high  sheriff)  did  not  understand,  but  gave  it  to  him 
to  read  as  containing  matter  that  furnished  ground  for  the  flogging.  Witness  read  the 
paper,  and  returned  it  saying  it  was  no  wise  treasonable ;  that  it  was  from  a  French 
gentleman,  the  Baron  de  Clues,  making  an  excuse  for  not  keeping  an  appointment, 
being  obliged  to  wait  on  Sir  Laurence  Parsons.  Wright  however  was  flogged  after 
witness  had  explained  the  nature  of  the  letter  to  the  high  sherifif.  Next  day  witness 
accompanied  the  high  sheriff  to  see  Wright  in  gaol.  Saw  him  kneeling  on  his  bed, 
while  they  were  speaking  to  him,  being  unable  to  lie  down  with  soreness.  Witness 
further  deposed  that  he  knew  of  three  innocent  persons  flogged  one  of  whom  was 
Wright. 

"  The  Rev.  T.  Prior,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  deposed  that  he  had  known 
Bernard  Wright  from  his  earliest  youth,  and  that  he  had  always  conducted  himself  as 
an  orderly,  loyal,  and  moral  man. 

"  The  high  sheriff  in  an  animated  speech  of  two  hours  defended  the  practice  of 
flogging  as  a  means  of  discovering  treasonable  secrets ;  that  he  had  flogged  a  man 
nam^  Nipper,  alias  Dwyer,  who  confessed  that  Wright  was  a  secretary  of  the  United 
Irishmen,  and  this  information  he  could  not  get  before  the  flogging." 

The  jury  found  a  verdict  for  Wright  with  £500  damages.  On  6th  April 
following,  Fitzgerald  petitioned  the  House  of  Commons  "  to  be  indemnified 
for  certain  acts  done  by  him  in  the  suppression  of  the  late  rebellion."  The 
government  mustered  their  followers,  and  carried  through  an  Act  of  Indemnity 
in  accordance  with  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner.  But  the  judges,  to  their 
honour,  refused  an  application  in  the  Exchequer  to  set  aside  the  Clonmel 
verdict.  Fitzgerald,  however,  was  at  no  loss  ;  he  had  done  the  government 
business  efficiently.  In  the  House  of  Commons  "  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke  bore 
testimony  to  the  national  services  performed  by  the  petitioner,"  and  on  August 
5th,  1801,  the  King  was  graciously  pleased  to  confer  the  dignity  of  Baronet 
on  Thomas  Judkin  Fitzgerald,  Esq.,  of  Lisheen  (h). 

Throughout  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  was  not  at  any  time  the 
least  attempt  at  insurrection  in  Tipperary.  When  the  Wexford  conflagration 
was  at  its  height.  Dr.  Bray,  the  Catholic  archbishop  of  Cashel,  wrote  to  Dr. 
Moylan  of  Cork — "  I  am  happy  to  understand  the  County  Cork  is  so  tranquil. 
This  county  is  perfectly  so  "  (i). 


(h)  Report  of  Trial,  Wright  v.  Fitzgerald,  Clonmel  Assizes.  Proceedings  on  petition  of  Thomas 
J.  Fitzgerald  to  the  House  of  Commons.  T.  Clarke  Luby,  who  from  his  family  and  local  connexion 
must  have  had  excellent  opportunities  of  knowing  the  Fitzgeralds,  has  given  an  extraordinary  account 
of  the  end  of  the  family.  "  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  add  that  the  memory  of  this  wretch  is 
embalmed  in  the  traditional  hatred  of  the  people  in  Tipperary  ;  so  much  so  that  a  few  years  ago 
when  his  grandson,  under  the  pressure  of  some  private  misfortunes,  committed  suicide  by  tying  a 
heavy  stone  round  his  neck  and  drowning  himself,  the  rage  of  the  peasantry  would  hardly  suSer 
his  remains  to  receive  human  not  to  say  Christian  burial.  It  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  the 
unfortunate  man's  body  Anally  found  a  grave.  It  appears  Sir  Thomas's  son  also  met  with  a  violent 
death,  and  his  great  grandson  hanged  himself  by  accident,  showing  how  his  great  grandfather  used 
to  hang  the  "  croppies."— Life  of  O'Connell,  p.  148. 

(i)  Bray  to  Moylan,  7th  July,  1798,  Renehan  Papers,  p.  374.  In  the  light  of  all  this,  the  "  98 
Memorial "  set  up  in  front  of  the  Town  Hall,  looks  as  grotesque  from  an  historic  as  it  is  from  an 
esthetic  stand-point. 


164  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  country  was  now  prostrate,  held  down  by  a  force  of  140,000  men. 
One  section  of  the  Protestant  national  party  had  joined  the  insurgents ;  the 
other  section  had  united  with  government  in  crushing  them.  The  opportune 
time,  therefore,  had  arrived  for  the  English  minister  to  carry  out  his  design 
of  a  legislative  union.  In  June,  1799,  Lord  Castlereagh  made  urgent  appeals 
to  Dr.  Bray  to  procure  discreetly.  Catholic  signatures  in  favour  of  the  Union 
in  Tipperary  and  Waterford.  But  the  archbishop  was  not  so  easily  caught ; 
he  assured  his  lordship  that  he,  as  a  Catholic  bishop,  had  little  influence. 
The  Union  might  prove  to  be  a  useful  measure,  but  bishops  injure  their  own 
character  and  the  cause  of  religion  by  interfering  against  the  wishes  of  the 
people  (j),  Cornwallis,  the  viceroy,  came  at  the  same  time  to  Marlfield  to 
visit  the  Bagwells,  three  of  whom  were  members  of  parliament.  He  made 
John  Bagwell,  the  father,  some  offers  but  the  bargain  was  not  struck,  for 
Bagwell  held  out  for  higher  terms  (k).  However,  after  much  effort,  some 
opinion  in  favour  of  the  Union  was  manufactured.  Lord  Clare,  through  his 
notorious  niece  the  baroness  of  Cahir,  obtained  a  petition  from  that  town  for 
the  Union.  Hely-Hutchinson  gave  his  support  and  influence  on  the  promise 
of  the  Earldom  of  Donoughmore  (I).  Agar,  Protestant  archbishop  of  Cashel, 
secured  his  son-in-law,  Hawarden,  in  consideration  of  further  promotion, 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  (m).  But  the  overwhelming  majority,  Protestant  and 
Catholic,  were  opposed  to  the  measure.  Tipperary  County  sent  a  strong 
petition,  among  the  signatures  being  Lords  Lismore,  Clonbrock,  Mountcashel 
and  Maxwell,  Sir  Thomas  Osborne,  Hon.  John  Hussey,  C.  B.  Ponsonby, 
William  Bagwell,  W.  H.  Armstrong.  John  Bagwell  wrote  to  Cornwallis  that 
"  the  principal  part  of  the  freeholders  of  the  county  of  Tipperary  have 
signed  resolutions  against  the  Union."  Public  opinion,  therefore,  had  to  be 
suppressed.    What  took  place  in  Clonmel  is  instructive  and  characteristic. 

CLONMEL. 

Feb.  2,  1799. 
A  considerable  number  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  this  town,  deeming  it  proper 
to  meet  and  express  their  sentiments  on  the  important  subject  of  a  Legislative  Union 
between  this  country  and  Great  Britain,  signed  a  requisition  to  the  Mayor  for  that 
purpose  which  was  complied  with,  and  Thursday,  January  31st,  was  appointed  by  the 
Mayor  for  the  meeting  and  published  in  the  Clonmel  Journal,  but  on  the:day  preceding, 
a  notice  was  inserted  that  no  meeting  could  take  place — in  consequence  of  which  the 
Mayor  was  waited  on  by  several  gentlemen  to  assign  his  reason  for  such  a  notice,  when 
he  informed  them  that  the  general  officer  commanding  the  district,  came  to  him  and 
desired  that  no  such  meeting  should  take  place,  and  that  if  it  was  attempted  he  would 
disperse  it  with  a  military  force.    [Italics  in  original.] 


(j)  Renehan  Papers,  p.  375. 
(k)  Cornwallis  Correspondence. 
(I)  Created  29th  December,  1800. 

(m)  Agar  was  created  Viscount  Somerton  21st  December,  1800.    Archbishop  of  Dublin,  7th 
December,  1801. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i65 

We  therefore  the  undersigned  inhabitants  of  the  town,  feeling  it  inconsistent  with 
the  duty  we  owe  our  country  and  ourselves,  to  remain  silent  at  this  momentous  crisis, 
do  by  individual  signature  to  the  resolutions  declare  them  to  be  our  sentiments. 

That  though  the  project  of  a  Legislative  Union  of  this  country  with  Great  Britain 
has  for  the  present  been  defeated  by  the  wisdom  and  independence  of  that  Parliament, 
which  such  a  measure  was  intended  to  abolish,  we  consider  it  our  duty  equally  with 
that  of  the  kingdom  at  large  thus  publicly  to  declare  our  sentiments,  as  we  have  reason 
to  apprehend  such  an  attempt  may  in  a  future  desperate  moment  be  revived. 

That  this  kingdom  has  rapidly  advanced  in  prosperity  since  the  establishment  of 
an  Independent  Legislature  in  the  year  1782 — and  that  the  town  of  Clonmel  has  shared 
largely  in  the  general  improvement. 

That  the  advantages  promised  by  the  advocates  of  this  measure  are  dubious  and 
speculative,  and  that  even  were  they  ascertained  and  positive,  we  would  not  consent  to 
purchase  them  by  a  surrender  of  our  liberties  and  constitution. 

Signed  by  109  of  the  principal  inhabitants  among  whom  were  the  following  gentle- 
men constituting  the  Bankers  of  the  town — William  Riall,  Charles  Riall,  P.  Riall  («). 

But  patriotic  appeals  to  the  national  well-being  had  little  effect  on  a 
Parliament  whose  only  interest  in  the  country  was  of  the  kind  the  shark  takes 
in  his  prey.  One  of  the  members  for  Clonmel,  Stephen  Moore  of  Sapperton, 
of  the  numerous  Mountcashel  progeny,  had  his  eye  on  a  postmastership,  a 
lucrative  office  at  the  time.  The  other  member,  Thomas  Newenham,  a  strong 
anti-unionist,  conveniently  retired  for  a  barrister,  John  Dennis,  who  was  more 
open  to  the  persuasive  gifts  of  Under  Secretary  Cooke.  Lord  Mathew,  the 
senior  county  member,  sprung  from  a  family  sympathizing  with  the  common 
people  and  secretly  sharing  their  religion,  consistently  opposed  the  union. 
The  attitude  of  the  Bagwells  is  curiously  illuminative.  John  Bagwell  was 
junior  member  for  the  county  ;  his  two  sons,  John  and  William,  were  members 
for  the  boroughs  of  Cashel  and  Rathcormack  respectively.  All  three  were  at 
first  opposed  to  the  union.  After  the  visit  of  Cornwall  is  to  Marlfield,  the 
viceroy  was  able  to  assure  the  Duke  of  Portland  that  Bagwell  would  give 
"  unqualified  support  to  the  union,"  and  he  adds  significantly  "  the  objects  he 
solicited  were  promised."  But  in  the  slippery  diplomacy  of  the  time,  Bagwell 
soon  learned  the  difference  between  performance  and  promise,  and  so  in  the 
final  division,  6th  February,  1800,  the  three  Bagwells  once  more  voted  against 
the  union.  In  the  "Original  Black  List"  of  Sir  Jonah  Barrington,  the 
episode  is  thus  set  down  : — 

Names,  Observations, 

John  Bagwell,  sen.  ...  ...        Changed  twice;  got  half  the  patronage  of 

Tipperary ;  his  son  a  Dean,  etc.,  etc. 

John  Bagwell,  jun.  ...  ...        Changed  twice ;  got  the  Tipperary  Regiment, 

etc. 

William  Bagwell     ...  ...        His  brother;  changed  sides  twice ;  concluded 

as  a  Unionist  (0). 

(n)  Rights  of  the  Imperial  Crown  of  Ireland,  George  Barnes,  Dublin,  1803,  p.  no.  "The 
military  commander  who  prevented  the  meeting  is  Sir  Charles  Asqill,  Bart.,  condemned  to  be 
hung  in  America  and  whose  life  was  saved  by  the  intercession  of  the  late  Queen  of  France." 

(0)  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Irish  Nation,  Appendix.    This  was  the  price  of  the  qualified  support. 


166  History  of  Clonmel. 

Thus  in  a  morass  of  corruption  disappeared  Grattan*s  Parliament,  the 
solitary  attempt  made  by  the  Cromwell  ian  squires  in  250  years  of  power  to 
fulfil  their  responsibilities. 

At  this  point  the  topographical  changes  in  the  town  during  the  previous 
century  and  a  half  may  be  conveniently  noted.  From  the  Cromwellian 
settlement  in  1654  onward,  the  population  steadily,  if  slowly,  increased ;  the 
thousand  or  so  enumerated  in  the  census  of  1660,  had  multiplied  five  fold 
in  1766.  That  year  owing  to  an  outbreak  of  persecuting  spirit.  Parliament 
ordered  a  return  to  be  made  of  the  number  and  proportion  of  Protestants  and 
Catholics.    The  vicar  of  St.  Mary's  reported  : — 

A  Relation  of  the  number  of  families  in  the  parish  of  Clonmel  in  the  Diocese  of 
Lismore  and  separate  counties  of  Tipperary  and  Waterford  by  Rev.  Joseph  Moore, 
Vicar  thereof. 

Number  of  Protestant  Families    320 
Number  of  Popish  Families        1 1 26 
2  Reputed  Popish  Priests. 
2  Reputed  Fryars  (p). 

Taking  a  family  average  of  five,  and  allowing  for  the  country  portions 
of  the  parish,  the  town  population  would  be  about  5,000.    With  the  growth  of 
population,  wealth  increased  in  fair  proportion,  and  the  town  wore  a  tolerably 
decent  aspect.    Travellers  who  had  passed  through  the  congeries  of  hovels 
that  most  Irish   towns   then   were,   had   nothing  but  praise  for    Clonmel. 
Clarendon,  Lord  Lieutenant,  describes  it  in  1686  as  "  a  very  pretty  town ; "  a 
French   authority   in   1744  as  "  a  fairly  strong  town,  and  passably  good- 
looking  and  prosperous"  (gj.     Smith,  the  historian  of  Waterford,  was  equally 
impressed  though  his  language  is  somewhat  equivocal.     "  The  town  has  a 
handsome  appearance  from  this  side  of  the  water."    More  enthusiastic  by 
nature  than  the  philosophic  Smith  was  John  Wesley,  who  came  to  preach  in 
May,  1756.     "The  pleasantest  town  beyond  all  comparison,  which  I  have  yet 
seen  in  Ireland."    Luckome,  a  tourist  who  visited  Clonmel  just  before  its 
expansion  under  the  milling  industry,  gives  interesting  details.     "  It  consists 
of  four  cross  streets,  formerly  fortified  with  a  square  wall.    The  streets  lead 
to  each  of  the  gates.    The  portcullises  of  some  of  the  gates  are  remaining 
though  useless.    There  is  a  very  spacious  bridge  over  the  Suire,  just  out  of 
the  gate  to  the  right,  of  twenty  arches.    The  market  house,  the  only  uniform 
building  I  saw  in  the  whole  town,  is  indeed  very  neatly  built  mostly  of 
marble  in  the  best  taste,  but  lessens  the  passage  of  the  Main  Street."    De 
Burgo  in  1762  is  lavish  of  praise  :  "  A  beautiful  and  opulent  town,  a  well- 
known  emporium  of  trade,  whose  two  fairs  on  5  May  and  5  November  are 
very  largely  attended." 


(PJ  Parliamentary  Returns,  F.R.O.  (qj  Grand  Dictionnaire,  Moreri. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i67 

Perhaps  not  a  little  of  the  prosperous  air  which  the  town  assumed  w^s 
due  to  the  fact  that  many  of  the  local  gentry  resided  within  the  walls. 
Among  the  Clonmel  wills  are  those  of  Moores,  Alcocks,  Beeres,  Hamertons, 
Dennisons,  Meades,  Salmons,  and,  at  a  later  period,  Biggs,  Bagwells, 
Gordons,  Kellets,  Markhams,  Luthers,  Walshes. 

The  changes  which  the  street  nomenclature  underwent,  are  indicative  of 
the  politico-religious  ascendancy  of  the  period.  '*  Our  Ladie  Street "  became 
"Church  Lane."  "Lough  Street,"  for  some  years  after  the  Cromwellian 
assault  called  "  Breech  Street,"  and  subsequently  from  the  gaol  erected  there 
"Jail  Street,"  was  named  in  1798  "Johnson  Street,"  in  compliment  to  Sir 
Henry  Johnson,  Colonel  of  the  5th  Foot,  who  defeated  the  insurgents  at 
Ross  (r).  In  the  same  year  the  the  ancient  "  Boat  Street "  was  designated 
"  Duncan  Street,"  to  commemorate  the  victory  over  the  Dutch  fleet  of  Admiral 
Duncan,  Lord  Camperdown.  Previously  another  British  admiral,  Edward 
Hawke,  had  given  his  name  to  the  old  "  Sheelane  Street,"  and  after  Trafalgar 
it  was  only  fitting  that  the  name  of  Nelson  should  find  a  habitat ;  the 
thoroughfare  by  the  barrack  and  the  new  courthouse  became  therefore 
"Nelson  Street."  And  not  only  was  there  cultus  paid  to  the  admirals  and 
generals,  but  the  lords  lieutenant  of  the  day  were  duly  enshrined.  "  New 
Jail  Street "  was  styled  "  Richmond  Street "  on  the  visit  of  the  duke  of  that 
name  to  the  town  in  1808.  Similarly  "Banfield's  Buildings,"  reminiscent  of 
honourable  and  successful  industry,  became  "  Anglesey  Street" 

Luckome  greatly  admired  the  "  uniformity  "  of  the  market  house,  "  being 
neatly  built,  mostly  of  marble  in  the  best  taste."  The  reader  will  with 
difficulty  recognize  the  old  Main  Guard  building  under  this  literary  raiment. 
But  though  the  marble  existed  only  in  the  writer's  fancy,  the  fabric  itself  was 
not  unpicturesque.  The  ground  storey  in  which  the  present  shops  are 
constructed,  was  once  an  open  arcade.  Five  semi-circular  arches  supported 
by  massive  cylindrical  columns  formed  the  west  front,  and  two  of  a  similar 
character,  the  north.  When  the  sun  was  high,  and  the  arcade  afforded  strong 
contrasts  of  light  and  shadow  with  groups  of  lazzaroni  lying  about,  faint 
memories  of  Venice  were  doubtless  recalled  to  the  classical  tourist.  Nor  was 
the  building  altogether  wanting  in  historic  associations.  In  1662  the  Ormonds 
after  the  lapse  of  two  generations  were  again  lords  of  the  Palatinate.  To 
house  therefore  the  local  Chancery,  Common  Pleas  and  courts  of  criminal 
jurisdiction  with  becoming  dignity,  no  less  a  person  than  Sir  Christopher 


(r)  Johnson  was  a  brave  man,  but  an  incapable  general.  Cornwallis  did  not  share  in  the 
enthusiasm  for  him  of  the  Clonmel  loyalists.  His  estimate  of  Johnson  is  summed  up  in  the  one 
word  "blockhead." 


History  of  Clonmel.  i69 

roof-line,  the  two-storied  houses  with  dormer  windows  in  the  attic,  the 
occasional  gable  projecting  on  the  street,  the  neglected  footways,  the  open 
sewers,  were  all  seen  even  by  the  grandfathers  of  men  still  living.  Perhaps 
the  most  distinctive  feature  were  the  shop  signs.  These  were  fixed 
over  the  doors  flush  with  the  wall,  or  more  commonly,  were  suspended 
from  a  projecting  crane.  Like  everything  else  at  the  period,  they  were 
characteristically  English— "The  Sun"  of  the  House  of  York,  "The  Swan  " 
of  that  of  Lancaster,  "The  Royal  Oak  "  of  Charles  H.,  "The  Spread  Eagle" 
of  the  Crusaders,  "  Shakespeare's  Head  "  where  Thomas  Gordon  sold  State 
Lottery  tickets.  Then  there  were  "The  Plough,"  "The  Bear,"  "The  Yellow 
Bottle,"  "The  Letters,"  "The  Wheat  Sheaf,"  "The  Anchor,"  "The  Bell," 
and  one  or  two  with  Irish  names  as  "The  Shamrock"  and  "The  Rock  of 
Cashel." 

About  1750  the  principal  inns  appear  to  have  been  the  "  Spread  Eagle  " 
at  the  end  of  the  cul  de  sac  adjoining  the  West  Gate,  subsequently  known  as 
Grubb's  Court,  and  the  "  Bear  "  in  Braham's  Lane,  off  the  High  Street.  Later 
on  we  find  "the  Great  Globe  and  the  Little  Globe,  nearly  joining  on  the  left 
hand  side  of  Dublin  Street  as  you  come  from  the  metropolis,  and  the  Ormond 
Inn  in  Johnson's  Street,  all  very  respectable  Houses."  And  clubs  were  not 
quite  unknown.  "  The  Commercial  Buildings  or  Coffee  House  stands  in  the 
Main  Street  near  the  old  Court  House.  It  is  a  new,  large  and  well-built 
edifice,  but  no  way  remarkable.  It  is  supported  by  an  annual  subscription  of 
two  guineas  from  each  member;  military  Gentlemen  and  Strangers  are 
admitted  gratis  "  (s). 

The  post  office  appears  to  have  made  several  peregrinations  through  the 
town  according  to  the  domicile  of  the  master  appointed  at  each  vacancy.  In 
1787  it  was  carried  on  by  Thomas  Shaw  in  Main  Street,  "woolen  draper, 
timber  merchant  and  post  master  office  "  (sic).  As  a  by-occupation  the  post 
naturally  was  often  neglected.  In  December,  1759,  for  example,  William 
Perry  asks  Carleton,  the  Cork  banker,  to  acknowledge  remittances,  "  as  our 
post  office  in  Clonmell  has  at  times  been  negligent  I  should  be  glad  to  hear 
of  their  being  got  to  hand."  Sometimes,  however,  the  non-arrival  of  the 
mails  was  due  to  another  cause — the  Knights  of  the  Road  intercepted  them  (t). 
But  the  postal  service  on  its  side  had  complaints  to  make.  The  privilege  of 
franking  which  belonged  to  members  of  the  legislature  was  largely  availed 
of  by  the  general  public,  and  nowhere  more  than  in  Clonmel.    An  Inspector 


fs)  Mason  Survey,  P.R.O. 

(t)  For  example— 1742.     Proclamation  for  apprehending  and  convicting  the  Persons  aincerned 
in  robbing  the  Post  Boy  and  Post  Mail  in  the  Road  from  Cashel  to  Clonmel. 


170  History  of  Clonmel. 

of  Franks  who  visited  the  town  in  1773  found  that  out  of  1,035  franked  letters 
only  509  were  genuine,  and  there  was  no  remedy ;  Lees,  the  secretary,  could 
not  prevail  on  the  grand  jury  to  find  a  bill. 

A  public  building  which,  at  the  period,  attracted  more  notice  than  the 
post  office  was  the  County  Gaol.  This  stood  in  Lough  Street,  directly  opposite 
to  the  present  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  church.  It  was  erected  towards  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was,  according  to  Sir  Richard  Cox,  the 
strongest  prison  in  Ireland  at  the  time  (u).  This  character,  however,  it  failed 
to  maintain,  for  the  newspapers  regularly  contain  notices  of  the  escape  of 
prisoners. 

[1767]  Clonmel,  July  15. — About  one  o'clock  yesterday  morning  six  men  and  a 
woman  made  their  escape  from  our  Jail  by  knocking  down  the  woman,  her  son  and 
servant  maid  who  kept  the  Jail  and  forcing  from  them  the  key  of  the  Hatch  Door,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  the  vigilance  of  Capt.  Moore,  our  worthy  chief  magistrate,  all  the 
Felons  who  were  confined  in  other  apartments  would  likewise  have  effected  their 
escape  (v). 

So  frequent,  indeed,  were  the  escapes,  that  in  1772  the  high  sheriff, 
Chidley  Moore,  applied  to  the  Dublin  authorities  for  a  military  guard.  Even 
then  the  gaol  was  sometimes  broken.  In  1776  Hayes  who  was  awaiting  trial 
for  the  murder  of  Ambrose  Power  of  Barretstown,  escaped.  For  this,  Slattery 
and  Cole,  the  gaolers,  were  tried  the  following  assizes  and  imprisoned.  Yet 
on  July  5th  the  next  year  eight  more  prisoners  were  at  large.  The  description 
of  the  gaol  given  by  Howard,  the  philanthropist,  reveals  perhaps  a  more 
extraordinary  state  of  things. 

Clonmell  Gaol  [1787.]  The  six  dungeons  very  dirty.  A  large  dunghill  in  the 
yard.  A  military  guard  as  in  most  of  the  prisons  in  Ireland,  consisting  of  twelve 
men  under  the  command  of  a  sergeant  and  corporal.  Some  of  them  were  playing  at 
tennis  in  the  prison  yard.  Such  diversions  as  occasion  riot  and  confusion  should  in 
these  places  be  strictly  prohibited.  Several  prisoners  died  here  [of  typhus]  a  little 
before  the  April  assize  1787.  At  my  last  visit  I  found  that  men  and  women  debtors  were 
confined  in  the  same  room.  Though  the  dungeons  were  crowded  yet  at  night  some  of 
the  wives  and  children  of  the  felons  continued  with  them.  Few  of  the  men  were  in 
irons  and  the  savage  custom  of  putting  irons  on  women  is  practised  only  in  England. 
A  new  gaol  for  this  county  is  now  building. 

1787  June  12.     Debtors  lO.    Felons,  etc.  51. 

1788  May  5.      Debtors  19.    Felons,  etc.  62  (w). 

The  new  gaol  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  present  constabulary  barrack 
in  Richmond  Street.  A  description  of  it  while  it  was  yet  new  has  come 
down  to  us. 

in)  Smith  MSS.,  K.I.A. 

(v)  The  Public  Register. 

fw)  An  account  of  the  Principal  Lazarettos,  etc.    London,  1791. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i71 

It  is  in  form  of  a  Greek  1 1  with  a  large  yard  in  the  centre  and  is  surrounded 
with  a  very  high  wall.  Notwithstanding  the  strength  of  this  prison  many  have  effected 
their  escape  out  of  it  within  these  twelve  years.  Until  of  late  the  cells  were  most 
uncomfortable  situations,  especially  in  winter,  the  windows  having  no  other  barrier 
against  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  than  whatever  little  wisp  of  straw  the  prisoners 
could  stuff  between  the  bars.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Stephenson  and  Robert  Grubb  Esq.  (to  whom 
the  unfortunate  people  confined  from  time  to  time  in  the  gaol  are  much  indebted)  took 
'  particular  care  to  have  these  windows  glazed  with  the  addition  of  wooden  shutters  (x). 

No  executions  took  place  within  the  gaol ;  the  culprits  were  drawn  on  a 
car  to  Gibbet  Hill,  or  Gallows  Hill,  as  it  is  now  called.  Occasionally,  as  in  the 
case  of  Father  Sheehy,  they  were  hanged  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  gaol  fyj. 
The  bodies  were  usually  handed  over  to  the  relatives,  and  instances  are  on 
record  in  which  persons  executed  were  restored  to  life.  Edmund  Grady  was 
tried  for  rape  at  the  spring  assizes,  1776,  and  hanged  on  the  27th  April.  He 
was  duly  carried  away  for  interment,  but  the  spinal  column  not  having  been 
broken  he  revived  during  the  wake.  After  sometime  he  was  recaptured  and 
brought  up  again  for  sentence  at  the  next  spring  assizes,  with  the  result : 

Clonmel  May  5  [1777.]  Edmund  Grady  who  was  hanged  last  year  and  came  to 
life  again  was  on  Saturday  executed  in  the  street  facing  the  jail  door.  The  sheriff  gave 
previous  directions  to  the  hangman  not  to  attempt  cutting  Grady  down  until  such  time 
as  he  gave  orders,  and  accordingly  he  hung  over  an  hour  and  five  minutes  (0). 

Besides  the  gallows  and  the  gaol  there  was,  for  venial  offences,  the 
pillory.  This  was  erected  outside  the  east  gate,  and  doubtless  was  regularly 
furnished  with  its  quota  of  victims,  male  and  female.  The  corporation 
appears  to  have  been  responsible  for  its  maintenance. 

Vill,  de  Clonmel,  ff.  At  a  Council  held  6  December,  1695,  before  John  Moore, 
Mayor. 

Ordered.  That  the  Stocks  in  the  Suburbs  be  viewed  and  repaired  by  the 
Bailiffs 

At  a  Meeting  of  the  Corporation,  24  June,  1755. 

Ordered.  That  the  new  stocks  made  for  the  use  of  the  Corporation  be  payd  for  by 
the  Chamberlain. 

From  the  earliest  period  the  markets  were  held  at  the  "  Town  Cross." 
But  the  inconvenience  of  exposing  for  sale  in  the  public  street,  flesh  meat  and 
fish,  was  long  felt.    In  the  seventeenth  century  shambles  were  constructed 


fx)  Mason  Survey,  P.R.O. 

(y)  The  last  execution  on  Gallows  Hill,  of  which  I  have  seen  a  notice,  was  29th  August,  1785. 

(z)  Hiberttian  Magazine,  May,  1777.  The  report  of  these  assizes  is  instructive.  "  Christopher 
Loughlin  for  stealing  a  pair  of  candlesticks  out  of  the  dwellinghouse  of  Joseph  Grubb  of  Clonmel,  to 
be  executed  on  Saturday,  the  third  of  May  next.  Patrick  Kielly  for  rescuing  a  deserter  at  Cashel  to 
be  whipt  at  Cashel,  on  Saturday,  the  19th  of  April  next  and  the  Wednesday  following,  being  the  two 
market  days.  John  Listoon  the  elder,  being  a  papist,  for  concealing  fire  arms,  fined  £$0  and  to  be 
confined  twelve  months,"  etc.,  etc. 


172  History  of  Clonmel. 

in  the  lane  off  the  High  Street,  afterwards  known   as  the  Blue  Anchor. 

Subsequently  they  fell  into  disuse,  and  from  1650  onward  Shambles'  Lane 

was  only  a  name.     In  1746  John  Power,  a  former  town  clerk,  leased  a  piece 

of  ground  to  the  rere  of  the  Tholsel  from  Samuel  Perry  at  a  rent  of  £5  a  year. 

On  this  new  shambles  were  erected,  and  the  obliging  corporation  passed  a 

law  prohibiting,  under  severe  penalties,  the  sale  of  meat  elsewhere  than  in  ' 

the  shambles.    A  public  service  was  thus  rendered,  and  Power  was  enabled 

to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  county  family — the  Powers  of  Kilfane  (aa).    By 

the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  these  shambles  began  to  get  out  of  repair 

and  new  ones  were  built  in  the  lane  to  the  north  of  Hawke  Street.    "  Within 

a  few   years  a  very   fine   and  extensive  shambles  was  erected  by  John 

Bagwell,  Esq.,  from  whom  it  is  rented  by  the  Butchers ;  the  old  shambles 

was,  indeed,  a  scandalous  one  "  (hb).    About  1790,  when  the  old  Jail  in  Lough 

Street  was  pulled  down,  the  site  was  converted  into  a  potato  and  vegetable 

market.    This  continued  for  some  thirty  years  until  the  market  in  New  Street 

was  opened. 

The  markets  were  subject  to  the  control  of  an  important  functionary 

called  the  borough   weighmaster.    By  the  Act  4  Ann,  c.   14,  the  mayor 

appointed  a  weighmaster  who  was  sworn  "  justly  and  indifferently  to  weigh 

all  goods  brought  unto  him  between  buyer  and  seller  "  at  a  charge  of  one 

halfpenny  "  a  draught "  under  one  cwt.,  and  one  penny  over.      The  mayor 

was  also  to  provide  a  standard  balance  and  weights.    The  Clonmel  Dear 

Hundred  Jury  in  1710  prescribed — 

That  the  sworn  way  master  of  Clonmell,  may  see  all  goods  waid,  directed  to  be 
waid  by  him,  and  pass  his  own  note  under  his  own  hand,  and  no  other  note  may  pass 
but  his,  or  appoynt  some  protestant  to  officiate  the  same,  pursuant  to  the  late  Act  of 
Parliament. 

Besides  securing  justice  to  the  public  in  the  weight  of  goods,  the  quality 

of  certain  articles  was  guaranteed  by  law.    The  charter  of  James  I.  enacted 

that— 

Ye  said  Mayor  of  ye  said  town  of  Clonmel  for  ye  time  being  and  his  successors  for 
ever  successevely  be  ye  Clerk  and  Master  of  ye  Say  within  ye  town  and  Borough 
aforesaid  and  ye  fifrandiises  of  ye  same  and  have  ye  assize  of  Bread,  Wine  and  Beer  and 
ye  correction  and  amendment  of  ye  same  from  time  to  time. 

And  this  power  the  mayor  exercised  down  to  a  comparatively  late 
period. 


(aa)  John  Power  was  father  of  Ambrose  Power,  of  Barretstown,  who  took  an  active  part  against 
the  White  Boys  and  was  murdered  by  them  at  his  own  door  November  27th,  1775.  His  great  grand- 
son married  Harriet  Bushe  of  Kilfane,  and  was  created  baronet  15th  July,  1836. " 

(bb)  Mason  Survey. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


173 


Assize  of  Bread. 

By  order  of  the  Worshipful  Richard  Moore,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  Clonmel,  the  price  of 
flour  being  4  li.  per  Bag,  with  an  allowance  to  the  Baker  of  8s.  the  Wheaten,  and  Qs.  on 
the  Household. 

Wheaten.  I  Household. 


lb. 

0/. 

dr.         1 

lb. 

oz. 

dr. 

One  penny 

0 

i 

00 

00 

05 

3 

Two  penny 

0 

00       ! 

00 

10 

6 

Four  penny 

I 

00 

01 

01 

05 

3 

Six  penny 

I 

08 

03       1 

02 

00 

0 

Nine  penny 

2 

04 

04 

03 

00 

0 

Twelve  penny  3 

01 

3       1 

4 

00 

2 

Richard  Moore,  Mayor. 

As  the  Bakers  are  allowed  Qs.  on  the  Quarter  of  Household  Bread,  the  Mayor 
expects  that  they  will  bake  an  equal  quantity  of  the  Household  and  of  the  Wheaten. 
He  will  not  suffer  any  bread  to  be  made,  baked  or  sold  except  by  a  Registered  Baker 
and  marked  with  his  name. 

June  14,  1800  (cc). 

Perhaps  nothing  can  express  better  than  this  the  distance  that  separates 
us  from  the  eighteenth  century. 


(cc)  Clonmel  Journal,  July  16,  1800. 


Ohapxbr  X. 


CLONMEL   IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY, 

CHE  Moore  regime  in  Clonmel  came  to  an  end  in  l8oo,  and  that  of  the 
Bagwells  began.  On  the  9th  of  August  of  that  year,  John  Bagwell, 
of  Marlfield,  purchased  from  Lords  Enniskillen  and  Desert,  as 
trustees  for  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  "  the  lordship,  manor  or  reputed 
manor  of  the  town  of  Clonmel,  and  all  rights,  royalties  and  franchises 
appertaining  thereto."  The  grant  purported  to  convey  "  all  the  messuages, 
houses,  lands,  wastes  and  waste  plots,  within  the  walls  of  the  said  town  of 
Clonmel,  and  all  the  burgagery  land  and  a  parcel  entitled  Duke's  Island  in 
the  barony  of  Upperthird  and  County  of  Waterford"  (dd). 

The  Bagwells  have  been  already  met  with  in  these  pages,  but  a  family 
which  was  thus  brought  into  such  important  relations  with  the  town,  and 
which  largely  influenced  its  history  for  the  next  fifty  years,  deserves  fuller 
notice. 

In  a  ledger  kept  by  Phineas  Riall,  merchant,  during  the  opening  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  two  families  of  the  name  occur.  The  first  is  "Mr. 
John  Bagwell"  who  farmed  the  lands  of  Ballyboy,  and  subsequently 
Ballylehane,  near  Ardfinnan.  He  was  successful,  it  would  seem,  in  his 
occupation  of  grazier,  for  in  January,  1710,  he  purchased  the  fee  farm  of 
RathcuUiheen,  Waterford,  on  the  freemen's  roll  of  which  city  his  name  and 
that  of  his  eldest  son,  John,  are  found  fee).    The  second  family  mentioned  is 


(dd)  The  conveyance  included  the  advowson  of  St.  Mary's,  though  that  patronage  had  been 
vested  in  the  corporation  for  centuries,  and  though  there  was  not  a  particle  of  evidence  to  show 
that  the  Ormonds  ever  even  claimed  it.  Reading  such  documents  one  is  sometimes  tempted  to  varv 
the  dictum  of  Douglas  Jerrold— "  Now  Barabbas  was  a  conveyancer." 

(cc)  William  Bagwell  by  deed  executed  I7lh  September,  1760,  sold  these  lands  for  /■760  to 
Simon  Newport.     I  cannot  trace  this  branch  of  the  Bagwells  further. 


History  of  Clonmel.  175 

that  of  "  Johnny  Bagwell  "  of  Clonmel.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  draper 
or  tailor,  as  under  date  November,  1707,  Riall  debits  Phanuell  Cooke  with 
"  £1  IS.  7d.  pd.  Johnny  Bagwell  for  your  coat"  The  founder  of  the  Marlfield 
family  was,  it  is  certain,  John  Bagwell,  of  Clonmel,  whose  will  was  proved 
in  1754,  and  it  may  be  taken  as  equally  certain  that  he  was  son  of  the 
"Johnny  Bagwell"  of  Riall's  ledger,  for  we  find  him  also  engaged  in  the 
drapery  trade  (ff).  But  John  Bagwell  sold  woollens  to  some  purpose  ;  he  was 
able  to  set  up  one  son,  John,  as  a  country  gentleman  at  Kilmore  where  the 
Bagwells  subsequently  won  a  fame  akin  to  notoriety.  The  other  son,  William, 
married  Anne,  daughter  of  John  Harper,  of  Cork,  partner  in  the  banking  firm 
of  Harper  and  Armstead,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  the  family  fortune. 
In  1754  William  Bagwell,  as  the  nominee  of  the  resident  freemen  against  the 
Moore  party,  fought  the  most  memorable  parliamentary  election  in  the 
history  of  the  town.  Having  unseated  Moore  on  petition,  he  survived  the 
election  only  two  years,  leaving  a  son,  John,  who  was  brought  up  by  the 
Harpers  in  Cork. 

This  John,  about  1781,  purchased  from  the  assigns  of  Stephen  Moore,  in 
bankruptcy,  the  fee-farm  of  Marlfield.  He  carried  on  the  corn  and  rape 
mills  there  for  several  years  with  conspicuous  success,  and  soon  became  one 
of  the  most  notable  figures  in  the  county.  The  Nonconformist  creed  which 
his  family  had  professed  was  an  obstacle  to  his  social  progress,  and  he  soon 
discarded  it.  Bagwell  had,  however,  a  better  qualification  for  admission 
into  the  ranks  of  the  Tipperary  gentry,  and  that  was  he  could  stand  fire. 
After  three  duels,  he  obtained  a  considerable  measure  of  social  recognition. 
Having  taken  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the  Tipperary  Militia  in 
I793>  he  was  rewarded  for  his  exertions  by  the  position  of  colonel  (gg),  and 
subsequently  was  returned  member  for  Tipperary  in  the  Irish  Parliament. 
Such  was  the  man  who  now  became  lord  of  the  manor  of  Clonmel. 

In  1800,  also,  Bagwell  acquired  a  sort  of  property  in  the  town — an 
"  incorporeal  hereditament "  that  will  be  sought  for  in  vain  in  Blackstone, 
or  the  evidence  of  it,  in  the  Registry  of  Deeds — namely,  the  ''patronage"  of 
the  borough.  On  the  31st  December  of  that  year,  the  following  entry  (one  of 
several)  appears  in  the  corporation  minute  book. 


iff)  In  the  executors'  accounts  of  John  Carleton,  Darlinghill,  are  the  items  "  Mr.  John  Bagwell, 
April  7,  1 73 1.  By  funerale  charges  in  his  way  £y]  Qs.  5d.  By  mourning  for  the  children 
jf45  15s.  3d."  Besides  John  Bagwell  there  were  in  Clonmel  at  the  period  Thomas  Bagwell, 
merchant,  William  Bagwell,  timber  importer,  and  Samuel  Bagwell,  collector  of  land  and  assessed 
taxes. 

(ik)  The  celebrated  J.  P.  Curran  one  day  in  Clonmel  being  asked  by  a  fellow  barrister  who  the 
veteran  riding  at  the  head  of  the  militia  regiment  was,  replied  "  Marshal  Saxt  with  the  flour  of 
Tipperary  at  his  back. " 


176  History  of  Clonmel. 

At  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  electing  five  burgesses  in  the  room  of  the  Hon. 
William  Moore,  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Robert  Moore,  the  Hon.  John  Moore,  William 
Folks  Moore,  and  John  Robertson  resigned. 

Ordered  that  Colonel  John  Bagwell  of  Marlfield,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Colonel  William 
Bagwell,  Richard  Bagwell,  Lieut.  Colonel  John  Bagwell,  Benjamin  Bousfield,  John 
Keighly  jun.,  Arthur  Gething  of  Lorintoun,  Charles  Riall  of  Clonmel,  Edward  Crocker 
of  Ballinaguard,  and  William  Pennefather  of  Darlinghill,  Esq.,  be  and  are  hereby 
admitted  Freemen  of  this  Corporation. 

The  valuable  consideration  is  not  set  forth,  but  the  names  of  the  second 
party  to  this  agreement  merit  attention.  They  are  John  Bagwell,  the  new 
patron  ;  his  three  sons  ;  his  son-in-law ;  his  cousin  german ;  his  wife's  brother- 
in-law,  Croker ;  Croker's  cousin  german,  Pennefather,  together  with  Benjamin 
Bousfield  and  Arthur  Gething — poor  relations  probably ;  not  discoverable  in 
the  pedigrees.  In  this  family  arrangement  there  is  no  appearance  on  the 
part  of  the  persons  who  might  be  supposed  to  be  principally  concerned  in 
the  corporation  of  Clonmel,  namely,  the  resident  citizens.  Not  even  the 
formal  legal  notice  was  served  on  them ;  and  they  probably  looked  on  the 
whole  thing  as  the  succession  of  an  Amuruth  to  an  Amurath.  Only  among 
certain  corporate  officials  was  there  a  flutter.  On  the  24th  July,  1801,  John 
Burke,  chamberlain  of  the  town,  wrote  to  a  friend : — 

I  can  hear  it  whispered  that  all  grounds  leased  by  the  late  Corporation  will  be 
severely  investigated  fhh). 

During  this  year  the  Bagwells  evidently  busied  themselves  about  the 
spoils,  for  on  4th  June,  l802,  Burke  again  wrote  : — 

I  have  reason  to  think  the  24th  of  this  month,  will  put  a  period  to  my  agency ;  it 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  present  Corporation  can  be  friendly  to  me  or  permit  me 
to  hold  any  place  of  emolument  under  them,  from  my  opposition  to  that  party  for 
many  years  past.  My  not  being  a  satellite  of  theirs,  but  at  all  times  firmly  attached  to 
the  Earl  of  Mountcashel  and  his  fast  friends,  renders  me  incapable  of  holding  an 
Employment  or  even  Grounds  from  them. 

They  will  take  all  if  they  can,  now  is  the  cry.  Every  lease  is  bad  and  illegally 
granted  by  the  Old  Corporation.    From  such  Grippers,  Lord  deliver  us  {it). 

Yet  though  there  was  not  a  ripple  on  the  surface  of  public  opinion, 
Bagwell  did  not  acquire  a  more  absolute  dominion  of  Marlfield  than  he  did  of 
the  corporation — its  privileges,  parliamentary  and  municipal,  its  patronage, 
and  in  a  sense,  its  revenues  and  estates.  The  sum  paid  to  the  Moores  is  not 
now  discoverable,  if  it  ever  will  be ;  there  can  be  no  question,  however,  as  to 
the  value  received  by  Bagwell.  The  Commissioners  of  Inquiry  into  Irish 
Municipal  Corporations,  held  a  nine  days'  session  in  Clonmel,  October  1833. 
The  evidence  given,  and  the  report  of  the  Commissioners,  form  a  memoir  pour 
servir  as  instructive  as  it  is  unimpeachable.  The  corporate  machinery  is 
thus  described  by  the  Commissioners : — 

(hhj  John  Burke  to  Kingston  Power,  Kilworth.  fii)  Same  to  same. 


History  of  Clonmel,  177 

It  is  declared  by  the  charter  of  6  James  I.,  that  the  mayor  and  bailiffs  for  the  time 
being,  and  the  17  other  free  burgesses  shall  constitute  the  common  council.  The 
election  of  mayor  or  bailiffs  was  to  be  made  by  the  burgesses  and  the  commonalty,  [i.e.,  the 
freemen.]  Every  other  power  seems  to  have  been  given  to  the  mayor,  bailiffs,  free 
burgesses  and  the  commonalty.  Among  these,  however,  was  a  power  of  making  bye- 
laws  "  for  the  public  good  and  sound  government  of  the  said  town  or  borough  "  ;  and 
by  the  means  of  this  latter  power  the  commonalty  seem  to  have  been  deprived  of  every 
other.  The  commonalty  can  now  neither  elect  the  mayor  or  the  bailiffs,  or  admit  a 
freeman,  without  the  previous  nomination  of  the  council ;  so  that  for  a  great  number  of 
years  every  power  has  been,  in  fact,  exercised  by  this  select  body ;  and  this  select  body 
again  influenced  and  guided  by  the  patron  or  head  of  the  corporation. 

The  nature  of  the  influence  and  guidance,  we  learn  from  the  evidence  of 
William  Chay tor,  the  Bagwell  mayor. 

The  Commissioners — Has  any  one  individual  the  power  of  appointing  a  mayor? 

Mr.  Chay  tor — Yes.  Mr.  Bagwell  of  Marlfield  has  the  patronage  of  the  Corporation, 
at  least  as  far  back  as  I  can  remember ;  beyond  his  time  I  know  nothing  of  it.  I  should 
suppose  I  know  it  for  the  last  thirty  years ;  and  his  son  and  grandson  after  him.  Their 
recommendation  and  wishes  were  always  attended  to  in  the  Corporation ;  they  were 
supposed  to  be  the  head  of  the  Corporation.  I  have  never  known  an  instance  to  the 
contrary  to  their  wishes  being  attended  to  in  the  appointment  of  mayor,  and  during  a 
minority,  the  wishes  of  their  friends,  were  attended  to  in  like  manner. 

Not  only  did  the  Bagwells  appoint  the  mayor,  but  on  the  principle 
custodire  aistodes  they  secured  the  town  council  and  the  commonalty  also. 

Mr.  Chaytor — I  do  not  suppose  that  any  person  would  be  proposed  to  the  Council 
or  admitted  to  freedom  without  the  approbation  of  Mr.  Bagwell,  whose  influence  would 
procure  the  admission  of  any  number  of  freemen  he  pleased,  or  procure  their  rejection. 

Mr.  Bagwell  is  as  influential  in  appointing  freemen  as  he  is  in  anything  else. 

To  point  the  moral,  Edward  Labarte,  town  clerk,  stated — 

From  20th  January,  1819,  to  28th  December,  1832,  seven  persons  admitted  to  the 
freedom,  namely,  Mr.  Bagwell  and  his  six  cousins.    They  were  all  non-resident. 

The  corporation  being  thus  constituted,  the  sequel  is  obvious.  • 

The  ruling  body  seems  for  many  years  to  have  possessed  unlimited  and  irresponsible 
power  over  the  property  of  the  corporation,  a  power  which  it  appears  to  have  occasionally 
exercised  very  liberally  in  favour  of  some  of  its  own  members.  The  consequence  is 
that  the  rental  of  the  corporation  estates,  bears  now  but  little  proportion  to  their 
territorial  extent  or  value. 

No.  8  in  the  rent-roll,  is  the  Spa  lands  leased  to  John  Bagwell,  in  July,  1812,  for 
ever,  at  the  rent  of  £21  present  currency. 

It  appears  by  the  corporation  book,  that  on  the  24th  of  June,  i8i2,  it  was  ordered 
that  the  mayor  [Bagwell's  brother-in-law]  do  forthwith  execute  a  lease  for  ever  of  the  Spa 
lands  in  the  county  of  Waterford  with  all  the  mills,  tenements  and  timber  thereunto 
belonging,  as  formerly  let  to  George  Cole,  Esq.,  of  Clonmel,  deceased,  and  lately  in 
possession  of  William  Baker,  of  Dublin,  Esq.,  to  John  Bagwell  of  Marlfield,  in  as  full 
and  ample  a  manner,  etc,  at  the  yearly  rent  of  twenty  guineas  to  commence  rent  from 
the  25th  of  March  last  past. 

N 


178  History  of  Clonmel. 

A  lease  was  granted  in  pursuance  of  that  order,  bearing  date  in  July,  l8l2.  The 
lands  demised  are  situate  in  the  county  of  Waterford  about  an  English  mile  from 
Clonmel,  and  contain  4lac  ir.  Irish  measure.  It  would  seem  that  this  lease  was  made 
at  an  under  value. 

At  the  time  that  this  lease  was  ordered  and  granted,  Mr.  Bagwell  was  patron  of  the 
corporation,  and  also  one  of  the  bailifis  and  burgesses. 

Mr.  Bagwell  himself,  and  several  of  his  relatives  were  present  at  the  council  which 
made  that  order. 

We  were  referred  to  another  instance  of  the  council's  directing  a  lease  to  be  granted 
to  a  member  of  its  body,  that  is,  to  Colonel  William  Bagwell.  The  order  for  this  lease 
is  dated  the  20th  January,  1819,  viz. :-— "Ordered,  that  the  Mayor  do  forthwith  execute 
a  lease  for  ever  to  the  Right  Honourable  William  Bagwell,  of  all  that  and  those  parts 
of  the  corporation  lands,  in  as  ample  a  manner  as  same  were  demised  to  William 
Craddockby  lease  bearing  date  the  23rd  of  September,  17 19,  and  assigned  by  James 
Craddock,  representative  of  said  William  Craddock  to  John  Hayman,  late  of  Clonmel, 
gentleman,  and  as  lately  occupied  by  John  Daniel  and  his  under  tenants,  at  the  yearly 
rent  of  £20."  This  is  supposed  to  be  No.  9  in  rental.  At  the  time  this  order  was  made, 
Colonel  William  Bagwell  was  present,  and  was  then  one  of  the  bailiffs,  and  it  would 
seem  that  several  of  his  relations  and  connexions,  members  of  the  council,  were  also 
present  Colonel  William  Bagwell  went  into  possession  of  the  lands  immediately  after 
the  order  was  made,  as  Craddock's  lease  had  expired.  No  lease  pursuant  to  the  order, 
appears  to  have  been  executed. 

We  did  not  discover  any  bye-law  on  the  corporation  books,  regulating  the  granting 
of  leases,  but  the  entire  power  of  disposing  of  the  corporate  property  is  assumed  by  the 
council ;  we  presume  under  the  bye-law  of  lOth  June,  1754. 

But  the  facility  of  annexing  the  corporate  property  was,  perhaps,  the  least 
valuable  part  of  the  Bagwell  patronage.  For  the  truth  is,  that  nearly  all  of 
the  huge  estate  with  which  the  De  Burghs  had  originally  endowed  the  town, 
was  already  appropriated  by  the  Ormonds  and  other  patrons.  At  a 
comparatively  late  period  the  Bagwells  acquired  by  purchase  the  burgagery 
lands,  which  unquestionably  once  belonged  to  the  town.  When  the  fact  was 
forgotten,  popular  rumour  traced  the  title  of  these  lands  also  to  their  corporate 
jobbery. 

If  the  patron  did  not  derive  much  emolument  from  the  lands,  there  were 
certain  offices  connected  with  the  corporation  of  a  highly  valuable  character. 

The  Commissioners— Had  the  Bagwell  family  any  influence  in  the  election  of 
members  of  parliament  for  this  borough  ? 

Mr.  Chaytor— Yes,  they  had ;  they  were  equally  influential  till  the  Reform  Bill. 

The  blessed  peace  which  was  vouchsafed  to  the  borough,  as  the  result  of 
this  domestic  arrangement,  we  learn  from  a  reply  of  the  town  clerk  to  the 
Under  Secretary  of  the  day  : — 

Clonmel,  17  March,  1829. 
Sir-— I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  13th  instant,  and  in 
reply,  have  to  inform  you  that  since  the  Union  there  has  not  been  a  contest  for  the 
representation  of  the  Town  and  Borough  of  Clonmel. 

I  am,  Sir,  etc., 

Edward  Labarte. 
To  William  Gregory,  Esq. 


History  of  Clonmel.  179 

The  members  of  parliament  for  the  period  were  William  Bagwell ;  John 
Kiely  his  first  cousin ;  James  Hewit  Massey-Dawson,  and  his  son-in-law,  Eyre 
Coote — Coote  being  a  stepson  of  Jane  Bagwell. 

Besides  the  mayoralty,  to  which  a  salary  of  £l8o  was  attached,  the  patron 
enjoyed  the  right  of  presentation  to  the  Protestant  living  of  St.  Mary's, 
about  £500  a  year,  to  the  weighmastership  of  the  town  worth  a  similar  sum, 
not  to  mention  less  lucrative  oflSces,  as  that  of  bailiff,  and  master  of  the  Free 
School.  And  so  completely  were  the  corporate  interests  merged  in  those  of 
the  Bagwell  family,  that  the  tolls  of  both  were  collected  and  funded  together ; 
while  the  corporate  leases  were  kept  in  Mr.  Bagwell's  oflSce,  James  Douglas 
being  at  once  sheriff  of  the  town  and  agent  for  Mr.  Bagwell  (jj). 

The  pocket  borough  system,  however,  was  nearing  the  end.  Parliamen- 
tary reform  was  coming,  and  with  it  inevitably,  the  reconstruction  of  municipal 
corporations  on  a  popular  basis.  Even  in  Clonmel  one  might  discern  the 
signs  of  the  times.  Two  years  after  Bagwell  had  secured  the  patronage  of 
the  town,  he  set  about  building  new  shambles.  These  were  completed  by 
9th  of  September,  1803,  when  a  by-law  was  made  by  the  corporation 
forbidding  the  sale  of  butchers'  meat  elsewhere  than  in  the  shambles,  under 
a  penalty  of  twenty  shillings,  and  forfeiture  of  the  meat  so  exposed  for  sale. 
The  Clonmel  Gazette  ventiu-ed  to  comment  on  the  '  supreme  power '  of  the 
patron  who 

Obliged  the  butchers  of  Clonmel  to  march  with  their  property  from  the  station 
where  they  could  exercise  their  calling  at  a  ninetieth  part  of  the  profits'  expense,  to 
another  where  those  of  them  who  deal  most  extensively  are  compelled  to  pay  a  fifteenth, 
and  the  less  wealthy  a  tenth.  Who  also  transferred  the  victuallers  of  the  poor  to  the 
costly  stalls  of  those  for  the  affluent. 

An  inoffensive  poor  inhabitant  who  with  another  rents  a  small  shop  in  the  Main 
Street,  a  few  weeks  since  had  a  quantity  of  mutton  forcibly  taken  out  of  his  house, 
notwithstanding  the  shrieks  of  his  affrighted  wife,  and  Bagwell  afterwards  sent  to  him 
and  promised  to  restore  the  mutton,  if  he  would  take  a  stall.  He  has  since  been 
threatened  with  a  process  of  ejectment 

The  writer  having  further  charged  Bagwell,  as  Colonel  of  the  Tipperary 
militia,  with  witholding  the  "  marching  guinea  "  from  some  of  the  recruits, 
a  libel  action  was  the  result  (kk).  Though  the  paper  was  ruined,  the  episode 
is  noteworthy  as  evidence  of  the  growth  of  an  independent  press,  and  of 
healthy  public  opinion. 


(jj)  Report  of  Commissioners  on  Municipal  Corporations  in  Ireland.  William  Hanna  and 
Maurice  King,  Sub-Commissioners.— London,  1835.  Evidence  Taken  at  the  Clonmel  Corporation 
Inquiry.    Printed  at  the  Free  Press  Office,  Clonmel,  1833. 

(kk)  Bagwell  V.  Power,  Clonmel  Assizes,  August  nth,  1804. 


180  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  corporation,  too,  evading  its  legitimate  responsibilities,  was  being 
superseded  by  other  bodies.  The  Protestant  vestry  of  St  Mary's  fulfilled  at 
the  time  some  of  the  functions  of  the  corporation. 

1804.  Mr.  Daniel  Brien  having  offered  to  light  about  200  lamps,  or  such  number 
of  lamps  as  shall  appear  to  the  Committee  to  be  necessary,  for  no  nights,  and  to 
collect  the  money  to  be  laid  in  for  that  purpose,  at  the  rate  of  £i  4s.  per  lamp  for 
lighting  and  collecting  same,  the  Committee  first  putting  the  said  lamps  and  iron 
work  in  good  order. 

Ordered  That  the  Committee  do  execute  a  contract  with  the  said  Daniel  O'Brien 
on  said  terms  (//). 

In  1830,  under  the  Act  9  Geo.  IV.,  c.  82,  a  statutory  body  of  twenty-one 
commissioners  was  created  for  the  purposes  of  lighting  and  watching  the 
town.  These  were  elected  by  the  inhabitants  generally,  and  were  empowered 
to  levy  a  tax  on  all  houses  and  tenements  of  the  value  of  £5  upwards.  The 
amount  levied  ilnder  the  applotment  was  £753  14s.  8d.  (mm). 

But  the  first  positive  step  towards  the  extinction  of  the  old  corporation, 
was  the  deprivation  of  its  power  to  elect  the  member  of  parliament  (nn). 
By  the  Act  2  William  IV.,  the  94  Bagwell  nominees  gave  place  to  a 
constituency  of  521  householders  of  £10  valuation,  and  the  following  year 
the  first  contest  in  Clonmel  as  an  open  borough  took  place.  Though  every 
efi^ort  was  made  to  hold  the  seat  by  money  bribes,  and  the  ofi^er  of  leases  to 
the  more  influential,  John  Bagwell  was  expelled  by  a  majority  of  ten  votes 
from  the  family  borough  (00).  The  same  year  the  Municipal  Corporation 
Inquiry  was  held,  and  henceforward  the  old  corporation  was  regarded  by 
friend  and  opponent  alike,  as  on  its  death  bed.  In  1843  the  new  corporation 
created  by  the  Municipal  Reform  Act  came  into  existence.      The  first  mayor 


(11}  Vestry  Book.  From  the  same  book  the  following  curious  entry  is  derived  : — "  1795 
31  March.  Ordered  that  the  sum  of  £^2  stg.  to  be  laid  in  and  applotted  on  this  parish  by  the  Church- 
wardens, be  paid  over  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  County  agreeable  to  the  Act  of  Parliament  [for 
Augmenting  the  Militia]  for  the  purpose  of  providing  seven  men  to  serve  in  the  militia  of  this  County, 
as  being  the  number  allotted  on  this  parish,  and  five  to  fill  up  vacancies." 

(mm)  The  watching  was  done  by  a  dozen  men  who  paraded  the  streets  at  night  and  sang  out  the 
passing  hours.  They  were  clad  in  great  coats  and  provided  with  wooden  rattles,  and  probably  were 
more  picturesque  than  useful. 

(nn)  The  mayor,  bailiffs,  burgesses  and  freemen,  made  up  the  constituency  under  the  old 
corporation.  During  the  Moore  "  patronage  "  the  only  condition  of  freedom  was  friendship  for  that 
family,  and  in  point  of  fact  two- thirds  of  the  corporation  were  non-residents  who  had  no  connection 
with  the  town.  The  Bagwell  "  patronage  "  was  not  so  absolute  ;  for  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  on  the  petition  of  Spring  Rice  against  the  return  of  J.  P.  Vereker  for  Limerick  in  1820, 
decided  that  the  gratuitous  making  of  non-resident  freemen  was  ultra  tires.  Bagwell's  selection  of 
freemen  was  thereby  restricted  to  residents  in  Clonmel.  Furthermore,  the  Reform  Act  confined  the 
elective  franchise  to  persons  claiming  by  right  of  birth,  apprenticeship  or  marriage,  or  by  statute. 

(00}  In  the  case  Strangman  v.  Hackett,  Kilkenny  Assizes,  August,  1835,  Smith,  K.C.,in  opening 
defendant's  case  stated  that  £^  per  vote  was  paid  by  Mr.  Bagwell's  agents.  Two  leases  are  known 
to  the  writer  to  have  been  granted  in  consideration  of  election  influence. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i«i 

selected  was  John  Hackett,  who  from  being  a  journeyman  printer,  had  by 
ability,  courage,  and  public  spirit,  won  for  himself  the  foremost  place  among 
his  fellow  citizens.  At  a  time  when  the  whole  machinery  of  the  law  was  in 
operation  against  the  rights  of  the  common  people,  he  smote  amain,  week 
by  week  in  the  Free  Press,  tithe  proctors,  partisan  magistrates,  and 
exterminating  landlords.  Damages  amounting  to  hundreds  of  pounds  were 
obtained  against  him  in  the  law  courts,  but  he  survived  all,  and  having 
been  the  stoutest  opponent  of  the  old  corporation,  he  became  first  mayor  of 
the  new  (pp). 

The  half  century  preceding  the  repeal  of  the  corn  laws  in  1845  is  the 
most  important  in  the  commercial  and  industrial  history  of  Clonmel.  The 
population,  which  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  did  not  much  exceed 
10,000,  steadily  grew  each  decade  until  it  reached  about  1845  some  20,000  (qq). 
The  number  of  houses  in  the  former  period  on  which  house  and  window  taxes 
were  paid,  was  1,349 ;  the  number  in  1841,  2,330.  The  economic  causes  which 
led  to  this  expansion  deserve  some  notice. 

The  parliamentary  bounty  on  the  carriage  of  corn  to  Dublin,  which  gave 
Irish  agriculture  its  first  start,  was  followed  by  .the  Napoleonic  wars.  These 
raised  the  prices  of  all  produce  to  an  unprecedented  height,  and  though  the 
prosperity  was  largely  unreal  and  measured  merely  by  a  paper  currency, 
the  stimulus  given  was  for  the  time,  deep-felt  and  effective.  On  the  25th 
January,  1790,  for  example,  flour  at  the  Anner  Mills  was  £2  3s.  9d.  a  bag ; 
wheat  I5d.  a  stone.  Ten  years  later,  July  I2th,  1 800,  the  Clonmel  Gazette  lists 
flour  £4  a  bag  ;  wheat  3s.  Id.  a. stone  (rr).  Though  this  latter  was  doubtless  a 
famine  price,  it  is  probable  that  the  average  for  the  first  twenty  years  of  the 
centiu-y  was  not  much  below  £2  lOs.  (ss).  As  a  consequence,  a  great  part  of 
the  country  was  brought  under  tillage  ;  the  kilns  which  may  still  be  seen  on 
every  farm,  recall  the  three-course  rotation  of  the  time — potatoes,  wheat  and 
oats,  followed  by  liming  and  manuring.  When  Napoleon  collapsed  in  1815, 
the  landed  interest,  who  controlled  parliament,  passed  the  corn  laws, 
prohibiting  the  importation .  of  foreign  grain.  This,  coupled  with  the 
development  of  manufactures  and  growth  of  population  in  England,  gave  Irish 
agriculture  an  artificial  stimulus  for  another  thirty  years.    While  prices  even 


(pp)  It  is  often  taken  for  granted  that  the  penal  system  disappeared  pari  passu  with  the  penal 
laws.  Mr.  Lecky  writes  of  Ireland  as  late  as  1833 — "  It  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the 
British  Constitution  had  no  existence  there." — Leaders  of  Public  Opinion,  p.  260. ' 

fqq)  In  1821,  13,012  ;  1831,  15,134;  184I1  20,917. 

(rr)  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  files  of  the  old  Clonmel  newspapers  were  kept,  and  therefore 
it  is  impossible  to  give  a  full  study  of  the  extraordinary  economic  conditions  of  the  time. 

(ss)  The  English  price  was  9iBs.  6d.  a  quarter. — Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages — Rogers,  p. 
494. 


182 


History  of  Clonmel. 


in  short  years  did  not  approximate  to  the  average  of  the  former  period,  yet 
they  afforded  an  ample  margin  of  profit.  The  quarter  of  wheat  in  the  years 
1828-1838  averaged,  according  to  the  Dublin  Gazette,  49s.  nearly ;  in  London 
during  the  same  eleven  years  it  was  56s.  Qd  ftt).  Clonmel  now  became  one 
of  the  greatest  grain  markets  of  the  kingdom;  for  except  a  comparatively 
small  amount  that  went  by  canal  to  Limerick  and  Dublin,  the  whole  com  of 
Tipperary  and  the  neighbouring  counties  passed  through  the  town.  The 
following  returns  of  corn  negociated  in  Clonmel  itself,  are  taken  from  the 
Report  of  the  Select  Committee  on  Irish  Agricultural  Distress,  1839 : — 


Years 

Barrels  of  Wheat 

Barrels  of  Barley 

Barrels  of  Oats 

Barrels  of  Bere 

1826 

188,000 

47.000 

86!ooo 

100 

1827 

192,200 

38,000 

95 

1828 

191,200 

43,000 

86,800 

105 

1829 

189,000 

44,000 

82,000 

100 

1830 

188,190 

49,000 

90,000 

80 

183I 

189,000 

43,000 

93,000 

120 

1832 

.    187,000 

36,000 

92,000 

100 

1833 

188,000 

37,000 

101,800 

.95 

1834 

188,200 

44.000 
38,000 

80,000 

fc8s 

1835 

192,600 

86,800 

105 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  century  the  great  bulk  of  the  grain  was  exported 
in  its  unmanufactured  state  ;  by  degrees  the  exceptional  advantages  of  cheap 
labour  and  abundant  water  power  were  availed  of;  so  that  about  1840 
between  sixty  and  seventy  mills  were  in  operation  throughout  the  county. 
Some  of  these  mills  were  very  large.  Shiel,  who  visited  Clonmel  in  1828, 
likened  them  to  cotton  factories  in  Lancashire.  "Malcomson's  mill,"  he 
writes,  "  is,  I  believe,  the  finest  in  Ireland.  I  felt  dizzy  at  the  play  of  the 
machinery.  Here  half  the  harvest  of  the  adjoining  counties  as  well  as  of 
Tipperary,  is.  powdered  under  the  huge  mill  stones  that  I  saw  wheeling  with 
incalculable  rapidity.  Honest  David  showed  me,  with  some  touch  of  the 
pride  of  wealth,  this  great  concern.  We  ascended  flight  after  flight  of  stairs 
to  a  vast  height.  On  reaching  one  of  the  loftiest  stages  of  the  building,  I  saw 
a  young  man  shovelling  the  flour  into  a  large  tube  and  covered  with  its 
particles.      'That  is  my  son,'  said  David,    'he  will  teach  others  by  first 


(tt)  This  I  calculate  from  some  figures  in  "  Ireland  after  the  Union  "—Martin,  p.  100,  London, 
1853.  The  only  Clonmel  prices  1  have  met  during  this  period  are  1826,  22  Dec,  Flour  37s.  a  bag. 
Wheat  IS.  6d.  a  stone.  1832,  Nov.  7,  Flour  35s.  a  bag.  Wheat  I4d.  a  stone.  1843,  8  July,  Flour 
31s.  a  bag.    Wheat  i5d.  a  stone. 


History  of  Clonmel.  183 

practising    his    business    himself.' "    (uu)*      The    proportion    of    flour    to 

wheat   now   exported,    we    learn    from    the    returns  for  the   year  ending 

April  30th,  1832:— 

Hundreds  of  flour,  230,503. 
Barrels  of  wheat,  28,678. 
Barrels  of  oats,  19,445. 
Barrels  of  barley,  3,878. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  mills  of  Clonmel  and  the  immediate 
neighbourhood,  with  the  particulars  now  ascertainable  (w). 

1.  POULBUEE :  two  pairs  of  stones.  This  was  at  first  a  tucking  mill  and  was  con- 
verted into  a  com  mill  in  1792  by  Edmund  Daniel,  who  in  the  January  of  that  year 
obtained  from  Sir  Thomas  Osborne  a  new  pepper-corn  lease,  in  exchange  for  other 
lands. 

2.  PoULBUEE :  two  pairs  of  stones.  Originally  built  by  Daniel  and  worked  to  a 
comparatively  late  period  by  J.  Heneberry. 

3.  Anner  Mills  :  ten  pairs  of  stones.  First  mill  begun  by  Robert  Grubb,  1763  ; 
the  mills  of  which  the  ruins  exist,  were  built  by  him  in  1780 ;  worked  by  his  family  and 
subsequently  by  the  Clibboms,  relatives  in  the  female  line,  until  consumed  by  fire  in 
1880. 

4.  Redmondstown  :  four  pairs  of  stones.  Built  about  1775  by  Joseph  Grubb 
who  obtained  a  lease  of  the  lands  for  lives,  from  Gamaliel  Fitzgerald  Magrath,  2 
November,  1774.    They  were  worked  until  1878  when  they  were  burnt. 

5.  Rathronan  :  four  pairs  of  stones.  Originally  built  by  John  Thompson,  a 
Quaker,  who  appears  to  have  soon  got  into  financial  difficulties.  It  was  last  worked  by 
T.  K.  O'Mahoney  and  like  so  many  others,  was  burnt  about  1882. 

6.  Marlfield  :  thirteen  pairs  of  stones.  Built  in  1769  by  Stephen  Moore ;  rented 
by  Edward  Collins  from  his  assigns  in  1780,  until  purchased  by  John  Bagwell.  The 
latter  carried  on  baking  and  biscuit  making  with  great  success,  especially  during. the 
period  of  the  French  and  second  American  wars.  Mills  converted  into  a  whiskey 
distillery  by  the  firm  of  John  Stein  &  Co.  about  1817,  and  the  manufacture  of  whiskey 
continued  until  the  late  fifties,  when  the  business  was  sold  to  the  Jamesons,  of  Dublin, 
who  closed  the  place  a  few  years  subsequent 

7.  Marlfield  :  four  pairs  of  stones.  This  mill  whieh  was  situated  close  to  river 
is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  also  by  the  Moores.  It  was  worked  by  persons  named 
Shanahan  and  Dunn  in  succession,  until  about  thirty  years  ago  when  it  was  burnt 

8.  Manor  :  ten  pairs  of  stones.  This,  the  oldest  of  the  Clonmel  mills,  was  re- 
erected  by  Samuel  Morton  about  1785.  Business  continued  by  Morton  and  Thomas 
Grubb  his  partner,  and  subsequently  by  Thomas  Cambridge  Grubb.  Mill  destroyed 
by  fire  about  20  years  since. 

9.  Hughes'  Mill  :  six  pairs  of  stones.  Situated  on  Little  Island  and  built  by 
Thomas  Hughes. 

10.  SuiR  Island  :  eight  pairs  of  stones.  This  replaced  an  old  mill  probably  dating 
from  the  seventeenth  century,  which  was  used  for  grinding  rape  seed.  Built  about 
1785  by  Robert  Samuel  Grubb  and  afterwards  owned  by  Abraham  Murray.  Starch 
also  was  manufactured  in  considerable  quantities. 


(tiu)  Shiel's  Sketches,  IL,  p.  356.  The  extent  of  these  mills  we  may  conjecture  from  their 
valuation  under  the  first  Poor  Law  Act.  Malcomson's  were  valued  at  j£750  per  annum,  the  Manor 
Mills  ;^28o,  Marlfield  Distillery  ;f  r,ooo,  the  Clonmel  Gas  Works  ^"300. 

(w)  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  they  were  at  all  times  able  to  work  the  full  number  of  pairs 
of  stones,  but  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  larger  ones  worked  a  night  as  well  as  a  day  stretch. 


184  History  of  Clonmel. 

11.  SuiR  Island  :  six  pairs  of  stones.    Built  by  Joseph  Thomas  Grubb. 

12.  Charles  Street  :  four  pairs  of  stones.  Built  by  Peter  R.  Banfield,  who  how- 
ever became  bankrupt  through  the  collapse  of  the  Ryall's  bank  in  1820.  Milling  finally 
relinquished  there  in  1855. 

13.  LriTLE  Island  :  ten  pairs  of  stones.  Built  in  the  early  years  of  the  century 
by  David  Malcomson,  adjoined  Hughes'  mill,  and  the  latter  not  permitting  Malcomson 
to  rest  the  shafts  of  the  undershot  water  wheels  on  the  partition  walls,  the  wheels  had 
to  be  narrowed,  with  diminished  power.  The  growth  of  the  business  we  learn  from  the 
Agricultural  Committee  Report  of  1836.  From  1815  to  1819  Malcomson  exported 
34,398  cwts.  of  flour;  from  1825-1829,  357»6l8  cwts.  (p.  74).  These  mills  were 
subsequently  converted  into  a  cotton  factory,  and  after  the  Malcomson  collapse  in  1876, 
they  were  turned  to  a  boot  factory  by  James  Myers.  They  are  now  the  milk  factory  of 
Messrs.  Dwyer  and  Cleeve. 

14.  Richmond  Mills  :  three  paifs  of  stones.  Built  about  1830  by  Thomas  Samuel 
Grubb.    Owned  by  Thomas  C.  Grubb  and  D.  O'Neill  successively. 

15.  Richmond  Mills  :  six  pairs  of  stones.    Built  by  Thomas  Samuel  Grubb. 

16.  Ragwell  Mills  :  two  pairs  of  stones.  Built  about  1850  by  Robert  Lawton ; 
ceased  working  about  1878. 

17.  Ragwell  Mills  :  three  pairs  of  stones.  Built  about  1825  by  James  Smith, 
and  successively  owned  by  John  Ratcliff  and  Peter  R.  Banfield.  Workod  by  an  over- 
shot wheel  fifty  feet  diameter 

18.  New  Street  Mills:  three  pairs  of  stones.  Built  as  a  saw  mill  by  a 
contractor  named  Doolan.  Oat  crushing  machinery  put  in  by  M.  McCarthy  about 
1877.    , 

I    19.  Spa  Mills  :  two  pairs  of  stones.    Built  by  John  Flynn  and  last  worked  by 
.  Maurice  Dee  about  1878. 

20.  MiNELLA  Mills  :  three  pairs  of  stones.  Built  by  Burrows  Close  and  improved 
by  Peter  Banfield ;  now  worked  by  Phehin  Brothers. 

21.  SuiR  ViLLE :  twelve  pairs  of  stones.  Built  in  1782  by  Robert  Dudley.  Originally 
an  ironmonger  in  Dublin  Street,  Dudley  married  secondly  in  1769  Hannah  Jesup,  of 
^^Woodbridge,  and  unwisely  sank  her  fortune  in  building  the  mill  in  a  place  altogether 
unsuitable.    The  mill  was  used  in  recent  years  as  a  woollen  factory  by  Mr.  T.  Russell. 

22.  TUBBERAHEENA :  two  pairs  of  stones.  Built  by  Simmons  Sparrow  and  occupied 
subsequently  by  Thomas  Hayden  and  David  Hally.  It  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Asylum  ball  court 

23.  SCROUTHEA  :  one  pair  of  stones.  Built  as  an  oaten  mill  by  John  Hally  and 
afterwards  converted  by  Richard  Crean  to  a  tannery  (ww). 

Besides  the  manufacture  of  flour  for  export,  there  was  throughout  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  flourishing  butter  market  By  the  Act  2 
Geo.  I.,  no  cask  of  butter  could  be  sold  on  which  the  tare  was  not  branded,  the 
penalty  being  forfeiture.  Similarly  none  could  be  exported.  A  further  Act 
obliged  corporations  to  appoint  public  weighmasters,  to  provide  weigh-houses 
and  scales,  and  also  regulated  the  make  of  the  firkins, -and  the  due  packing  of 
the  butter.  Each  firkin  should  be  branded  with  the  weight,  gross  and  net, 
the  name  of  the  market,  and  the  surname  of  the  weighmaster.    A  qualitative 

fww)  The  above  mills,  except  Nos.  10,  12,  14,  15,  18,  were  all  worked  by  water  power.  It  may 
be  noted  here  that  the  grain  elevator  in  universal  use  down  to  a  late  period— the  quadrant  buckets 
attached  to  an  endless  band— was  the  invention  of  a  Clonmel  millwright.  For  most  of  the  details 
about  the  Clonmel  mills  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  James  White,  Mr.  J.  E.  Grubb,  of  Carrick-on-Suir,  and 
Mr.  B.  Clibborn. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


185 


test  was  also  provided ;  since  in  case  of  doubt  as  to  the  "  merchantable  " 
condition  of  the  butter  "  two  able  merchants  of  the  place  and  two  others 
skilled  in  such  commodities,"  adjudicated.  Subject  to  such  stringent 
regulations,  the  butter  trade  inevitably  gathered  into  certain  centres,  the 
names  of  which  were  a  guarantee  of  the  weight  and  quality  of  the  article. 
"  Clonmel  "  butter  early  obtained  recognition,  and  for  a  considerable  period 
stood  at  the  top  of  the  English  trade  lists.  The  market  seems  to  have 
attained  its  greatest  popularity  about  1820.  The  returns  made  to  parliament 
for  the  seven  years,  following  are : — 


Ykars 


1821 


1822 


1823 


1824 


1826 


Firkins  Tasted, 
Weighed  and  Branded 


1825     { 


1827      { 


48,884 


54.296 


36,334 


39,399 


48,676 


37,537 


58,691 


Empty  Firkins 
Weighed  and  Branded 


29,557 


32.278 


21,650 


22,971 


24.276 


17,971 


23,582 


Fees 


£611    I    0 
123     4    9 


734  5 

9 

678  14 

0 

134  9 

10 

813  3 

10 

454  3 

6 

90  4 

2 

544  7 

8 

497  9 

9 

95  14 

3 

593  4 

0 

608  9 

0 

lOl  3 

0 

709  12 

0 

469  4 

I 

74  17 

7 

544  I 

8 

733  12 

9 

93  5 

2 

826  17  II 


In  1829  the  Act  10,  Geo.  IV.,  c.  41,  repealed  the  former  Acts  restricting  the 
sale  of  butter ;  merchants  now  purchased  at  their  stores,  and  the  smaller 
towns  opened  markets  of  their  own.  Three  years  later  the  quantity  of  butter 
sold  in  the  Clonmel  market  had  shrunk  to  21,559  cwts.     The  fees  paid  for 


186  History  of  Clonmel. 

weighing  and  branding  the  butter  were  the  private  perquisite  of  the  weigh- 

master,  William  Chaytor,  at  this  period.    Out  of  them  were  paid  the  rent 

of  the  weigh-house  and  the  wages  of  the  officials,  which  amounted  to  the  sum 

of  £167  a  year,  so  that  the  average  netted  by  Chaytor  on  the  seven  years  was 

£513  i6s.  a  year.    According  to  the  notions  of  the  time  he  was  considered  to 

have  a  vested  interest  in  the  market ;  he  received  as  compensation  therefore 

for  the  four  years  1830-1833  the  sum  of  £1,296  i6s.  lOd.  (xx). 

The   bacon   trade  reached  considerable  proportions.    Wakefield  who 

visited  Clonmel  in  December  1808,  gives  the  following  account : — 

There  is  here  an  immense  establishment  for  the  pickling  of  bacon.  12,000  hogs  are 
slaughtered  per  annum.  Liverpool  salt  is  used.  The  warehouse  in  which  it  is  pickled 
will  hold  100  tons.  It  is  paved  with  flags  and  has  channels  to  convey  the  pickle  into  a 
cistern  in  the  centre.  The  introduction  of  the  English  breed  has  been  found  very 
advantageous,  there  being  much  less  oflfal  which  brings  only  a  guinea  per  cwt.  The 
bacon  is  not  dried  here  but  sent  to  England  in  a  pickled  state,  packed  up  in  cloths.  The 
pork  merchants  are  chiefly  quakers  (yy). 

The  principal  merchants  were  Henry  Joyce,  Irishtown  ;  Robert  Banfield, 
New  Quay ;  Murphy  &  White,  Dowd's  Lane ;  Henry  Price,  Irishtown ;  Patrick 
Fennelly,  Johnson  Street ;  Robert  Grubb,  Suir  Island.  Apart  from  what  was 
manufactured  for  home  consumption,  in  the  year  ending  April  30th,  1832,  the 
number  of  flitches  of  bacon  exported  was  63,751,  and  of  lard  2,769  cwts. 

The  brewing  and  distilling  industries  were  also  in  a  prosperous  condition. 
In  the  season  1831-2,  for  example,  92,000  barrels  of  barley  were  purchased  in 
Clonmel,  of  which  less  than  4,000  were  exported,  the  rest  being  used  for 
malting  purposes.  The  brewery  of  Samuel  Morton  &  Co.  had  now  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Stephen  Going,  while  that  of  Greer  &  Murphy,  of  Nelson 
Street,  was  being  rebuilt  after  a  disastrous  fire  which  occurred  in  1829.  The 
distillery  of  John  Stein  &  Company  at  Marlfield  employed,  in  1838, 1 50  hands. 
As  the  duty  paid  was  only  26.  8d.  per  gallon,  and  the  pot-still  whiskey 
produced,  enjoyed  a  good  reputation,  the  business  steadily  expanded.  When, 
however,  between  the  years  1853  and  1858  the  duty  was  gradually  raised 
from  2s.  8d.  to  8s.,  the  Jamesons  of  Dublin,  who  had  taken  over  the  distillery 
from  Stein,  were  obliged  to  close  it. 

About  1824  the  Malcomsons,  in  addition  to  their  corn  mills,  set  up  a 

cotton  factory  ;  in  1833  it  afforded  employment  to  about  200  persons.    Shiel's 

notice  of  it  is  characteristic  : — 

We  proceeded  to  a  large  white  building  which  stands  immediately  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  and  where  I  heaid  the  rattling  of  the  shuttle  as  I  approached  the  temple  of 

(xx)  The  butter  market  was  built  in  1817  by  subscriptions,  Chaytor  contributing  ^'loo,  and  the 
merchants  over  ;^200.  The  site  was  granted  by  the  patron  of  the  town,  William  Bagwell,  for  the 
nominal  rent  of  ;^55  Irish.  Municipal  Commission  Report,  1833.  Market  Compensation  Report, 
1828.  Evidence  given  at  Inquiry. — Tipperary  Free  Press.  The  local  prices  for  butter,  1792, 
17  March,  64s.  per  cwt.  1800  12  July,  92s.  per  cwt.  1826  22  December,  72s.  per  cwt.  1832 
7  November,  83s.  per  cwt.     1843  8  July,  74s. 

(yy)  State  of  Ireland,  I.,  p.  752. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i87 

industry  accompanied  by  the  author  of  all  the  good,  of  which  I  had  already  received 
intimation  from  the  rapidity  with  which  I  heard  some  hundred  looms  going  through 
their  operations.  A  vast  apartment,  lined  with  looms  on  either  side,  occupied  by  a 
crowd  of  little  blooming  girls,  who  with  the  most  animated  cheerfulness,  with  health 
ruddy  on  their  faces,  with  hands  and  naked  feet  plied  the  respective  machines  over 
which  they  presided  (zz). 

Besides  these  principal  industries,  there  were  others  which  are  worthy  of 
note.  The  tanning  of  leather  which  had  been  carried  on  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  the  eighteenth  century,  was  continued  by  Price,  Taylor,  Davis, 
Cashen,  Crean,  Jones  and  Keilly,  and  subsequently  by  Byrne,  Myers,  Russell 
and  others.  Soap  boiling  and  tallow  chandling  had  passed  from  Dumville, 
Phelan  and  Bond,  to  Going,  Lester,  Quinn  and  Byrne.  Steam  engines, 
machinery,  pumps,  cranes,  castings,  boilers,  pipes  and  mill  brasses,  were  made 
on  the  New  Quay  by  Jacob  and  Grubb  (a).  Cutlery  and  razors  of  a  high, 
character  were  manufactured  by  Bradford ;  tobacco  and  snuff  by  Kielly  and 
Quinn.  Nor  were  the  arts  that  minister  to  luxury  wanting.  Henry  Julian 
of  Dublin  Street  obtained  a  reputation  for  coach  building.  House  furniture 
of  excellent  design  and  conscientious  workmanship,  was  made  by  Jacob 
Graham  in  Duncan  Street,  while  persons  desirous  to  quarter  arms  had  recourse 
to  "  Richard  Sladen,  heraldic  painter,"  in  the  Irishtown.  As  photography 
was  unknown,  Edward  Hayes  of  Johnston  Street,  "landscape  and  miniature," 
painted  portraits  from  £2  upwards  (b).  Watches,  clocks  and  silverplate 
were  also  made  in  the  town,  not  as  now,  merely  retailed  there.  Under 
the  Act  23  &  24,  Geo.  III.,  c.  23,  which  obliged  makers  and  vendors  of  plate 
to  be  registered,  the  following  Clonmel  names  are  found  in  1784 — ^John  Quinn, 
William  Thompson,  John  Beauchamp,  Cavan  Ryan,  Robert  Cooke ;  in  1800 
James  Shee;  in  1808  Dennis  Madden;  and  in  1815  Theophilus  Harvey. 
Some  of  the  clocks  of  Hill,  Prossor,  Brodrick  and  Wallace,  are  still  keeping 
time  after  the  lapse  cjf  a  century  (c). 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  feature  of  commercial  Clonmel  at  this 
period  was  its  banking  system.      During  the  first  decade  of  the  eighteenth 


(zz)  Sketches  II.,  p.  356. 

(a)  Much  of  the  work  of  this  firm  was  creditably  artistic.  The  older  lamp  posts  of  the  town 
will  repay  inspection,  while  the  standards  of  the  benches  in  St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church  might  be 
profitably  studied  by  more  recent  designers. 

(h)  A  sketch  of  Hayes*  is  in  the  writer's  possession  ;  its  truth  and  delicacy  is  surprising  for  a 
painter  who  made  Clonmel  his  habitat. 

(c)  The  registers  of  the  Dublin  goldsmiths  contain  a  few  entries  :  **  Robt.  Cuffe  was  apprenticed 
to  Hercules  Beer  in  Clonmell  in  1705."  Plate  was  assayed  in  Dublin  in  1725  for  "  Noah  Violas  of 
Clonmel  7  lb.  4  oz./'  and  "12  lb."  the  following  year.  The  next  goldsmith  of  whom  there  is  mention 
is  Jeremiah  Morgan.  The  Carleton  executors'  accounts  contain  the  entry — "  1730  November  6.  Pd. 
Jeremiah  Morgan  for  two  peeces  of  Plate  for  Mr.  Jos.  Barrett  and  Mr.  Henry  Blackmore  for  their 
trouble  in  appraising  the  Coil's  stock,— bespoke  by  Mrs.  Carleton  ;f22  i6s.  i^d."  Morgan's  son 
Hercules  succeeded  him;  '*  1762,  18  March  Pd.  Hercules  Morgan  for  2  pair  of  boot  strap  buckles." — 
Perry  Papers.    For  the  Dublin  entries  I  am  indebted  to  J.  R.  Garstin,  Esq.,  Castlcbellingham . 


188  History  of  Clonmel. 

century  the  corporation  occasionally  negociated  loans  with  Phineas  Riall, 
merchant.  Riall  also  advanced  money  on  mortgages  of  land  and  houses, 
and  dealt  in  the  bills  of  Joseph  Ball  of  London,  Burton  and  Harrison  of 
Dublin,  Joseph  Darner,  Elnathan  Lumn,  and  others.  A  little  later  John 
Bagwell,  draper  in  the  Main  Street,  received  money  for  safe  keeping ;  (d)  he 
also  accepted  the  bills  of  Armstead  of  Cork  and  Burton  of  Dublin,  and 
discharged  some  other  functions  of  a  banker  (e).  In  1754,  the  year  of 
Bagwell's  death,  Stephen  Moore  of  Marlfield,  and  William  Markham  of  New 
Abbey,  set  up  a  bank  in  Clonmel.  These  were  immediately  followed  by 
William  and  Phineas  Riall.  The  Rialls  were  Dissenters,  and  Dissenters  in 
those  days  monopolized  banking  (f),  Moore  and  Markham,  therefore^  soon 
disappeared,  and  henceforward  for  seventy  years — with  the  exception  of  a 
•  brief  interval — the  banking  of  the  whole  district  was  carried  on  by  the  Rialls. 
The  successive  partners  were  William,  the  founder,  and  his  son  Phineas; 
William  and  Charles,  the  sons  of  Phineas ;  and  finally  William,  Charles  and 
Arthur.  From  the  beginning  the  Rialls  appear  to  have  done  a  safe  business, 
and  never  seem  to  have  spread  their  paper  wholesale  after  the  fashion  of  the 
private  bankers  of  the  time.  Though  they  advanced  large  sums — often  at 
low  interest — on  landed  security,  (g)  yet  the  fact  that  in  the  earlier  period 
none  of  their  notes  were  payable  at  sight  must  have  carried  them  through 
more  than  one  crisis.  They  survived  the  crash  of  1 770,  and  the  subsequent 
one  of  1793,  and  thus  together  with  a  solid  reputation,  built  up  a  considerable 
fortune.  By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  partners  were  possessed 
of  an  estate  in  Clonmel  and  the  neighbourhood  estimated  to  be  worth  £70,000. 
During  the  Napoleonic  period  the  Rialls  in  common  with  others,  had  to  face 
an  extraordinary  state  of  things.  In  1797  the  Banks  of  England  and  Ireland 
suspended  cash  payments.  The  metallic  currency  almost  disappeared,  and 
the  country  was  deluged  with  I O  Us,  promises  to  pay,  post  bills,  and  all 
sorts  of  instruments  of.  credit.  The  notes  paying  duty  rose  from'450,721  in 
1800  to  1,457,283  in  1804,  and  the  increased  number  was  almost  entirely  in 
notes  of  £1  and  under.  Country  gentlemen,  reputed  to  be  owners  of  an 
"  estate,"  and  successful  shopkeepers,  set  up  for  bankers — i.e.,  palmed  off 
paper  on  the  public.    When  Bank  of  Ireland  notes  came  down  the  country 

(d)  For  example — "  I  percmtarlly  desire  ye  two  hundred  pounds  of  my  money  that  lyes  in  Mr. 
Bagwell's  hands  may  be  imedeatly  called  in." — Will  of  Ellen  Cumberfort,  1748,  P.R.O. 

(^)  "  I730»  Nov.  5,  Mr.  Richard  Carleton  To  paid  him  Armstead's  bill  on  Bagwell,  jf  30.  Nov.  16. 
By  Burton's  bill  on  Bagwell  ;f50." — Carleton  Accounts. 

(f)  The  three  Rialls  named  were  three  generations.  The  last  married  into  the  Caldwells, 
Dublin  bankers,  while  the  Heywoods,  the  Liverpool  bankers,  were  his  cousins  german.  His  sister 
Elizabeth  was  wife  of  Simon  Newport,  founder  of  the  Waterford  bank. 

(^)  '*  Altho'  money  perhaps  may  be  a  little  scarce  now,  yet  within  these  few  years  it  might  have 
been  had  on  Land  Security  I  know  at  4^  p.c,  very  large  sums,  and  perhaps  shortly  may  again." — W. 
Perry  to  Simon  Newport,  31st  May,  1761. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i89 

(it  had  no  branches  then)  the  local  "banker"  exchanged  with  the  holders 

his  notes  at  a  discount  of  lO  to  25  per  cent,  and  so  got  them  into  circulation. 

These  notes  varied  from  £l0  to  13d.  face  value.      Sometimes  the  public  got 

uneasy,  and  each  holder  to  negociate  his  note  had  to  endorse  it  (h)^    The 

eleven  Irish  bankers  of  1797  had  grown  to  twenty-nine  in  1802,  and  fifty  in 

1804.    Among  the  new  comers  were  the  Watsons.      In  1800  Solomon,  John 

and  William  Watson  opened  as  a  bank,  the  shop  in  Johnson  Street,  three 

doors  from  the  Main  Guard,  west  side.    Related  as  they  were  to  the  Fennells, 

Hills,  Boles  and  other  Tipperary  Quakers,  the  Watsons  for  a  time  did  a 

roaring  business — in  the  issue  of  paper.    In  the  year  1803  they  paid  stamp 

duty  on  34,400  notes  under  three  guineas,  and  1,500  notes  under  ten  pounds. 

John  Watson  was  replaced  in  the  firm  by  Robert  Banfield.      The  meteoric 

career  of  the  bank  came  to  an  end  about  1809,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  a  loan  to 

the  Watsons  of  £700  in  August,  1785,  was  only  repaid  in  January,  1822  (i). 

Money  therefore  was  not  required  for  carrying  on  a  bank  in  those  days. 

The  Rialls'  note  issue  during  the  financial  orgie  probably  never  fell  below 

£100,000  (j).    In  1803  they  paid  duty  on  36,300  notes  under  three  guineas,  and 

5,300  under  £lO.    But  as  the  various  bubble  banks  passed  into  the  law  courts, 

they  appear  to  have  brought  their  paper  currency  within  reasonable  distance 

of  their  convertible  assets.    When  the  end  came  the  Rialls,  alone  among  the 

private  bankers,  went  down  with  honour. 

The  banks  of  Roche  and  Leslie  of  Cork  stopped  payment  May  25th,  1 820. 

These  were  followed  by  Maunsell's  of  Limerick,  May  27th.      Within  a  week 

four  other  banks  had  closed  their  doors.     On  8th  June,  a  Clonmel  merchant 

wrote : — 

Rialls'  paid  about  SMfifSO  yesterday,  and  from  the  appearance  of  this  day  a  similar 
large  demand  would  be  made.  They  under  advice  have  closed  their  doors  and 
suspended  payments  for  the  present.  There  is  no  danger  of  eventual  loss,  but  unless 
they  had  Bank  of  Ireland  paper  for  engagements  of  all  kinds  they  would  not  keep 
open  (k). 

A  few  days  later  the  following  statement  was  circulated : — 

A  Statement  of  the  Affairs  of  William  Riall  and  Brothers,  Esqrs., 

Bankers. 

£  s.  d. 
The  Notes  of  the  Bank  in  Circulation  8  June,  1820  ...  70,000  0  0 
The  Receipts  for  Lodgments  Outstanding  ...    48,000    0    0 

The  Balances  due  for  Account  in  Ledger  ...    37,609    3    6 

£155.609    3    6 


(h)  In  some  notes  in  the  writer's  possession  a  score  of  signatures  are  traceable. 
(i)  Clonmel  Annuity  Society  Accounts. 

(j)  "  Dec.  6,  1808.    Mr.  Bagwell  believes  the  notes  circulated  by  the  Clonmel  bankers  amount 
to  about  ;f 200,000." — Wakefield's  Ireland,  II.,  p.  170. 

(k)  Robert  Grubb,  Clonmel,  to  John  Lecky,  Cork,  8th  6  mo.,  1820. 


100  History  of  Clonmel, 

The  Property  of  the  Bank, 
Cash  on  hands 
Bills  and  Notes  Receivable 
Balances  on  Bank  Account  per  Ledger 
Debts  secured  by  Mortgages,  Charges  on  Estates  and 

under  Decrees 
Debts  secured  by  Insurances 
Turnpike  Road  Debentures 

Interest  in  Modeshill  held  for  lives  renewable  for  ever 
Interest  in  Rathronan  for  lives     ... 
Interest  in  tenements  in  Clonmel  for  lives 
Stock  and  Arrears  of  Rent  on  and  due  by  tenants  at 

Modeshill    ... 
Interest  on  Bonds,  Bills  and  Book  Accounts,  at  least 
Maunsell's  and  Kennedy's  notes 
Roche's  and  Leslie's  notes 


Doubtful  debts 
Bad  debts 

£29,332  18    7 
New  Bank  cost  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  3,000    0    0 


£ 

s. 

d. 

3,876 

13 

2 

« 

7 

10 

9 

6 

21,212 

17 

8 

11,500 

0 

0 

575 

7 

2 

3,000 

0 

0 

500 

0 

0 

600 

0 

0 

700 

0 

0 

5,000 

0 

0 

1,130 

0 

0 

579 

5 

0 

6,032 

18 

7 

23,300 

0 

0 

£161,089    0    4 


£193,421  18  II 


Amount  of  available  property      ...  ...  ...  ...  161,089    0 

Due  by  Bank     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  155,609    3 


Excess  beyond  debt        ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  £5,4791610 

Against  Casualties. 

The  Messrs.  Riall  have  stock  and  furniture  to  amount  in  value  of  at  least  £5,000, 
and  are  seized  of  Landed  Estates  and  Interests  in  and  about  the  Town  of  Clonmell 
exceeding  in  value  the  yearly  sum  of  £6,000,  subject  to  life  annuities  to  Mrs.  Riall,  the 
mother  of  the  Bankers,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Riall,  their  uncle,  amounting  to  £2,000, 
and  to  contingent  jointures  for  the  wives  of  the  Bankers  amounting  to  £1,500. 

William  Riall  &  Brothers. 

While  business  was  for  a  time  paralysed  in  the  town,  the  sympathy  of 

the  public  was  extended  to  the  Rialls  who  had  been  brought  down  by  the 

fall  of  financial  rookeries  such  as  Newport's  of  Waterford,  and  Williams  and 

Finn  of  Dublin  (I).    A  week  later  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  Courthouse, 

Lord  Lismore  in  the  chair;  the  following  among  other  resolutions  were 

carried : — 

Resolved.— That  a  Committee  of  the  following  confer  with  Messrs.  Riall  on  the 
means  of  resuming  their  usual  Business,  and  this  meeting  adjourn  till  Wednesday,  28, 
to  give  time  for  communications  with  London  to  effect  the  wished  for  object.  Lord 
Lismore,  Sir  John  J.  FitzCJerald,  Stephen  Moore  of  Bam,  Valentine  Meagher,  Richard 
Pennefather,  John  Palliser,  James  Jacob,  Mathew  Taylor,  Charles  W.  Wall,  Richard 
Creagh,  Dunbar  Barton,  Edmund  O'Meagher,  Samuel  Morton,  William  Barton,  Samuel 
Gordon,  David  Malcomson,  Joseph  Grubb  Benjamin. 

(I)  The  former  at  no  period  could  pay  twenty  shillings  in  the  £,  while  the  partners  in  the  latter 
were  never  worth  a  shilling  though  they  failed  for  ;f  300,000.— Evidence  before  Lords*  Committee, 
1826. 


(    '  '  ' 


\ 


i 


"    1        ,1-     I     •!••:    .   .  -t  . 


History  of  Clonmel.  i91 

Resolved. — That  fully  convinced  of  the  stability  and  integrity  of  the  Messrs.  Riall, 
that  we  do  hereby  agree  to  receive  their  notes  in  payment  of  all  rents  and  debts  due  to 
us,  and  we  hereby  strongly  recommend  the  public  in  general  to  receive  the  same  in  all 
their  dealings. 

Resolved. — That  Messrs  Riall  be  requested  to  receive  payment  of  all  sums 
receivable  and  collectable,  by  the  notes  and  receipts  of  the  firm. 

The  bank,  however,  went  into  liquidation,  and  on  28th  August,  Samuel 
Morton,  James  G.  Jacob  and  John  Domville  were  appointed  trustees  for  the 
creditors.  A  sum  of  £30,000,  secured  on  the  family  estates,  was  obtained  from 
a  fund  of  £500,000  created  by  government  for  the  relief  of  those  affected  by 
bank  failures.  Many,  however,  of  the  poorer  folk  who  held  the  notes  never, 
through  ignorance,  proved  their  claims,  and  these  notes  may  even  now  be 
met  with  after  a  lapse  of  nearly  ninety  years. 

One  good  result  followed  the  collapse  of  the  private  banks  of  1820 ;  the 
monoply  of  joint  stock  banking  hitherto  enjoyed  by  the  Bank  of  Ireland  was 
abolished.  Though  the  Act  for  that  purpose  passed  in  1820,  the  Bank  of 
Ireland,  with  the  help  of  the  law  courts,  was  able  to  render  it  inoperative  for 
four  years.  At  length  in  1825  the  Provincial  Bank  (Provincial,  for  the  Bank 
of  Ireland  still  had  a  monoply  of  a  circuit  of  fifty  miles  around  Dublin)  started 
four  establishments.  The  third  of  these  was  Clonmel,  where  the  Rialls' 
premises  were  re-opened  15th  November.  The  Bank  of  Ireland  partly  in 
alarm,  partly  in  spite,  followed  by  establishing  a  branch  the  next  year.  In 
1835  the  National  Bank  was  founded,  and  having  received  much  support 
from  O'Connell,  was  long  known  as  the  "  Liberator's  Bank."  At  its  inception 
it  was  built  on  a  peculiar  plan ;  there  were  two  bodies  of  shareholders,  English 
and  local.  The  shares  of  the  former  were  £50,  the  latter  £10,  the  amount 
paid  up  being  £7  lOs.  and  £2  lOs.  respectively.  The  management  was  local, 
the  most  notable  director  being  Charles  Bianconi.  The  Clonmel  National  Bank 
had  two  branches — Cashel  and  Thurles.  In  1852  the  number  of  shareholders 
was  1,050,  the  subscribed  capital  being  £8o,000,  and  the  paid  up  £16,235.  The 
fixed  note  issue  was  £66,431,  the  number  in  circulation  £51,995  ;  the  specie  on 
hand  November  1852,  £9,560.  From  the  first  the  bank  obtained  a  high 
degree  of  prosperity,  and  except  for  a  brief  period  through  the  dishonesty  of 
a  manager  named  Castells,  paid  dividends  ranging  from  12  to  20  per  cent. 
So  successful  was  the  business,  that  only  in  1856  the  proprietors  agreed  to 
amalgamate  with  the  present  National. 

By  far,  however,  the  most  notable  of  the  local  banks  was  the  Tipperary 
Joint  Stock  Bank,  popularly  known  as  Sadleir's.  This,  which  grew  out  of 
Scully's  Tipperary  Bank,  was  established  5th  July,  1842,  the  head  office  being 
removed  to  Clonmel  in  1847.  The  nominal  capital  was  £500,000  in  £50  shares 
(£10  paid),  but  no  more  than  a  tenth  of  that  sum  was  subscribed.    The 


192  History  of  Clonmel. 

responsible  officials  were  James  Sadleir,  Clonacody,  and  Wilson  Kennedy, 
solicitor,  Clonmel — a  member  of  a  Presbyterian  family  of  stockbrokers.  The 
shareholders  registered  in  1847  numbered  fifty-one,  of  whom  the  Sadleirs, 
Scullys,  Kennedys  and  Keatings  were  the  principal ;  there  were  besides  ten 
farmers,  two  solicitors,  a  priest  and  a  parson,  and  curiously  enough,  three 
Bank  of  Ireland  agents.  There  was  practically  no  directorate,  James  Sadleir, 
the  managing  director,  exercising  uncontrolled  authority  without  the  slightest 
attempt  at  interference  on  the  part  of  the  directors  or  the  shareholders  at 
large.  The  bank  in  truth  was  but  a  scheme  devised  by  the  notorious  John 
Sadleir,  land  agent,  financier,  papal  champion,  lord  of  the  Treasury,  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  hold  of  the  savings  of  Tipperary  farmers  and  shop- 
keepers (m).  In  this  he  was  entirely  successful,  for  by  the  beginning  of  1855 
he  had  obtained  advances  from  the  bank  amounting  to  £174,000.  Meanwhile 
Nemesis  was  rapidly  overtaking  him,  and  in  the  March  of  that  year  he  applied 
to  his  brother  James  for  an  acceptance  of  £20,000  from  the  Tipperary  bank. 
James  pleaded  that  the  bank  was  on  the  verge  of  ruin,  and  suggested  as 
security  for  the  acceptance,  a  mortgage  of  his  landed  estates.  The  mortgage 
was  drafted  in  the  bank  parlour  of  Clonmel,  15th  March,  giving  power  to 
James  Sadleir  and  Robert  Keating  (a  cousin  of  the  Sadleirs  who  was  member 
of  parliament  for  Waterford)  to  receive  the  rents  and  sell  the  estates  for  the 
benefit  of  the  bank.  But  lest  the  credit  of  John  Sadleir  should  be  affected, 
the  mortgage  was  not  registered.  Three  months  later  James  being  himself 
no  longer  able  to  extricate  John  from  his  growing  difficulties,  approached  the 
London  and  County  Bank,  of  which  John  had  been  chairman,  to  obtain  a  loan 
of  £95,000.  He  professed  to  give  a  full  account  of  his  brother's  affairs,  and  in 
reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  latter's  indebtedness  to  the  Tipperary  Bank, 
stated  that  he  owed  about  £40,000.  The  advance  was  obtained ;  a  legal 
mortgage  of  John's  Irish  estates  was  executed,  with  the  Tipperary  Bank  as 
collateral  security.  But  the  existence  of  the  previous  mortgage  was  kept  a 
profound  secret,  and  further,  the  deed  of  guarantee  required  from  the 
Tipperary  Bank  was  ingeniously  evaded.  For  by  the  Articles  of  Association 
this  deed  should  be  signed  by  several  directors  and  approved  of  by  them  at 
a  board.  Kelly,  the  Clonmel  manager,  forwarded  instead  an  official  copy  of 
a  minute  of  a  supposed  meeting  of  directors,  and  with  this  the  solicitors  of  the 
London  and  County  Bank  who  were  under  the  influence  of  its  late  chairman, 
John  Sadleir,  expressed  themselves  satisfied.  In  January,  1856,  it  became  an 
open  secret  in  London  that  the  Tipperary  Bank  was  in  difficulties,  while  about 


(m)  The  branches  were  Clonmel,   Carrick-on-Suir,  Nenagh,    Roscrea,  Tipperary,  Thnrles, 
Thomastown,  Athy. 


History  of  Clonmel.  i93 

the  same  time  a  grant  of  the  Encumbered  Estates'  Court  given  as  security  to 

Wilkinson,  Gumey  &  Co.,  was  discovered  to  be  forged.     The  news  began  to 

find  its  way  gradually  into  Ireland,  and  by  the  second  week  of  February  the 

managers  of  the  several  branches  were  preparing  for  a  run  on  the  bank.    The 

press  however  was  effectively  muzzled,  (n)  and  though  the  Tipperary  drafts 

had  been  dishonoured  at  Glyn's,  James  Sadleir  kept  the  best  side  out.     On 

Saturday,  l6th  February,  he  wired  to  John  :  "  All  right  at  all  the  branches — 

only  a  few  small  things  refused.    If  from  20,000  to  30,000  over  here  on 

Monday  morning,  all  is  safe."    But  that  day  John  Sadleir  after  a  fruitless 

attempt  in  several  quarters  to  raise  the  money,  wrote  to  Keating  that  the  end 

was  come,  and  committed  suicide  by  ppison.    A  month  later  it  was  ascertained 

that  the  liabilities  of  the  bank  amounted  to  £450,000,  its  assets  £50,000.    The 

unhappy  creditors — mostly  small  farmers  and  struggling  shopkeepers — now 

passed  into  the  hands  of  the  lawyers,  so  that  within  a  few  months  ninety 

actions  were  brought  in  the  superior  courts  against  the  partners  who  were 

nearly  all  men  of  straw — mere  creatures  of  the  Sadleirs.    The  most  important 

of  these  actions  was  the  unsuccessful  attempt  to  secure  for  the  bank,  priority 

for  the  unregistered  mortgage  of  John  Sadleir's  estates,  against  the  subsequent 

mortgage  made  to  the  London  and  County,  which  was  duly  registered.    After 

years  of  litigation,  in  August,  1881,  a  sum  of  £3,000  was  still  due  to  647 

creditors  who  were  required  to  prove  their  claims  before  llth  January,  1882. 

In  the  development  of  passenger  and  goods  communications  Clonmel 

took  a  leading  part.    As  late  as  1758  the  journey  to  Dublin  cost  about  £5, 

and  occupied  four  days,"  the  stages  being  Kilkenny,  Leighlin  Bridge  and 

Kilcullen.    The  first  regular  public  conveyance  was  set  up  in  1772,  when  a 

subscription  list  was  opened  in  Clonmel  to  establish  a  poll  carriage  on  the 

stage  to  Kilkenny,  the  promoters  being  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  Wray  Palliser, 

Francis  Mathew,  Thomas  Moore  and  John  Bagwell  of  Kilmore.      With  the 

improvement  of  the  roads  and  the  establishment  of  mail  coaches,  the  journey 

to  Dublin  was  brought  within  the  small  compass  of  seventeen  hours.    The 

Clonmel  traveller  left  at  one  in  the  morning,  and  passing  through  Kilkenny 

and  Carlow  reached  Dublin  about  seven  that  evening.    The  retiurn  journey 

was  equally  expeditious.    Leaving  the  Hibernian  in  Dawson  Street  at  a 

quarter  before  ten  in  the  morning,  our  traveller  was  enabled  to  alight  at 

"Richard  Higgins'  Mail  Coach  Hotel"  in  Duncan  Street,  Clonmel,  before 

(n)  Mr.  Patten  S.  Bridge  was  manager  of  the  Thurles  Branch.  On  the  Tuesday  of  the  fateful 
week  he  invited  Peter  Gill,  editor  and  owner  of  the  Tipperary  Ad\*ocate^  into  his  office.  He  pointed 
out  that  the  bank  had  steadily  paid  dividends  of  6,  8  and  9  per  cent.,  and  the  last  report  had  showed 
j£i7,ooo  reserve.  He  offered  ;£'ioo  on  condition  of  Gill's  insertion  of  an  editorial  as  to  the  hank's 
solvency.  Gill  refused.  Twenty  years  later  Bridge,  as  agent  for  the  Galtee  estate  of  Mr.  N.  Buckley, 
attracted  even  greater  public  notice.  He  was  twice  fired  at — the  second  occasion  encountering  a 
murderous  fusilade  in  which  he  himself  was  wounded  and  the  driver  of  his  car  killed. 


194  History  of  Clonmel. 

four  the  next  morning.  Besides  the  connection  with  Dublin  and  Cork,  a  mail 
coach  for  Waterford  left  about  six  in  the  morning,  arriving  in  Clonmel  at 
nine  that  night,  so  that  a  strenuous  tradesman  might  go  to  Waterford, 
transact  business  there,  and  return  within  the  same  day.  Further,  "  a  genteel 
car  for  passengers  and  parcels"  went  three  times  a  week  to  Kilkenny, 
covering  the  joiurney  in  six  hours.  The  arrangements  for  goods  traffic  were 
even  more  primitive.  Dray  carts  carrying  about  half  a  ton  plied  between 
Clonmel  and  the  adjacent  towns.  "  Weekly  and  occasionally  "  cars  left 
Mathew  Dunn's  "Chum  Inn,"  Thomas  Street,  Dublin,  for  Clonmel,  Water- 
ford, &c.,  while  from  Mrs.  Power's  "  Cherry  Tree,"  in  the  same  street,  there 
was  a  tri-weekly  service. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Charles  Bianconi,  a  native  of  the  city 
of  Como,  by  profession  a  hawker  and  picture  dealer,  set  himself  to  the 
problem  of  transit.  The  time  was  favourable  ;  the  fall  of  Napoleon  enabled 
him  to  obtain  horses  bred  for  the  aimy,  at  the  price  of  from  £l0  to  £20,  while 
forage  was  correspondingly  cheap.  The  first  car  run  was  one  from  Clonmel 
to  Cahir,  5th  July,  181 5.  Within  the  next  thirty  years  a  net-work  of 
communication,  of  which  Clonmel  was  the  centre,  was  spread  over  the  whole 
of  Ireland.  The  cars  were  originally  one-horse  ones  carrying  four  to  six 
passengers,  but  as  the  breed  of  horses  deteriorated  he  was  obliged  to  add  a 
second.  The  additional  horse  power  enabled  him  to  enlarge  the  car,  so  that 
the  four  wheel  "  Bians,"  as  they  came  to  be  known,  carried  twelve,  sixteen 
or  more  passengers  according  to  the  season,  the  roads,  or  the  number  of 
horses  added.  In  1843  the  establishment  consisted  of  lOO  vehicles,  mail 
coaches  and  cars  of  various  sizes,  carrying  from  four  to  twenty  passengers, 
at  a  rate  of  from  six  and  a  half  to  nine  miles  an  hour  for  one  penny  farthing 
a  mile.  The  mileage  was  3,800  daily,  the  consumption  of  hay  about  4,000 
tons  and  of  oats  about  40,000  barrels  yearly.  In  1849  when  the  railways  were 
being  opened  for  traffic,  the  mileage  of  Bianconi's  cars  was  about  4,250  daily — 
the  highest  figure  reached.    The  following  table  shows  the  local  car  traffic . — 

Route,  Established.         Discontinued. 

Clonmel  and  Limerick     ...  ...  ...  ...  1815  ...  1849 

Clonmel  and  Thurles       ...  ...  ...  ...  1815  ...  1849 

Clonmel  and  Waterford  (10  a.m.) 

Clonmel  and  Ross 

Clonmel  and  Waterford  (Regulator) 

Clonmel  and  Waterford  (Telegraph) 

Clonmel  and  Cork 

Clonmel  and  Kilkenny     ... 

Clonmel  and  Tipperary  (3  o'clock) 

Clonmel  and  Tipperary  (Night  Mail) 

Clonmel  and  Dungarvan 

Clonmel  and  Roscrea 

Clonmel  and  (joold's  Cross  (G.S.  Railway  connection)  1849         ...  18 


1816  ...  1853 

1818  ...  1836 

1820  ...  1853 

1821  ...  1853 
1821  ...  1853 
1821  ...  1854 
1828  ...  1852 
1828  ...  184 


1831    ...    18 
1842    ...    1849 


History  of  Clonmel.  i95 

At  a  time  when  the  press  of  England  poured  into  the  ear  of  the  world  the 
tale  of  lawlessness,  of  savagery,  and  inherent  dishonesty  of  the  Irish  people, 
it  is  instructive  to  note  how  Bianconi  and  his  establishment  fared  at  their 
hands.  "My  conveyances,"  said  he,  "many  of  them  carrying  very  important 
mails,  have  been  travelling  during  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  often  in 
lonely  and  unfrequented  places ;  and  diu-ing  the  long  period  of  forty-two 
years  that  my  establishment  is  in  existence,  the  slightest  injury  has  never  been 
done  by  people  to  my  property  or  that  entrusted  to  my  care"  (o). 

More  vital,  however,  to  the  town  than  any  system  of  land  carriage  was 
the  navigation  of  the  Suir.  Wakefield  writing  in  l8o8  states,  "  The  greater 
part  of  the  goods  imported  into  Waterford  are  only  unloaded  on  the  quays 
and  sent  forward  to  Clonmel,  which  has  more  internal  commerce  than  any 
town  in  Ireland  "  (p).  Various  attempts,  therefore,  were  made  to  improve  the 
water-way,  and  to  establish  Clonmel  as  the  centre  of  a  canal  system,  a  survey 
of  the  country  between  Tipperary  and  Clonmel,  with  locks,  harbours,  etc., 
being  taken  (q).  When  in  l8l6  the  Waterford  merchants  sought  an  act  of 
parliament  for  incorporation  as  Harbour  Commissioners,  the  support  of 
Clonmel  was  obtained  only  on  condition  of  obtaining  a  share  of  the  dues  and 
being  represented  on  that  body.  But  the  Clonmel  merchants  discovered  too 
late  that  no  tolls  could  be  levied  on  ships  for  the  purpose  of  inland  naviga- 
tion (r).  In  1821  a  memorial  was  laid  before  Talbot,  Lord  Lieutenant,  for  a 
grant  to  deepen  the  river.  John  Killaly,  engineer,  reported  that  the  rocks  at 
Carrick,  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  navigation,  might  be  removed  at  a  cost  of 
£1,200,  but  no  help  was  given.  Similarly  in  l83l,Lord  Wellesley  acknowledged 
the  great  utility  of  the  proposed  works  but  regretted  that  no  funds  were 
available.  Four  years  later,  November  2nd,  1835,  a  meeting  of  gentry, 
merchants  and  others  concerned,  was  held  in  Carrick  to  form  a  joint  stock 
company  and  obtain  parliamentary  powers.  As  the  boatmen  threatened 
active  hostility,  a  deputation  of  them  was  admitted  to  the  meeting.  Lord 
Duncannon  was  in  the  chair,  and  the  principal  speaker  was  David 
Malcomson,  who  gave  an  interesting  historical  summary  : — 

It  is  now  sixty  years  since  John  Bagwell  obtained  a  grant  from  parliament  for 
improving  the  river  Suir.  At  that  time  the  people  thought  as  they  do  now,  that  their 
interests  would  be  injured  by  throwing  them  out  of  employment.  A  thousand  pounds 
were  expended  by  making  a  track-way,  as  they  then  drew  up  the  boats  by  ropes  on 

(0)  Paper  read  by  Bianconi  before  British  Association  Meeting,  Dublin,  1857.  A  good  picture 
of  one  of  Bianconi's  "  long  cars  "  starting  from  Hearn's  Hotel  may  be  seen  in  Hall's  Ireland.  A 
series  of  six  coloured  engravings  was  also  published. 

(P)  II.,  p.  22.  He  adds  in  a  note  "  Clonmel  exports  corn  and  pork.  One  merchant  has  on 
hands  sugar  to  the  amount  of  jf  10,000." 

(q)  The  original  maps  were  lent  the  writer  by  the  late  T.  C.  Grubb. 

(r)  Information  penes  J.  E.  Grubb,  Esq.,  Carrick-on-Suir,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  most  of  the 
details. 


-    •       .'     ii    ii    *•  .*.-   ».!• 


.4 


t    .  I' 


'     '    .   .    a.      I 


History  of  Clonmel,  107 

Numerous  and  most  important  results  may  be  anticipated  from  these  operations, 
but  it  will  perhaps  be  as  well  to  enumerate  only  a  few  of  them  here. 

By  increasing  the  facilities  of  trade,  we  shall  increase  trade  itself,  for  instance,  a  few 
years  back  Lord  Duncannon  went  to  the  expense  of  building  a  quay  at  Fiddown,  a  village 
on  the  Suir,  about  5  miles  from  Carrick,  and  the  consequence  of  that  simple  improvement 
has  been,  that  in  a  single  year  120  sloops  have  discharged  cargoes  at  this  spot. 

The  Suir  which  is  now  navigable  nearly  as  far  as  Carrick  for  vessels  of  150  tons 
burden,  will  be  navigable  with  ease  for  ships  of  300  tons  burden. 

In  the  export  alone,  the  Merchants  will  save  in  freight  a  very  large  sum  annually, 
for  the  Merchants  at  Carrick  who  are  now  obliged  to  boat  their  goods,  which  consist  of 
butter,  bacon,  com,  flour,  and  immense  quantity  of  live  stock.  Twenty-two  miles  down 
the  river  to  Waterford,  will  be  enabled  to  ship  them  at  their  own  stores  and  save  the 
freight  already  mentioned.  The  merchants  of  Clonmel  will  have  to  boat  their  goods 
before  shipping,  only  12  miles  instead  of  34,  and  the  saving  of  freights  thereby  will 
ultimately  bendit  the  agricultural  interests  at  large,  and  as  the  distance  from  Clonmel 
to  Carrick  may  be  travelled  in  four  hours  by  water,  and  in  an  hour  and  a  half  by  land, 
they  will  be  able  to  superintend  their  own  shipmients,  which  will  enhance  the  value  of 
their  goods  considerably  in  the  London  market,  as  nothing  affects  the  price  of  Irish 
provisions  more  favourably  than  the  care  and  Cleanliness  with  which  they  are  shipped 
to  England,  and  to  the  feeder  and  live  stock,  the  advantages  will  be  incalculable. 

Government  having  refused  to  undertake  the  improvements  as  public  works,  and 
all  hopes  of  a  grant  of  money  towards  this  completion  having  been  abandoned,  it  is 
proposed  as  already  set  forth  to  form  a  joint  stock  company  to  be  called  "  The  River 
Suir  Navigation  Co.,"  to  be  incorporated  by  act  of  parliament,  and  be  authorised  to 
improve  the  navigation  and  repair  the  bed  of  the  river  from  Graney  Ferry  to  the  old 
bridge  of  Carrick,  and  to  levy  a  duty  of  not  more  than  6d.  per  ton  upon  all  goods 
imported  and  exported. 

The  Company  obtained  parliamentary  powers  and  at  once  set  to  work. 

Between  the  years  1836-41,  the  sum  of  £8,000  was  expended  iti  removing 

sandbanks  and  making  the  "Cut"  at  Carrick.    By  the  summer  of  the  latter 

year,  vessels  of  200  tons  were  able  to  come  alongside  the  quays  of  Carrick, 

and  sanguine  people  looked  forward  to  extending  "the  Navigation"  to 

Clonmel.    In  the  opening  five  months,  forty  vessels  of  from  eighty  to  one 

hundred  tons,  discharged  their  cargoes  at  the  Tipperary  seaport,  coal  being 

sold  there  at  the  unprecedentedly  low  price  of  from   15s.  to  17s.  a  ton. 

But  the  boatmen  were  not  going  to  take  "  the  Navigation "  lying  down. 

A  shareholder  writes  to  the  Tipperary  Constitution^  December  14th,  1842 : — 

Part  of  a  cargo  of  salt  which  arrived  in  Carrick  was  purchased  by  a  Clonmel 
merchant  No  boatman  could  be  had  to  bring  it  up  to  Clonmel,  and  ultimately 
the  vessel  was  obliged  to  proceed  back  to  Waterford  for  the  purpose  of  delivering 
the  salt  thence  to  a  Clonmel  boat    This  fact  requires  no  commentary. 

Lord  Glengall,  a  strenuous  advocate  of  the  alternative  scheme  to 
"the  Navigation,"  viz.: — a  railway  (which  being  extended  to  Cahir,  would 
improve  his  property),  seized  on  the  occasion  to  address  "the  Lsfmled  and 
Commercial  Interests  of  the  Southern  Division  of  Tipperary." 

The  boatmen,  through  the  system  of  combination,  are  masters  of  the  trade. 
Among  other  scandalous  exactions,  they  do  not  permit  a  new  boat  to  be  placed  on  the 
river  until  part  of  an  old  one  is  worked  up  into  the  new  one,  in  order  that  only  a 
certain  number  of  boats  should  ply.  The  boat  trade  also  is  in  the  hands  of  so  few  that 
it  amounts  to  a  monopoly. 


198  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  angry  controversy  was  ended  eleven  years  later  by  the  opening  of 
the  Waterford  and  Limerick  Railway. 

Throughout  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  town  steadily 
improved  in  appearance.  Many  of  the  older  two-storied  houses  were  re- 
built ;  the  rows  of  thatched  cabins  in  the  suburbs  gradually  disappeared ; 
the  waste  places  along  the  river  were  occupied  by  huge  corn  stores,  while 
the  quays  themselves  were  finely  embanked  with  limestone  ashlar.  The 
Old  Bridge  being  now  unequal  to  the  traffic,  two  new  ones  were  constructed, 
the  western  bridge  mainly  to  serve  the  Cork  and  Dublin  coaches,  the  "  New  " 
bridge  to  connect  the  growing  suburbs  on  the  south  side  of  the  town  (t). 
All  visitors  to  Clonmel  were  loud  in  praise  of  its  progress,  its  busy  air  and 
comparative  freedom  from  beggars.  One  in  1820  writes: — "It  is  a  very 
considerable  and  thriving  town.  The  streets  are  long  and  regular,  and  the 
houses  are  well  built,  the  greater  part  of  which  are  rough  cast,  and  are  either 
cream-coloured  or  white,  save  here  and  there  one  of  neat  appearance,  whose 
front  is  often  curiously  ornamented  with  blue  slates,  cut  into  various  devices. 
Within  these  few  years  Clonmel  has  been  very  considerably  enlarged. 
Mr.  Banfield  has  added  much  to  the  appearance  of  the  town  by  the  erection 
of  a  row  of  very  genteel  houses,  at  the  east  entrance,  and  Messrs.  Rialls  are 
adding  very  considerably,  both  to  its  extent  and  appearance,  in  the  erection 
of  a  whole  street  of  very  eligible  houses.  The  streets  are  clean  and  well 
paved,  but  want  that  conifortable  accommodation,  a  flagged  causeway  "  (u). 
The  "comfortable  accommodation  "  was  supplied  nineteen  years  later,  when 
another  visitor  reported:  "The  principal  streets  are  spacious  and  are  now 
being  flagged ;  the  town  is  extending  not  only  in  trade  and  commerce,  but  in 
its  buildings;  it  may  truly  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  thriving  and 
improving  towns  in  the  kingdom  "  (v). 

A  further  evidence  of  prosperity,  and  of  civilization  (of  which  indeed  it 
is  the  only  crucial  test),  was  the  increasing  interest  taken  in  the  poor. 
Monk  Mason's  Survey  of  Clonmel,  1813,  states  : — 

A  very  extensive  House  of  Industry  was  finished  two  years  ago  in  the  west  end  of 
the  town,  both  at  the  public  expense  of  the  county  and  by  private  subscription.  It  is  a 
common  receptacle  for  all  descriptions  of  mals  fortunes,  serving  at  the  same  time  as  a 
place  of  confinement  for  vagrants  and  lunatics,  as  well  as  an  asylum  for  the  poor  and 


ft)  The  building  of  these  bridges  excited  opposition  in  unlooked  for  quarters.  The  Corporation 
were  apprehensive  that  the  western  bridge  would  injure  their  tolls.  When,  at  the  Suininer  Assizes,  181 1, 
the  Grand  Jury  passed  a  presentment  for  building  a  bridge  '*  over  that  part  of  the  river  opposite  to 
the  salt  and  lime  works  at  Raheen,"  the  boat  owners  employed  council  to  call  up  a  fearful  vision  of 
loss  of  life  and  merchandize  through  collision  with  the  piers  of  the  proposed  bridge. 

(11)  Pigot.    Commercial  Directory.    Manchester,  1820. 

(vj  Shearman's  Directory.    Kilkenny,  1836. 


History  of  Clonmel.  lOO 

helpless.  This  building  redounds  immortal  honour  on  the  Society  of  Friends,  especially 
on  Robert  Grubb,  Esq.,  whose  unremitted  labours  and  charitable  exertions  towards 
meliorating  the  situation  of  the  poor  inhabitants  of  Clonmel,  will  never  be  forgotten. 

There  is  also  a  Dispensary  here  for  the  poor,  and  is  well  suppnorted  by  subscription. 
Such  helpless  families  as  labour  under  any  dangerous  and  spreading  disorders  are  sent 
to  the  Fever  Hospital,  in  the  House  of  Industry,  where  the  greatest  care  of  them  is 
taken  till  they  are  perfectly  recovered,  and  in  a  state  to  return  home  (w). 

Early  in  l8i8,  when  the  awful  epidemic  of  typhus  reached  the  town, 
sweeping  away  whole  families,  the  governors  of  the  "  Workhouse  "  added  a 
fourth  department,  namely,  an  orphanage  for  the  children  of  parents  who 
had  died  of  fever.  As  the  Grand  Jury  presentments  increased,  the  institution 
was  able  to  maintain  a  larger  number.  In  1820,  there  were  180  inmates  ;  in 
1834,  183  ;  divided  as  follows  : — Old  and  infirm,  90;  lunatics,  39;  prostitutes, 
vagrants,  and  others  committed  for  petty  crimes,  74.  The  grants  for  that 
year,  were  £700  for  the  lunatics  and  £1000  for  the  other  departments.  The 
following  year  the  Clonmel  District  Lunatic  Asylum  was  opened,  and  the 
lunatics  removed  thither  from  the  House  of  Industry.  The  asylum  was 
originally  intended  for  60  patients.  The  purchase  of  the  site  (11  acres) 
amounted  to  £1,347,  the  building  cost  £14,019,  and  the  furniture  £l,220.  A 
few  years  later,  1842,  the  buildings  were  enlarged  to  accommodate  100 ;  the 
Grand  Jury  presentment  for  that  year  being  £1,868.  Another  department  of 
the  House  of  Industry  was  abolished  in  1838,  when  the  "  House  of  Correction," 
adjoining  the  jail  in  Richmond  Street,  was  established.  A  contemporary 
gives  a  glowing  account  of  the  new  institution : — "  Here  the  prisoners  are 
employed  in  useful  and  profitable  labour,  such  as  carpenters,  blacksmiths, 
weavers,  shoemakers,  wheelwrights,  etc.,  and  many  individuals  who  entered 
this  prison,  idle  and  dissolute  characters,  acquire  a  practical  knowledge 
of  some  useful  trade."  Finally,  the  House  of  Industry  itself  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Poor  Law  Commissioners;  the  first  admissions  took  place 
1st  January,  1841,  the  number  entering  during  the  second  half  of  the  year 
was  535,  the  expenditure  up  to  this  date  being  £7,862.  Besides  the  House  of 
Industry  there  was  at  this  period  an  institution  known  as  the  "  Mendicity 
Asylum."    The  Commission  of  1834  gives  the  following  account  of  it : — 

There  are  about  124  relieved  at  the  Mendicity  by  food  and  money;  lodging  is 
given  to  fifty.  Those  who  adopt  mendicancy  as  a  mode  of  living  object  to  be  confinai 
to  the  institution ;  when  they  would  get  work,  they  would  go  out.  Beggars  dislike  the 
Mendicity  on  account  of  the  fare,  which  is  stirabout  twice  a  day.  The  inmates  are 
orphans  and  widows,  and  four  or  five  infirm  old  men. 

But  in  no  direction  was  the  progress  of  Clonmel  more  marked  than  in 
education.    It  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  in  the  early  years  of  the 

(w)  MS.,  P.R.O.,  Dublin. 


200  History  of  CXonmel. 

nineteenth  century  half  the  population  of  the  town  could  neither  read  nor 
write.  Within  the  next  fifty  years  a  whole  group  of  primary  schools  was 
established,  and  a  good  education  brought  within  reach  of  the  poorest. 
This  too,  without  the  expenditure  of  one  penny  from  the  public  purse.  The 
following  were  the  public  schools  existing  in  the  town  in  the  middle  years  of 
the  century : — 

Christian  Brothers'  Schools,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's. 

The  Christian  Brothers  were  introduced  from  Waterford  about  l8lO.  The  present 
schools  and  residence,  erected  in  1846,  on  a  site  for  which  a  rent  of  £3  lOs.  a  year 
is  paid.  The  buildings  cost  approximately  £3,300,  the  money  being  raised  by 
subscriptions  and  annual  collections  for  some  years.  In  1858  the  number  of  pupils  on 
the  rolls  was  465. 

Endowments  consist,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  of  a  rent  charge  of  £37  15s. 
yearly  under  the  will  of  Terence  Lalor,  who  died  21  August,  1853 ;  fifteen  shares  in 
National  Bank,  bequeathed  by  Rev.  Michael  Burke,  P.P.,  who  died  October,  1866; 
£1,000  under  the  will  of  Mr.  J.  Barron ;  the  object  of  these  endowments  being  the 
maintenance  and  support  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  and  for  feeding  and  clothing  the 
children  attending  their  school. 

Christian  Brothers'  Schools,  St.  Mary's. 

These  schools,  which  originally  formed  the  Presentation  Convent,  were  established 
in  1830 ;  the  house  in  which  the  Brothers  took  up  residence  having  been  the  Franciscan 
Friary  until  the  removal  of  the  friars  to  Abbey  Street.  The  number  on  rolls  in  1856 
was  240. 

Endowments.— William  Kielly  by  will  21  June  1850  bequeathed  to  these  schools 
(with  others)  the  rents,  issues  and  profits  of  his  freehold  and  leasehold  property.  But 
as  his  death  occurred  within  the  statutory  period,  the  schools  derived  no  benefit 
Patrick  Rivers  who  died  6  January  1846,  bequeathed  £5  annually  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  school.  In  1858  the  Commissioners  reported  that  only  £5  l6s.  8d.  had  b€«n  paid 
on  foot  of  this  bequest.    Further  endowments  cannot  be  ascertained. 

Presentation  Convent  Schools. 

The  Presentation  Convent  was  established  2nd  October,  181 3,  by  Rey.  Thomas 
Flannery,  P.P.,  in  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Christian  Brothers'  Schools.  The 
community  was  brought  from  Dungarvan  where  they  had  been  introduced  four  years 
earlier.  In  the  opening  year  the  number  of  children  in  attendance  exceeded  700.  A 
lease  of  10  acres  of  Grenane  was  obtained  in  1828  and  the  convent  built  there  the 
following  year.  Lace  classes  were  carried  on  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  during  the 
famine  years.  In  1850  the  number  on  the  rolls  was  500.  The  new  schools  were  erected 
in  1865  at  a  cost  of  £1,400. 

Endowments.— Patrick  Rivers  who  died  6  January  1846  left  £5  annually  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  schools.  This  bequest  seems  to  be  now  lost.  Nicholas  Cott  in  1854 
bequeathed  £l,000  for  clothing  poor  children  attending  the  schools.  Rev.  Edmund 
Walsh,  P.P.,  in  1885  bequeathed  £l,000  to  provide  a  breakfast  for  the  poor  children 
of  the  schools.  Alice  Cantwell  left  £100  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  children  attending 
the  schools. 

Sisters  of  CHARrrv  Schools. 

This  community  was  introduced  into  Clonmel  by  Rev.  Michael  Burke,  P.P.,  in  1848. 
The  residence  and  schools  were  provided  at  the  .sole  charge  of  Dr.  Burke  himself. 
Between  1850-60  there  were  from  300  to  400  children  on  rolls. 

Endowments. — Rev.  Michael  Burke,  died  October  1866,  bequeathed  £1,600  to  provide 
clothing  and  breakfast  for  the  poor  children  attending  the  schools.  Mr.  J.  Barron 
bequeathed  a  further  sum  which  produces  an  annual  interest  of  £14  for  the  like  purpose. 


History  of  Clonmel.  201 

Charitable  School  for  Girls. 

This  school  existed  previous  to  1788,  for  on  27  June  that  year  Mrs.  Anne  Cooke 
bequeathed  £50,  the  interest  "  to  support  the  school  lately  established  in  Clonmel  for 
the  tuition  of  poor  children  as  long  as  same  school  shall  continue."  Robert  Grubb 
bequeathed  II  December  1796,  dE2  15s.  4d.  a  year  and  rent  of  certain  premises ;  invested 
in  stock  £125  including  £15  bequeathed  by  Rebecca  Grubb  1849.  Endowments  in  1858 
amounted  to  £7  7s.  8d  from  land,  £5  5s.  from  trust  funds. 

The  school  was  managed  by  a  committee  mostly  of  ladies  who  out  of  endowments 
and  subscriptions  paid  the  mistress  £30  a  year ;  building  accommodated  120 ;  on  roll 
36;  in  attendance  15,  of  whom  II  were  Catholics.  From  10-12.30  was  devoted  to 
needlework,  and  three  days  of  the  week  an  hour  was  devoted  to  the  Scriptures.  Secular 
instruction  therefore  very  elementary ;  reading  poor,  grammar  and  geography  incon- 
siderable, in  arithmetic  no  skill  in  the  common  rules,  writing  good. 

;.  ,  Incorporated  Society's  School. 

This  was  established  in  1832  out  of  the  endowments  of  the  old  Charter  School.  John 
Dawson  devised  71  la.  Or.  I7p.  let  on  renewable  lease  £75  13s.  lod.  a  year;  Sir  Charles 
Moore,  renewable  lease  of  39a.  3r.  ip.  reserving  £li  is.  8d.  a  year,  23  April  1747; 
Corporation  of  Clonmel  grant  17  April,  1707,  £4  I2s.  4d.  a  year  in  consideration  of  a 
bequest  from  Dr.  Ladyman ;  Corporation  of  Clonmel  rent  charge  of  £7  7s.  8d.  2  August 
1707  in  consideration  of  a  donation  from  Mrs.  Pomeroy.  Endowments  in  1858  consisted 
of  750a.  3r.  l8p.  producing  a  net  annual  income  of  £163  14s.  lid.,  the  school  premises 
being  valued  at  £8  lis.  2d. 

School  built  by  Incorporated  Society  at  a  cost  of  £252,  who  appointed  the  master. 
Building  accommodated  lOO ;  on  roll  26 ;  in  attendance  17.  Amount  and  quality  of 
instruction  below  the  average,  and  the  school  generally  very  unsatisfactory. 

Friends'  Boarding  School  for  Girls. 

This  school  existed  in  1796  when  in  December  20th  that  year,  Robert  Grubb  by  will 
bequeathed  the  premises  to  twelve  trustees  to  hold  for  the  purposes  of  the  school.  He 
also  left  to  them  the  annual  rent  of  £60  derivable  out  of  the  flour  mills  held  by  Thomas 
Grubb,  such  rent  to  be  paid  to  the  governors  of  the  school  for  the  time  being  whom 
they  should  appoint  In  1846  the  trustees  on  petition  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  obtained 
power  to  lease  the  school  premises  to  Joshua  Malcomson  for  300  years  at  a  rent  of  £4,0, 
On  30  August  1847  a  lease  of  2a.  2r.  23p.  of  Prior  Park  was  obtained  from  Henry  Pedder 
in  consideration  of  £166  13s.  4d.  the  rent  being  £15  a  year.  The  new  schools  which 
cost  dE2,584  14s.  8d.  were  erected  from  funds  raised  by  mortgage  of  the  old  school 
premises  and  the  endowment. 

The  buildings  accommodated  32  boarders.  In  1858  there  were  15  in  residence  who 
paid  pensions  £37-£42.  The  school  was  most  creditably  conducted ;  the  premises 
scrupulously  clean ;  the  teachers  well  qualified.  The  pupils  were  well  instructed  in 
French,  drawing,  English  literature,  geometry,  natural  philosophy,  and  the  elements  of 
astronomy.  Music  of  any  kind  was  not  taught,  that  accomplishment  not  being  approved 
of  by  the  Society  of  Friends  (x), 

Clonmel  had  now  reached  the  climax  of  population  and  material 
prosperity,  and  therefore  its  story  might  be  supposed  to  be  fittingly  ended. 

(x)  Besides  the  public  schools  there  were  some  fourteen  "academies"  carried  on  mostly  in 
Mary  Street  and  Ann  Street.  Mrs.  William  F'oley  advertizes  in  a  local  directory  1839,  that  "  She 
obliges  her  Pupils  to  correspond  with  her  one  day  in  each  week  on  Literary  and  Historical  Subjects. 
After  the  morality  of  the  Pupils  Mrs.  F.  next  attends  to  their  manner  about  which  (most  attractive 
point  in  a  female)  she  is  so  anxious,  that  her  Pupils  never  leave  her  ;  they  are  her  constant 
companions  with  or  without  company  ;  they  surround  her  and  form  her  first  care,  which  constant 
association  cannot  fail  in  producing  that  ease  and  elegance  of  manner  which  to  be  truly  attractive 
must  be  naturally  and  unceasingly  practised." 


202  History  of  Clonmel. 

But  to  stop  here  would  be  to  cover  up  and  hide  away  some  of  the  most  vital 
facts  in  the  history  of  the  locality.  For  paradoxical  though  it  may  appear, 
the  highest  point  touched  by  the  town,  marks  the  lowest  level  in  the  condition 
of  the  industrial  population.  The  normal  condition  of  a  great  mass  of  the 
people  from  1800  to  1850  was  destitution,  and  out  of  this  arose  a  state  of 
things  which  can  only  be  described  as  smouldering  civil  war. 

During  the  eighteenth  century,  as  has  been  narrated,  the  county  Tipperary 
was  parcelled  out  in  huge  grazing  districts.  In  this  way,  partly  through 
economic  causes,  partly  through  the  supineness  of  the  landowners,  partly 
through  the  penal  code  which  restricted  the  interest  of  a  Catholic  in  land  to 
31  years  and  then  at  a  rack-rent  (y),  the  people  at  large  had  the  sort  of 
connection  with  the  soil  the  Bedouins  have.  Their  habitations  too  were 
about  as  substantial.  Arthur  Young  saw  the  farmer  leasing  the  land,  and 
his  labourers  forthwith  marking  out  their  plots  and  setting  up  their  bothys. 
This  observant  traveller  in  his  rides  around  Mitchelstown,  notices  one  day  a 
cabin  with  its  occupants,  the  husband  and  wife,  a  number  of  children  and  the 
pig,  all  in  full  swing  where  none  had  existed  the  day  before  (z).  Cabins 
were  built  in  by-ways,  in  the  corners  of  fields  or  in  disused  quarries,  while  the 
lands  were  settled  and  leased,  and  bought  and  sold,  with  as  little  notice  of 
the  people  upon  them  as  if  they  had  been  so  many  rabbits.  Lord  Glengall 
informed  the  Devon  Commission  in  1843  that  sixty  years  earlier  the  Cahir 
property  had  been  divided  among  some  twenty  lessees,  at  which  period  the 
lands  were  all  in  grass  "  with  scarcely  any  inhabitants  on  them."  The  truth 
is  that  there  existed  on  these  lands  a  population  of  over  4,000,  but  they  were 
absolutely  ignored  in  the  legal  arrangements  (aa).  When,  however,  towards 
the  end  of  the  century  tillage  was  substituted  for  grazing,  the  great  farms 
were  split  up,  sometimes  by  the  landowners  themselves,  more  often  by  the 
lessees ;  but  in  all  cases  the  occupiers  were  so  rented  that  their  margin  for 
existence  was  still  the  potato.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
average  rent  of  land  in  South  Tipperary  did  not  probably  much  exceed  5s.  an 
acre  (bb) ;  in  the  third  quarter  it  had  risen  four-fold ;  by  the  last  years  the 
average  reached  £3  an  acre.  Wakefield,  in  December  1808,  gives  some  local 
details. 


(y)  "  Every  papist  shall  be  disabled  to  purchase  any  lands  or  any  leases  or  terms  thereof,  other 
than  term  of  years  not  exceeding  thirty-one  years,  whereon  a  rent  not  less  than  two-thirds  of  the 
improved  yearly  value,  shall  be  reserved  during  such  term." — 2  Ann,  c.  6,  s.  8. 

(z)  Tour  II.,  37-40. 

(aa)  The  Catholic  parish  registers  show  about  4,400  in  1779,  which  number  had  increased  to 
4,900  in  1 791.  In  each  case  I  have  used  the  factor  27,  which  is  probably  too  low,  and  taken  the 
average  birth  rate  of  three  years  at  each  period . 

(bb)  Maurice  Keating,  e.g.,  rented  the  lands  of  Cooteagh,  190  acres  Irish,  from  John  Perry  in 
1759  at  3s.  3d,  to  3s.  6d,  an  acre. — Perry  Papers. 


History  of  Clonmel. 

The  high  ground  rent  for  houses  in  Clonmel  is  very  extraordinary — from  70  to  100 
guineas  per  acre,  the  leases  being  for  three  lives. 

Mr.  Sparrow  [of  Oaklands]  let  a  piece  of  land  consisting  of  25  acres  without  a 
habitation  upon  it  at  the  rate  of  12  guineas  per  acre,  and  another  of  105  acres  situated 
at  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half  at  6  guineas  an  acre.  Near  Clonmel  a  farm  has  been 
let  on  account  of  local  convenience  so  high  as  14  guineas  per  acre  (cc). 

These  extraordinary  rents  were  due  to  the  price  of  agricultural  produce 
during  the  Napoleonic  wars ;  but  there  was  another  cause  in  constant  operation 
which  kept  rents  at  a  level  that  allowed  the  occupier  a  bare  subsistence.  This 
was  the  rapid  increase  in  population.  The  census  of  Tipperary  in  1821  was 
346,896 ;  in  1831,  406,977 ;  in  1841, 435,553.  The  additional  population  having 
no  outlet,  had  to  turn  back  on  the  land ;  farmers  divided  their  holdings  to 
provide  for  their  children,  and  these  in  turn  to  provide  for  theirs.  The  resists 
of  the  process  through  two  generations  appear  in  the  census  returns  of  1841. 

County  of  Tipperary. 

Number  of  Farms. 

About  I  to  5  acres          ...            ...  13,032. 

About  5  to  IS  acres        ...            ...  12,787. 

About  IS  to  30  acres      ...            ...  4,938. 

Above  30  acres               ...            ...  2,960. 

In  the  backward  state  of  agriculture  these  petty  farms  afforded  but  a 
wretched  livelihood  to  their  occupants,  and  the  rents  therefore  became  an 
intolerable  burthen.  The  general  misery  was  intensified  by  the  condition  of 
the  labouring  poor.  During  a  great  part  of  the  winter,  and  from  May  until 
August,  there  was  no  employment  to  be  had  ;  the  wages  for  the  rest  of  the 
year  varied  from  8d.  to  lOd.  a  day  according  to  the  season  (dd). 

The  Clonmel  evidence  in  the  Report  relative  to  the  Destitute  Classes, 
1834,  appears  to  verge  on  the  incredible.  From  500  to  600  labourers,  we 
learn,  came  from  Kerry  and  Cork  in  the  harvest;  and  their  wives  for  the 
most  part  went  begging. 

The  native  labourers  have  not  the  practice  of  sending  wives  and  children  begging, 
but  when  it  does  happen  it  occurs  in  summer.  Between  servants  there  is  a  sympathy 
existing  and  they  assist  each  other ;  those  in  place  assist  those  who  are  out.     It  rarely 

(cc)  Ireland  I.,  p.  277. 

((id)  Evidence  of  William  G'Donnell,  Esq.,  Carrick. — Devon  Digest  II.,  493.      In  page  267  of 

the  Report  relative  to  the  Destitute  Classes,  1834,  ^^y  be  seen  the  balance  sheet  of  a  Tipperary 
labourer : — 

Income.  X   s.   d. 

•  Three  days  employment  in  the  week  at  lod.  ...            ...    o  lo    o 

Profit  of  a  pig,  bought  at  los.,  sold  at  ^i  los.  ...            ...100 


Total  Annual  Income  ...  ;f7  10    o 

Expenditure. 

Rent  of  a  cabin  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...     i  10    o 

Leaving  to  be  expended  on  himself  and  family  in  clothes  and  food    600 


Total  Annual  Expenditure  ...  £j  lo    o 


204  History  of  Clonmel. 

happens  that  they  have  recourse  to  begging.  There  are  a  vast  number  of  respectable 
persons  in  great  want  who  are  ashamed  to  beg ;  some  live  on  a  few  dry  potatoes  for  24 
hours.  Many  destitute  persons  die  gradually  from  want  of  comfort  and  necessary  food. 
Corrigan,  a  tradesman,  knew  a  tradesman's  family  consisting  of  eight  persons,  to  go 
two  days  without  food  ;  the  friends  gave  something  the  third  day ;  they  would  rather 
die  than  ask  for  it.  In  the  county  of  Watefford,  near  Clonmel,  two  orphan  children 
died  of  starvation  about  six  years  ago ;  they  perished  on  the  road  side,  in  the  middle  of 
the  day ;  they  fainted  away  as  they  were  wayfaring.  James  Smith,  boatman,  gives  the 
story,  and  is  not  sure  whether  an  inquest  was  held. 

Perhaps  100  people  go  out  in  a  day  from  Clonmel  gathering  potatoes ;  they  consist 
chiefly  of  women  and  children.  Sometimes  farmers  boil  potatoes  purposely  for  the 
beggars.  They  give  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  family  applying,  and  give  as 
long  as  they  have  to  spare ;  two  handfuls  to  a  family.  It  is  very  common  for  the 
farmers  to  give  improvidently  to  beggars,  so  as  to  leave  themselves  in  want  at  the  end 
of  the  year ;  many  of  the  farmers  were  forced  to  anticipate  their  means  this  summer, 
to  buy  meal  at  a  high  rate.  Farmers  allow  beggars  to  lie  in  the  bams.  The  labourers 
generally  give  lodgings,  and  the  farmers  give  them  straw  and  potatoes ;  very  little  milk 
except  they  have  large  dairies.  Farmers  sometimes,  too,  give  a  cast-off  garment, 
particularly  to  the  children  if  they  are  naked.  Three  in  one  family  died  in  less  than  a 
week,  within  three  miles  of  Clonmel,  of  fever  caught  from  a  beggar's  family  who  slept 
in  the  house.  If  a  wandering  beggar  is  taken  ill  of  the  fever  and  cannot  get  admission 
into  an  hospital,  the  people  build  a  hovel  on  the  road  side,  or  in  a  comer  of  a  field,  and 
leave  the  family  there.  The  labouring  people  give  them  what  few  things  they  can  spare 
and  leave  them  at  the  door. 

Charity,  good  feeling,  and  sympathy  for  the  condition  of  the  applicant,  are  the 
motives  which  induce  to  relief.  Children  of  beggars  are  brought  to  habits  of  industry 
after  a  certain  age.  No  instance  could  be  remembered  of  a  professional  beggar  from 
childhood ;  they  enlist,  emigrate,  or  become  labourers.  Farmers  will  not  encourage 
stout  beggars ;  they  will  employ  the  sons  of  beggars  from  a  charitable  motive  and  a 
wish  to  discountenance  begging.  No  persons  take  to  beg^ng  from  choice ;  if  they  can 
procure  the  necessaries  of  life  they  will  not  beg ;  begging  is  looked  on  as  disgraceful ; 
even  in  a  bad  season  the  mother  and  children  would  go  into  a  mendicity  house,  but  the 
father  would  refuse. 

There  are  about  150  street  beggars  in  the  town.  The  mayor  employed  two  officers 
to  take  up  all  beggars,  and  send  them  to  the  House  of  Industry ;  it  was  given  up 
because  public  opinion  was  against  it  When  they  arrested  a  man  in  the  streets  the 
crowd  rescu^  him,  the  working  people  passing  by  thinking  it  a  hardship  to  confine  a 
man  for  begging  (ee). 

From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  the  evil  of  the  time  was  not  pauperism,  but 
poverty,  and  this  poverty  passed  into  famine,  in  seasons  when  the  potato 
crop  partly  failed— i8oo-'lo-'l8-2i-'28-'30-'34- 

The  men  are  at  that  time  ready  to  work  for  their  diet ;  the  wives  and  children 
spread  over  the  land  and  beg ;  and  begging  is  then  a  bad  profession,  as  the  people  have 
little  to  give.  At  this  time  labourers  and  even  tradesmen  can  scarcely  get  one  full 
meal  in  the  24  hours.  It  often  happens  that  a  labourer  then  goes  to  bed  supperless. 
Besides  this  they  will  often  collect  the  cornkail,  and  rape  and  nettles  and  eat  them ;  the 
latter  only  happens  in  a  dear  summer  such  as  this  year  (ff). 

The  distress  and  privations  those  people  silently  endure  are  incredible  except 
to  those  who  have  the  pain  to  witness  them.  There  is  a  periodical  starvation  in  this 
town  among  the  poorer  classes  for  want  of  employment.  There  are  some  of  them  who 
are  scarcely  able  to  procure  one  meal  a  day  (gg), 

(ee)  Report,  pp.  390-6,  also  p.  58,  Abstract. 

(Jf)  Report  on  the  Destitute  Classes.     Parish  of  Carrick-on-Suir. 

(gg)  Evidence  of  Patrick  Hayden,  Carrick.     Devon  Digest  I.,  p.  494. 


History  of  Clonmel,  206 

The  whole  population,  therefore,  depended  on  the  land,  and  as  the 
possession  of  a  piece  of  land  was  the  only  security  against  starvation,  a 
constant  struggle  for  possession  went  on.  At  periods  when  a  fall  in  prices 
or  a  bad  season  led  to  rent  being  unpaid,  and  consequent  eviction,  the 
country  was  brought  almost  to  a  state  of  anarchy.  And  these  periods  were 
frequent  In  the  beginning  of  1814  in  Clonmel  market,  wheat  was  3s.  8d. 
per  stone,  beef  lod.  and  mutton  lid.  per  lb.  Six  months  later.  Napoleon  had 
abdicated,  and  on  July  1st,  wheat  was  sold  for  is.  per  stone,  beef  and  mutton 
3/^d.  per  lb.  For  the  next  few  years  landlords  and  tenants  were  engaged  in 
fierce  conflict  Some  landlords  indeed,  proceeding  to  extremes,  were  marked 
out  for  vengeance.  On  27th  December,  181 5,  Henry  Long,  at  Toomevara, 
while  distraining  his  tenants  for  rent,  was  stoned  to  death.  Within  the  next 
few  months  three  others  were  fired  at,  and  the  authorities  in  alarm  posted 
military  at  vantage  centres,  swore  large  numbers  of  persons  as  special 
constables,  and  suspended  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  The  event,  however, 
which  stirred  the  county  to  its  depths  was  the  murder  of  William  Baker  of 
Lismacue.  Returning  from  Cashel  Sessions,  November  27th,  1 81 5,  he  was 
met  by  two  men  at  the  gates  of  Thomastown  Park  and  shot  through  the 
head.  Though  a  reward  of  £5,000  was  offered,  and  though  scores  of 
suspected  persons  were  lodged  in  the  bridewells,  the  secret  which  was  known 
to  hundreds,  was  long  kept  and  the  efforts  of  the  Crown  baffled  (hh). 

During  the  years  1814-50,  a  war  without  truce  was  waged  between  the 
landlords,  the  law,  the  magistracy,  and  the  forces  of  the  Crown  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  whole  population  on  the  other.  From  September,  1814,  to 
May,  1818,  the  baronies  of  Iffa  and  Offa,  Middlethird,  Clanwilliam, 
Kilnemanagh,  Slievardagh  and  Compsy,  were  subjected  to  the  Insurrection 
Act  From  April,  1822,  to  May,  1825,  these  baronies,  together  with  Upper 
and  Lower  Ormond,  were  again  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  disturbance, 
and  Habeas  Corpus  suspended.  Again  in  February,  1832,  the  proclamation 
was  renewed  for  all  the  baronies,  except  Iffa  and  Offa,  which  by  this  time 
had  become  comparatively  peaceful ;  and  again  in  1847,  the  Act  II.,  Victoria 
c.  2,  for  the  Better  Prevention  of  Crime  and  Outrage  was,  by  proclamation, 
applied  to  the  entire  county  of  Tipperary.  In  addition  to  the  police 
establishment  settled  on  the  county  by  the  Act  of  1823,  there  was  an 
auxiliary  force  of  500  men  constantly  employed  on  special  service.  Parlia- 
ment throughout  this  period  instead  of  making  an  effort  to  adjust  the 
landowners'  claims,  with  the  right  of  the  people  to  existence,  literally  threw 

(hh)  Eventually  two  men  named  Keating  and  Maher  were  imprisoned  in  Cahir.  Keating, 
through  connivance  or  otherwise,  obtained  some  whisky  and  their  conversation  being  overheard, 
Keating  was  subsequently  induced  to  give  evidence,  and  Maher  was  hanged . 


206  History  of  Clonmel. 

oil  on  the  fire.  For  previous  to  1815,  tenants  could  not  be  ejected  unless  by 
an  expensive  process  in  the  superior  courts.  Even  if  the  tenant  did  not 
take  defence,  it  cost  the  landlord  about  £18  to  put  him  out,  however  petty 
the  holding.  If  the  tenant  chose  to  defend,  the  ejectment  trial  cost  the  land- 
lord any  sum  from  £50  to  £150.  But  the  Act  56,  George  IIL,  c.  88,  created  a 
process  known  as  civil  bill  ejectment,  by  means  of  which  a  tenant  whose 
rent  did  not  exceed  £50  a  year,  might  be  got  rid  of  for  a  sum  of  less  than  £2. 
Again,  the  so-called  Emancipation  Act  of  1829,  by  disfranchising  the  forty 
shilling  freeholders,  took  away  from  the  landlords  the  sole  motive  for 
continuing  the  poorer  tenantry  on  the  soil — their  use  at  the  hustings  (it). 
In  the  event  a  system  of  "  clearances  "  was  inaugurated,  which  probably  had 
no  parallel  in  any  civilized  country.  Whole  townlands  were  swept  of 
inhabitants ;  and  without  feeling  or  remorse,  hundreds  of  small  farmers  and 
cottiers  were  cast  on  the  roadside  to  perish  of  hunger,  exposure,  or  typhus. 
For  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  at  this  period  there  was  neither  workhouse 
nor  emigrant  ship  to  succour  the  wretched  people.  As  an  evidence  of  the 
spirit  in  which  evictions  were  carried  out,  the  following,  which  is  taken  from 
an  appeal  of  "  a  Tipperary  landlord  and  magistrate  "  to  Lord  Eliot,  the  lord 
lieutenant  of  the  day,  deserves  to  be  quoted : — 

As  a  proof  of  the  necessity  for  some  Enactment  to  facilitate  the  recovery  of  small 
holdings,  many  cases  might  be  given ;  one  may  here  suffice  :-^In  the  week  now  current 
the  Sub-Sheriff  of  Tipperary  attended,  accompanied  by  a  Police  escort,  to  give 
possession  under  an  "  Habere  "  of  certain  houses  and  lands  on  a  property  in  the  barony 
of  Lower  Ormond.  In  the  course  of  his  duty,  the  Sheriff  was  obliged — heartrending  as 
such  a  proceeding  was — to  have  removed  from  their  houses  and  from  their  beds  some 
members  of  a  family  lying  ill  of  a  contagious  fever!  it  being  totally  impossible  for  the 
Sheriff  or  even  the  Landlord  or  his  Agent,  if  present,  to  admit  them  to  retain,  or 
re-enter  into  possession,  such  are  the  delays  and  expenses  this  proceeding  would  admit 
of— and  which  the  Peasantry  are  too  fond  of  taking  advantage  of.  The  consequences 
are,  that  they  are,  in  those  cases  generally  dependant  on  their  neighbours'  charitable 
feelings  for  a  lodging — the  Landlords  frequently,  perhaps  at  their  own  loss,  levelling 
the  houses  to  prevent  re-occupation  (jj). 

The  attitude  of  the  Tipperary  landlords  towards  the  people,  is  indeed 
frankly  revealed  by  the  whole  tenor  of  the  pamphlet.  When  the  agrarian 
war  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  kingdom,  an  attempt  was  made  to  deny 
the  wholesale  character  of  the  clearances.  Lord  Donoughmore  at  the  Roden 
Commission,  challenged  the  statements  of  Sergeant  Howley,  Chairman  of 
the  County  Court.      Howley  however  professed  his  readiness  to  give  the 

(ii)  To  this  latter  Act  some  authorities  ascribe  most  of  the  Tipperary  "clearances."-  Lord 
Donoughmore,  in  his  evidence  before  the  Roden  Commission  (1839),  stated: — "The  gentry  began  to 
clear  their  estates  of  the  forty-shilling  freeholders  who  had  been  done  away  with  by  the  Act" — 
Lords  Committee,  1839.    Question  No.  1277. 

(jj)  The  Pretent  State  of  Tipperary  as  regards  Agrarian  Outrages,  etc.,  by  a  Magistrate  of  the 
County.    Dublin,  May,  1842.    Appendix  7. 


History  of  Clonmel,  207 

names  of  the  wholesale  evictors,  and  added  that  "from  conferences  which  he 
had  with  the  other  assistant  barristers,  he  had  found  that  ejectments  at 
sessions  were  more  numerous  in  Tipperary  than  in  any  other  county,  and 
that  he  himself  had  more  than  150  at  one  sessions;  the  150  defendants 
represented  about  900  individuals 'YitiM-  As  Lord  Hawarden,  one  of  the 
commissioners,  was  himself  among  the  principal  exterminators,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  add  Rowley's  oflfer  was  not  accepted  (II).  And  the  statistics 
of  the  higher  courts  confirmed  the  experience  of  the  County  Chairman. 
During  the  years  1833-38  the  Tipperary  ejectments  in  the  Superior  Courts, 
Dublin,  numbered  882 — ^three  times  as  many  as  any  other  county.  As  these 
ejectments  dealt  with  extensive  holdings,  each  of  them  including  several 
sub-tenancies,  it  is  probable  that  the  number  of  persons  affected  ran  into 
thousands. 

The  consequences  are  summarised  in  the  Report  of  the  Select  Committee 
of  1830 : — "  It  would  be  impossible  for  language  to  convey  an  idea  of  the 
state  of  distress  to  which  the  ejected  tenantry  have  been  reduced,  or  of  the 
disease,  misery  and  even  vice,  which  they  have  propagated  in  the  towns 
wherein  they  have  settled;  so  that  not  only  they  who  have  been  ejected, 
have  been  rendered  miserable,  but  they .  have  carried  with  them  and 
propagated  that  misery.  They  have  increased  the  stock  of  labour,  they 
have  rendered  the  habitations  of  those  who  received  them  more  crowded, 
they  have  given  occasion  to  the  dissemination  of  disease,  they  have  been 
obliged  to  resort  to  theft  and  all  manner  of  vice  and  iniquity  to  procure 
subsistence ;  but  what  is  perhaps  the  most  painful  of  all,  a  vast  number  of 
them  have  perished  of  want." 

The  unhappy  people,  protected  neither  by  law,  by  public  opinion,  nor  by 
conscience,  now  set  about  obtaining  for  themselves  fixity  of  tenure  by  the 
method  of  assassination.  "  When  a  tenant,"  said  the  Devon  Commissioners, 
describing  Tipperary  in  1845,  "  is  removed,  he  is  looked  upon  as  an  injured 


(kk)  Lords  Committee  on  State  of  Ireland  1839. 

(ID  One  Father  Davern  in  a  series  of  letters  to  the  Nation^  gave  a  thrilling  exposure  of  the 
Hawarden  clearances.  "  Over  two  hundred  families,  comprising  thirteen  hundred  human  beings 
were  evicted  from  their  holdings  on  your  lordship's  estate.  (Here  follow  the  names,  residence, 
and  number  in  family  of  the  tenants).  Their  houses  were  burnt  or  demolished,  and  they  themselves 
were  driven  as  outcasts  on  the  highway.  Pestilence  and  fever  generated  by  famine,  slew  their 
hundreds,  but  hundreds  still  survive  to  eat  the  bread  of  sorrow  as  inmates  of  the  poor  houses 
throughout  the  county.  The  assessment  for  their  support  instead  of  being  levied  on  your  lordship's 
estate,  is  charged  on  the  capital,  industry  and  labour  of  the  merchants,  shopkeepers  and  tradesmen  of 
the  towns  which  afford  these  paupers  shelter.  I  appeal  to  the  British  Parliament  and  ask  them  how 
can  Tipperary  be  tranquil  and  happy  when  a  peer  of  Parliament,  a  Lord  in  Waiting  to  the  Queen 
will  allow  the  industrious  population  to  be  driven  to  desperation. "  The  result  of  the  terrible  exposure 
was  questions  were  asked  in  Parliament,  and  Peel  asked  Hawarden  for  an  explanation.  The 
Solicitor  General  applied  to  file  a  criminal  information  against  the  editor.  Shiel  was  retained  for 
the  defence  and  Robert  Potter  as  attorney  searched  out  in  garrets,  cellars,  and  workhduses.  Lord 
Hawarden's  scattered  tenantry.    The  case  against  the  newspaper  was  never  proceeded  with. 


208  HISTORY   OF  CXONMEL. 

man,  and  the  decree  too  often  goes  out  for  vengeance  upon  the  landlord  or 
the  agent,  and  upon  the  man  who  succeeds  to  the  farm ;  and  at  times  a  large 
numerical  proportion  of  the  neighbourhood  look  with  indifference  upon  ^the 
most  atrocious  acts  of  violence,  and  by  screening  the  criminal,  abet  and 
encourage  the  crime.  Murders  are  perpetrated  at  noon-day  on  a  public 
highway ;  and  whilst  the  assassin  coolly  retires,  the  people  look  on,  and 
evince  no  horror  at  the  bloody  deed  "  (mm),  A  few  instances  may  be  given. 
Charles  O'KeefFe,  agent  for  Valentine  Maher  of  Turtulla,  evicted  l8o  persons. 
Shortly  after,  on  October  24th,  1838,  he  was  shot  dead  in  the  street  at  Thurles, 
and  the  murderer  could  never  be  discovered.  James  Scully,  of  Kilfeacle, 
evicted  30  tenants  in  the  winter  of  1841.  The  following  April  17th,  he  was 
fired  at  and  wounded  in  the  jaw,  but  recovering,  he  was  murdered  on  the  26th 
of  November  subsequent  The  murderer  in  this  case  also  was  never 
discovered.  On  the  5th  April,  1838,  Austin  Cooper  and  Francis  Wayland, 
two  land  agents  resident  near  Tipperary,  were  proceeding  to  the  fair  of  that 
town.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  brother  of  Cooper,  and  all  three  were 
armed.  At  a  place  called  Ballinaclough  they  were  fired  at  by  three  men ; 
the  fire  was  returned  with  the  result  that  Samuel  Cooper  alone  escaped  with 
his  life  (nn).  Robert  Hall,  of  B|illygurteen,  was  shot  dead  19th  May,  1841 ; 
he  had  been  a  merchant  in  early  life,  and  becoming  involved  with  his  tenants 
in  questions  of  punctuality  and  arrears,  evictions  resulted.  Philip  Maguire, 
of  Toorin,  was  shot  at  his  own  door  in  November,  1835,  by  a  tenant  whose 
crops  he  had  distrained.  Towards  the  end  of  1838  Lord  Norbury  evicted 
some  tenants,  and  others  were  served  with  notice  to  quit.  On  1st  January, 
[839,  while  walking  in  his  park,  Durrow  Abbey,  in  company  with  his  steward, 
he  was  shot  The  following  August,  Daniel  Byrne  was  shot  near  Temple- 
tuohy  for  evicting  a  tenant  William  Roe,  of  Rockwell,  was  shot  2nd  October, 
1847,  by  a  tenant  whom  he  had  evicted  the  previous  month.  Indeed, 
throughout  this  awful  time  there  were  few  landlords  or  agents  who  had  not 
been  under  fire.  Avery  Jordan,  a  Tipperary  land  agent,  stated  at  the 
Devon  Commission  "  There  were  a  few  shots  fired  into  my  own  house  very 
lately,  but  there  was  nobody  shot ;  we  do  not  mind  these  little  trifles  "  (00). 
Lenigan,  Bayley,  Stoney,  Smith,  Drought,  Dunn,  Long,  Lee,  and  several 
others  were  fired  at,  some  of  them  more  than  once.    Perhaps  the  case  which 


(mm)  Devon  Digest.  II.,  1163. 

(nn)  Cooper  was  agent  for  the  Erasmus  Smith  Trustees,  and  had  just  evicted  several  tenants. 
Weyland  had  evicted  a  man  named  William  Kyan  from  a  farm  of  19  acres  for  which  he  paid  ^^45 
rent.  It  would  appear  from  the  evidence  that  Ryan  was  only  in  arrears  for  £1$  when  evicted. 
William  Walsh  and  Cornelius  Hickey  were  tried  by  Special  Commission  for  the  murder  and 
hanged. 

(00)  Devon  Digest.  II.,  p.  347. 


History  oIf  Clonmel.  209 

attracted  most  attention  was  that  known  as  the  "Holy  Cross  Murders." 
Richard  Chadwick,  agent  for  the  Sadleir  estate,  was  a  man  of  fearless 
resolution,  who  often  professed  he  had  "fattened  on  the  curses  of  the 
tenants  "  fpp).  As  a  preliminary  to  clearing  from  the  lands  of  Rathcannon  a 
body  of  tenantry  who  bore  a  desperate  reputation,  he  set  about  building 
a  police  barrack.  On  30th  June,  1827,  while  inspecting  the  work,  he  was 
shot  by  a  young  man  named  Patrick  Grace.  Grace,  who  was  tried  at  the 
Clonmel  Summer  Assizes,  when  asked  why  capital  sentence  should  not  be 
passed  upon  him,  declared  that  his  death  should  be  avenged  within  a  twelve 
month.  At  the  execution  of  Grace,  in  front  of  Holy  Cross  Abbey,  an  old 
man,  John  Russell,  pulling  on  a  pair  of  Grace's  gloves,  announced  he  should 
wear  them  "until  Paddy  Grace  was  revenged."  The  authorities  removed 
Philip  Mara,  a  mason,  who  had  been  principal  witness  against  Grace,  but  on 
1st  October  following,  three  brothers  of  Mara,  who  were  working  at  the 
barrack,  were  attacked  by  a  body  of  men.  Two  of  the  Maras,  though 
wounded,  escaped,  the  third  was  shot  fqq). 

If  the  evicting  landlord  or  agent  was  a  doomed  man,  the  fate  which 
awaited  those  who  took  the  vacant  holdings  was  more  inevitable  still.  "It 
appears,"  said  the  Devon  Commissioners,  "  that  vengeance  is  more  frequently 
directed  against  the  incoming  tenant  than  against  the  landlord  or  agent" 
In  1826,  John  Barry  became  tenant  of  Ballyneety,  near  Ardfinnan,  from 
which  a  family  named  Lonergan  had  been  evicted.  Sunday,  ilth  February, 
1827,  Barry  was  murdered  in  his  own  parlour,  and  on  the  9th  of  April 
following,  five  men  were  hanged  on  Ardfinnan  Green  for  the  murder.  Three 
brothers  named  Kinnealy  who  had  similarly  taken  a  farm  at  Outrath,  near 
Cahir,  were  shot  dead  while  sitting  at  supper  one  evening.  But  amid  the 
annals  of  assassination,  one  case  stands  out  beyond  all  others  in  awful 
prominence — "the  burning  of  the  Sheas."  William  Gorman  had  been 
evicted  by  Patrick  Shea  from  a  small  holding  at  Tubber,  on  the  slope  of 
Slievenamon.  A  lease  existed,  but  being  unstamped.  Shea  took  advantage 
of  the  fact  and  entered  into  possession  of  the  holding.  Bidding  defiance  to 
his  hostile  neighbours  he  formed  for  defence  a  party  of  his  family  and 
kinsfolk,  all  well  armed.  On  the  night  of  the  19th  November,  1821,  a  body 
of  men,  commanded  by  a  desperado  named  Maher,  surrounded  the  house. 
In  spite  of  shots  fired  by  the  Sheas,  they  contrived  to  place  a  heap  of  straw 
and  brushwood  against  the  thatch.  As  the  house  caught  fire,  several  of  the 
inmates  trying  to  escape,  were  mercilessly  shot  down,  and  the  following 

(Pp)  Shiel's  Personal  Sketches. 

(qq)  Reward  of  j£2,ooo  was  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  the  murderers  of  Daniel  Mara,  and 
ultimately  some  evidence  was  obtained  by  accident,  and  four  men  hanged. 


210  History  of  Clonmel. 

morning  nothing  was  to  be  seen  of  the  fabric  and  its  sixteen  occupants  but  a 
smoking  ruin.  Close  to  the  door  of  the  kitchen  was  a  tub  filled  with  water, 
and  beside  the  tub  the  charred  remains  of  a  woman.  Floating  in  tfee  water 
was  the  body  of  a  new-born  infant,  the  head  having  been  burnt  away. 

In  truth  the  code  of  humanity,  as  of  morals,  was  suspended  in  this 
internecine  struggle.  If  the  landlords,  with  inhuman  indifference  to  the 
sufferings  of  the  people,  enforced  to  the  utmost  limit,  every  right  the  law 
gave  them,  the  people  on  the  other  hand  applauded  and  encouraged  any  act 
of  vengeance,  however  savage.  "  They  believe,"  said  a  witness  at  the  Devon 
Commission,  "  their  own  interests  are  bound  up  in  the  cause  of  the  parties 
committing  these  murders.  They  sympathize  with  those  who  strive  to 
protect  them — to  oppose  the  landlord,  I  should  say."  One  Glissan,  who 
had  taken  some  lands  at  Lissahoney,  was  murdered  on  Easter  Sunday 
morning  in  the  midst  of  a  body  of  people  going  to  mass.  The  priest 
denounced  the  crime.  "  I  heard,"  said  a  witness,  "  some  of  them  declare  it 
was  a  pity  they  did  not  shoot  the  priest  himself — how  dare  he  interfere  "  frrj. 
The  assassin  was  occasionally  hired  for  the  work,  just  as  the  Sheriff  would 
employ  the  common  hangman.  More  often  some  desperate  character  set 
himself  up  as  a  public  avenger  of  wrongs,  and  shot  agents,  bailiffs,  incoming 
tenants,  safe  in  the  support  and  shelter  of  the  people.  On  3rd  of  May,  1838, 
two  men  named  Cronen  and  Guiry  shot  John  Keeffe,  an  owner  of  property  at 
Modeligo.  They  had  no  connection  whatever  with  Keeffe,  and  did  not  even 
know  his  appearance,  but  at  the  previous  fair  in  Clonmel  they  had  under- 
taken to  murder  him,  on  condition  that  Henry  Pedder,  of  Clonmel,  who  had 
evicted  them,  should  be  assassinated  by  two  of  Keeffe's  evicted  tenants. 

The  law,  too,  was  paralysed ;  the  tenants  had  come  to  regard  it  as  their 
enemy ;  the  landlords  as  their  weapon.  Even  though  (as  sometimes  happened) 
the  landlord  assassinated  was  a  humane  and  generous  man,  no  one  would  aid 
the  Crown  or  come  forward  to  prosecute  fss).  Cahill,  Crown  Prosecutor  for 
Tipperary,  stated  in  1845  that  "  any  party  giving  evidence  is  looked  upon  as 
an  enemy  of  the  general  class  to  which  he  belongs  "  ftt).  "  Odium,"  wrote  a 
Tipperary  landlord,  "  is  attached  not  only  to  parties  appearing  as  Crown 
witnesses,  but  to  their  relations,  connections  and  friends  to  a  very  remote 
degree;  and  the  being  branded  with  the  epithet  Informer  is  looked  on 
as  being   far   more    derogatory    than   that  of  Murderer  or  Robber*^  (uu). 


(rr)  Devon  Digest.  I.,  p.  362. 

(ss)  Popular  tradition  has  always  e.g.,  condemned  the  murderers  of  Maguire  of  Toorin  and 
Callaghan-Ryan.     Yet  in  either  case  conviction  was  obtained  only  with  difficulty  and  by  accident. 
(U)  Devon  Digest.  I.,  p.  349. 
(uu)  Present  State  of  Tipperary,  by  a  Magistrate.    Dublin  1842,  p.  14. 


History  of  Clonmel.  211 

Furthermore,  no  tenant  on  a  jury  would  convict,  however  clear  the  evidence. 
On  the  pther  hand,  any  attempt  made  by  the  Executive  to  frame  an  independent 
panel,  was  at  once  stopped  by  landlord  clamour.  In  1838  the  indiscriminate 
challenge  exercised  by  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown,  was  restricted,  directions 
been  given  "  that  no  man  shall  be  objected  to  merely  on  the  ground  of  his 
religion  or  politics."  The  Tipperary  landlords  scared  by  some  recent 
murders,  met  together  and  sent  a  fierce  protest  Drummond,  the  Under 
Secretary,  replied,  and  incidentally  used  words  which  for  many  years  were 
the  tocsin  of  battle  in  and  out  of  parliament 

Property  has  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights ;  to  the  neglect  of  those  duties  in  times 
past  is  mainly  to  be  ascribed  that  diseased  state  of  society  in  which  such  crimes  take 
their  rise;  and  it  is  not  in  the  enactment  or  enforcement  of  statutes  of  extraordinary 
severity,  but  chiefly  in  the  better  and  more  faithful  performance  of  those  duties,  and  in 
the  more  enlightened  and  humane  exercise  of  those  rights  that  a  permanent  remedy  for 
such  disorders  is  to  be  sought  (w). 

The  utter  make-believe  to  which  trial  by  jury  was  reduced,  may  be 
illustrated  by  the  case  of  Patrick  Burns  charged  with  the  murder  of  Robert 
Hall,  of  Ballygurteen.  Tried  first  at  the  Nenagh  Spring  Assizes,  1842,  the 
jury  (an  exclusively  Protestant  one)  disagreed,  eleven,  according  to  one 
account,  being  for  acquittal  (ww).  Four  months  later,  29th  June,  1 842,  he  was 
again  put  forward  at  the  Clonmel  Special  Commission,  and  on  precisely  the 
same  evidence,  was  convicted,  and  subsequently  hanged.  If  the  evidence 
obtainable  against  accused  persons  was  scant  and  unsatisfactory,  the  jury  of 
landlords  was  easily  convinced,  and  as  a  consequence,  there  were,  not 
unfrequently,  appalling  miscarriages  of  justice.  Four  of  the  five  men  hanged 
at  Ardfinnan  for  the  Barry  murder — ^James  Byrne,  Philip  Lonergan,  Thomas 
Bryan,  and  John  Green — ^were  beyond  question  innocent  (xxj.  The  Crown 
prosecutors  of  the  day  used  draw  a  lurid  picture  of  the  assassin,  with  levelled 
musket,  lying  in  wait  for  his  unsuspecting  victim.  The  future  historian  will 
paint  a  still  more  ghastly  one — a  wretched  creature  put  to  death  under  the 
forms  of  law — tried  by  men  with  whom  he  and  his  fellows  were  engaged 
in  a  struggle  for  very  existence;  by  men  antagonistic  to  him  in  race,  sentiment 


(w)  Thpmas  Drummond  to  the  Earl  of  Donoughmore,  Dublin  Castle,  22nd  May,  1838.— Life  of 
Drummond,  ST  O'Brien,  p.  284. 

fynv)  Present  State  of  Tipperary,  etc.,  p.  16. 

(xx)  The  case  against  them  was  substantially  the  identification  by  Barry's  wife.  Yet  it  is  hardly 
credible  that  at  five  o'clock  on  a  winter  evening,  a  panic-stricken  woman  with  no  previous  acquaintance, 
could  unmistakably  identify  every  member  of  the  party.  The  fifth,  John  Lonergan,  confessed  the 
crime  at  the  place  of  execution  and  exculpated  the  others  ;  local  tradition  has  always  asserted  their 
innocence. 


212  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  creed ;  sentenced  too  by  a  judge  often  hostile,  always  partisan,  who 
assured  him  that  after  calm  deliberation  he  had  been  found  guilty  by  "  a  jury 
of  his  peers  "  (yy). 

But  the  tales  of  horror  recounted  at  each  assizes  in  Clonmel,  have  faded 
from  the  memory  of  men.  The  social  ulcers  have  healed,  and  the  misery 
and  degradation  .in  which  outrages  originated,  are  matters  of  history.  In 
probably  no  country  of  Europe,  has  there  been,  within  the  past  half  century, 
so  great  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  people  at  large.  And  in  the 
town,  whose  story  has  been  told  in  these  pages,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  at 
no  time  during  the  seven  centuries  of  its  existence,  has  there  been  as  high  an 
average  of  comfort  and  of  civilization  (zz). 


(yy)  The  following,  for  example,  was  Ihe  juiy  impaiinelled  to  try  John  Loiiergaii  for  the  murder 
of  William  Roe,  of  Rockwell: — Richard  S.  Manseragh,  Simon  Lowe,  Richard  Phillips,  John  Going, 
William  H.  Briscoe,  James  Archer  Butler,  Samuel  Perry,  Henry  C.  White,  John  Russell,  Thomas 
Sadleir,  Thomas  P.  Lloyd,  James  P.  Birch. 

In  September,  1848,  Delane,  of  the  Timcs^  was  on  a  visit  to  Bernal  Osborne  at  Newtown 
Anner.  He  met  his  reporters,  Nicholls  and  Russell,  who  had  come  to  Clonmel  for  the  Special 
Commission  which  was  to  try  Smith  O'Brien,  Meagher  and  McManus.  "  It's  useless,"  said  Delane, 
"  talking  of  the  loyalty  or  disloyalty  of  the  people!  They  are  all  against  us!  They  do  not  like  our 
laws,  our  ways,  or  anything  that  is  ours!  But  the  government  and  landowners,  supported  by  the 
police  and  the  army,  can  always  deal  with  insurrection,  and  to-morrow  the  jury  will  be  quite  safe,*' — 
Reminiscences  of  W.  H.  RUssell,  War  Correspondent  at  the  Crimea,  etc. 

(zz)  A  few  dates  of  events  unconnected  with  the  general  narrative  may  be  given  here.  1824, 
19th  October,  Clonmel  first  lighted  with  gas  by  the  London  Gas  Company.  The  130  lamps  cost 
;^3  17s.  6d.  each.  A  local  gas  company  was  formed  in  1843,  the  two  amalgamating  in  1850.  On 
31st  August,  1827,  a  meeting  of  the  traders  was  held  to  promote  the  Waterford  and  Limerick  Rail- 
way. 1838,  31st  January,  a  committee  was  formed  to  raise  ;£'i,5oo  in  ^^50  debentures,  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  the  Tipperary  County  Club  buildings.  1845,  2nd  April,  Charles  Bianconi  laid 
the  first  stone  of  the  Mechanics  Institute. 


IM- 
PART  THI   SECOND. 


CORPORATION   OF  CLONMEL. 

CHE  growth  of  the  municipal  liberties  between  the  thirteenth  and  the 
seventeenth  centuries,  has  been  described  in  Chapter  11.  But  the 
manor,  out  of  which  the  municipality  was  developed,  still  continued 
though  many  of  the  manorial  rights  fell  into  abeyance.  As  the 
town  lay,  in  fact  if  not  in  law,  within  the  Ormond  palatinate,  the  rival 
Desmonds  who  were  lords  of  the  manor  from  1346  onward  were  unable  to 
exercise  these  rights  personally  or  by  their  seneschal.  When  the  final 
struggle  between  the  houses  took  place  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  Desmond 
in  a  statement  to  that  queen  in  1572  set  forth  what  his  claims  were. 

The  chief  rent  of  Clonmell,  the  Earls  manor  court  there  (a),  with  certain  tenements 
and  the  Mill  and  Bakehouse  of  the  same,  which  hath  for  custome  and  usage  time  out 
of  mind  that  all  kinde  of  malt  ground  to  make  sale  ale,  must  be  ground  in  the  said 
Mill  or  else  forfeited,  without  the  millers  dispense  therewith ;  and  the  like  for  baking 
of  sale  bread  out  of  the  said  Earls  Bakehouse. 

The  fines  and  Earls  silver  of  the  said  town. 

A  Court  to  be  kept  there  by  the  Earls  Portreeve  once  every  fortnight ;  where  no 
plea  is  holden  above  lOs.  I^d.  for  every  which  plea  is  due  to  the  steward  of  the  said 
Court  3d  for  every  bloodshed  I2d.  whereof  8d.  is  due  to  the  steward  and  to  the  Portreeve 
for  the  tyme  being  4d  Also  if  any  be  convicted  by  order  of  the  said  Court  and  so 
committed  to  waid,  the  same  party  making  escape  he  doth  forfeit  £5  totiens  quotiens. 
There  is  ioyned  to  the  said  Earl's  Court,  of  demesne  lands  one  piowland,;  a  fishing 
weir,  the  fishing  of  the  pool  beside  the.  Bridge,  two  parcells  of  land  in  the  mountain  of 
Barre  Makinge  [Barravaukeen]  and  Knocknerilhe  [Knockanearla]  which  is  in  the  Earl 
of  Ormond's  hands  (h). 

(a)  Probably  the  aiicieiit  castle  in  the  middle  of  the  High  Street  before  described. 

(h)  State  Papers,  Elizabeth.  An  inquisition  held  at  Carrick,  2nd  April,  1608,  before  Sir  Nicholas 
Walsh,  found  that  Walter  Lawless  (as  trustee  for  the  Earl  of  Ormond)  was  seized  in  fee  of  inter  alia 
"the  manor  of  Clonmel,  consisting  of  the  manor  house  with  its  appurtenances;  a  water  mill;  a 
weir  for  fishing;  a  bakehouse  at  which  all  those  of  the  town  of  Clonmel  that  make  sale  bread 
are  for  to  bake  as  they  were  auntiently  accustomed;  the  chief  rent  of  ;f  13  6s.  8d.  Irish  yearly  from 


History  of  Clonmel.  215 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  various  patents  relating  to  the  town, 
which  are  of  record. 

1.  Grant  of  a  yearly  fair  at  Clonmel  to  Richard  De  Burgh,  on  the  Vigil  of  All 
Saints  and  seven  following  days.— 30  July,  9  Hen.  III.  (1225). 

2.  Grant  of  a  yearly  fair  in  the  manor  of  Clonmel  to  Richard  De  Burgh,  to  be  held 
on  the  Vigil  and  Feast  of  St.  Magdalen  and  six  following  days,  the  grant  of  the  former 
fair  being  annulled— 3  Sept.,  26  Hen.  III.  (1242). 

3.  Grant  of  tolls  for  ten  years  to  the  bailiffs  and  good  men  of  Clonmel. — 8  April, 
26  Ed.  I.  (1298). 

4.  Writ  to  supersede  certain  actions  against  the  burgesses  of  Clonmel,  which  actions 
were  commenced  in  contempt  of  the  manor  court. — 10  October,  27  Ed.  I.  (1299). 

5.  Pardon  of  amercement  to  the  provost  and  commonalty.— February  li,  Ed.  11. 
(1317). 

6.  Grant  of  murage  for  seven  years  to  the  provost,  bailiffs  and  good  men  of 
ClonmeL— October  13,  Ed.  II.  (1319). 

7.  Grant  of  murage  for  eight  years  to  the  burgesses  and  commonalty.— 12  January, 
29  Ed.  III.  (1355). 

8.  Grant  of  murage  for  ten  years  to  burgesses  and  commonalty.— 12  July,  38  Ed.  III. 
(1364). 

9.  Grant  of  license  to  elect  a  sovereign. — 20  January,  45  Ed.  III.  (1371). 

10.  Grant  of  exemption  from  purveyance  and  pre-emption.— 12  July,  50  Ed.  IIL 
(1376). 

11.  Grant  by  James  le  Botiller,  Earl  of  Ormond  and  lord  of  the  Palatinate,  to  the 
burgesses  and  commonalty,  that  their  taxes  should  be  rateably  assessed  by  themselves, 
that  they  should  be  exempted  from  juries,  etc,  outside  the  borough  and  that  they 
should  have  the  office  of  the  market.— 9  Ric.  11.  (1385). 

12.  Grant  of  murage  for  thirty  years  to  the  provost,  bailiffs  and  good  men  of 
Clonmel.— 26  January,  10  Hen.  IV.  (1408). 

13.  Grant  that  the  sovereign  and  commonalty  should  not  be  burthened  with  taxes 
against  their  will,  that  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  appear  before  seneschals  out  of 
their  liberty,  that  they  have  power  to  sue  and  be  sued  before  the  provost,  and  might 
arrest,  implead  and  imprison.— 22  February,  6  Hen.  V.  (1418). 

14.  Grant  confirming  preceding  by  James  le  Botiller.— 30  January,  9  Hen.  V.  (1421). 

15.  Inspeximus  of  foregoing  by  Thomas  le  Botiller,  Earl  of  Ormond. — 19  June, 
16  Hen.  VII.  (1506). 

16.  Charter  of  incorporation  of  Clonmel. — 5  July,  6  Jas.  I.  (1608). 

17.  Exemplification  of  foregoing.— 14  June,  14  Chas.  II.  (1662). 

18.  New  charter  of  incorporation.— 7  December,  3  Jas.  II.  (1687). 

19.  Exemplification  of  charter  of  6  Jas.  I.— 6  William  III.  fl6gs). 

20.  Grant  of  ten  monthly  fairs  to  John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  of  Marlfield— 22  February, 
54  Geo.  IIL  (1814). 

As  an  example  of  the  murage  grants  the  following  translation  of  the 
earliest  (April  8th,  26  Ed.  L)  is  given  in  extenso. 

The  King  at  the  instance  of  Otto  de  Grandison  grants  for  ten  years  to  the  bailiffs 
and  good  men  of  Clonmel,  for  the  greater  security  of  the  neighbourhood,  the  following 

the  burgesses  of  Clonmel  which  said  manor  is  holden  from  the  King  in  cheefe  but  by  what  tenure 
or  service,  jurors  know  not."  When  the  acts  of  parliament  7  William  III.  (Irish),  8  and  9,  12  and  13 
William  III.  (English),  were  passed  enabling  the  Ormond  trustees  to  sell  or  lease  estates  in  order  to 
pay  the  debts  of  the  first  Duke,  the  feudal  services  were  reserved  in  the  fee-farm  grants.  "Henry 
Cleare,  for  example,  by  deed  20th  January,  1702,  was  bound  for  certain  premises  in  Mary  Street  to 
do  suit  and  service  at  the  Court  Baron  of  Clonmel  when  summoned,  to  resort  with  his  com,  grain, 
or  grist  to  the  mills  belonging  to  the  Duke,  under  a  penalty  of  £$  for  every  barrel  ground  elsewhere. 
Under  the  deed  of  9th  August,  1800,  all  these  feudal  rights  were  supposed  to  vest  in  the  Bagwell 
family  as  lords  of  "  the  lordship,  manor  or  reputed  manor  of  the  town  of  Clonmel." 


216  History  of  Clonmel. 

customs  to  be  paid  out  of  native  and  foreign  merchandize,  viz. : — From  each  hogshead 
of  wine  on  sale,  2d. ;  each  dicker  of  hides,  id. ;  each  crannock  of  corn  of  any  kind,  J^d. ; 
each  crannock  of  salt,  Hd. ;  each  crannock  of  flour,  54d. ;  each  dicker  of  goat  skins,  J^d. ; 
each  band  of  iron,  J^d. ;  each  sack  of  wool,  2d. ;  each  cow,  id. ;  each  ox,  Id. ;  each  horse 
or  mare,  id. ;  each  hog,  Hd. ;  eight  two-year  olds,  id. ;  each  piece  of  Irish  cloth,  J^d. 
each  cart  load  of  lead,  2d. ;  each  hundred  of  wax,  I  J^d. ;  each  crannock  of  wood,  2d. ; 
100  lbs.  alum,  id. ;  200  boards,  J^d. ;  half  a  mark's  worth  of  mercery  and  crockery,  J^d. ; 
each  load  of  wrought  iron,  J^d. ;  a  French  mill  stone,  5^d. ;  an  English  mill  stone,  Ji  ;  a 
piece  of  foreign  cloth,  id. ;  a  piece  of  linen  cloth  from  over  seas,  J^d. ;  a  hundred  of 
canvass,  J^d. ;  a  weight  of  fat,  ^d. ;  a  ship  of  the  cargo  of  400  hogsheads  of  wine  laden 
with  any  kind  of  merchandize,  i6d. ;  each  ship  called  *  farecost,'  8d. ;  skins  worth  5s.,  %d. 
At  the  end  of  the  period  of  ten  years  these  customs  shall  cease  and  be  abolished. 

By  the  King  himself. 

It  is  instructive  to  compare  this  with  the  latest  schedule  of  tolls  extant. 

Council  Meeting,  2ist  December,  1750. 

A  Dockett  of  the  Fees  and  Tolls,  taken  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Markett  of  the  town  of 
Clonmell,  according  to  the  ancient  customs  and  usages  thereof  accommodated  to 
the  several  Statutes  of  late  made  for  the  weighing  of  com. : — 

1st.  For  each  Bag  of  Wheat,  Peas,  Beans  and  Rye,  containing  20  stone,  for  Toll  one 
Bag  or  Measure,  commonly  called  a  Winchester  Pottle,  which  is  to  contain  the  6oth  part 
of  20  stone  or  One  Barrell,  which  is  4p.  lOoz.  4dr.,  and  Toll  is  to  be  taken  by  a  sealed 
Copper  measure,  striked  close  to  the  rim  or  edge  thereof,  and  so  in  proportion  for  any 
lesser  quantity. 

2nd.  For  every  Bagg  of  small  or  English  Barley,  containing  16  stone,  the  Bagg 
aforesaid,  and  so  in  proportion  for  any  lesser  quantity. 

3nL  For  each  Bagg  of  Beere  Barley,  containing  14  stone,  the  Bagg  aforesaid,  and 
so  in  proportion  for  any  lesser  quantity. 

4th.  For  each  Bagg  of  Oats,  containing  13  stone,  the  Bagg  aforesaid,  and  so 
in  proportion  aforesaid. 

5th.  For  each  Barrell  of  Rapeseed,  one  Bagg  aforesaid,  and  so  in  proportion 
aforesaid. 

6th.  For  every  Bagg  or  10  stone  of  country  Malt,  not  brought  in  by  a  ffreeman, 
three  pence. 

7th.  For  each  Barrell  of  Potatoes,  two  pence,  and  so  in  proportion  for  any  lesser 
quantity,  but  under  the  value  of  lOd.,  one  farthing  only. 

8th.  For  every  Pedler,  Hosier,  Glover,  Britchmaker,  Country  Butcher,  Confectioner, 
Earthen  or  Horn  Ware  Chapmen,  and  all  others  that  sell  any  Ware,  and  have  stalls  or 
standings  in  the  Markett,  for  each  Markett  day  three  pence. 

9th.  For  all  Hawkers,  2d.  per  Markett  day,  and  for  Meat  mongers,  Gardeners, 
Hucksters,  and  such  like  that  sell  in  the  Markett,  one  penny  per  Markett  day. 

lOth.  For  any  cake  of  Rough  Fat  or  Tallow,  two  pence,  and  for  any  greater 
quantity,  one  half  penny  per  stone. 

nth.  For  every  quarter  of  a  hundred  of  Butter  or  Rendered  Tallow,  one  farthing, 
and  for  every  cask  of  said  goods,  not  exceeding  two  hundred  weight  of  Neate  Butter  or 
Tallow,  one  penny,  and  for  each  cask,  exceeding  two  hundred  weight,  two  pence. 

I2th.  For  each  gallon  of  Honey,  one  penny,  and  so  in  proportion  for  any 
lesser  quantity. 

13th.  For  every  hundred  of  Cheese,  2d.,  and  so  in  proportion  for  greater  or 
lesser  quantity. 

14th.  For  every  Piece  of  Bandle  Cloath,  20  Bandies  and  upwards,  2d.,  if  under, 
one  penny. 

15th.  For  every  Piece  of  White  or  Coloured  flFreize  or  fflannell,  containing 
20  Bandies  and  upwards,  2d.,  and  if  under,  one  penny. 

l6th.  For  every  stone  of  wool  sold  by  a  Forreigner  in  the  Markett,  one  penny,  and 
for  each  Bagg,  sold  and  delivered  in  town,  3d. 


History  of  Clonmel.  217 

17th.  For  every  horse  load  of  fish,  three  pence. 

l8th.  For  every  Horse,  Mare,  Gelding,  Cow,  Ox  or  Bull,  sold  in  the  Fairs, 
six  pence,  on  other  days,  3d.,  and  for  every  two  year  old  and  yearling,  2d. 

19th.  For  every  Calfe  or  Sheep,  id.,  for  every  Lamb,  J^d.,  for  every  Hogg  of  the 
value  of  5s.  and  under,  2d.,  and  from  thence  to  20s.,  four  pence. 

20th.  For  every  Cow,  Ox,  Bullock,  Bull,  Steer,  Heiffer,  or  Horse  hyde,  id.,  and  for 
every  yearling  hyde,  J^d. 

2lst.  For  every  truckle  load  of  Woodden  Ware  or  Barks,  3d.,  and  for  every  such 
load  of  Poles,  axletrees.  Rake,  Pyke,  Shovell,  or  Spade  handels,  or  other  small  ware  for 
Husbandry  uses,  3d.,  and  of  stone  Cole,  i  penny. 

22nd.  For  every  Salmon  sold  in  the  Markett,  id. 

23rd.  For  all  small  Articles  or  Comodities,  of  what  kind  soever,  to  the  value 
of  one  penny  out  of  20d. 

24th.  For  every  Hogshead  of  Syder,  sold  and  delivered  to  a  Publican,  who  retails 
it  again,  3d.,  but  to  any  Private  Gentleman  or  Housekeeper,  who  buys  for  his  own 
use  nothing  whether  ffree  or  not. 

25th.  For  every  Horse  load  of  New  or  Sour  Milke,  from  All  Hollantide  to 
May  Day,  one  penny,  and  from  thence,  two  pence. 

26th.  For  every  horse  load  of  ffresh  or  pickled  Oysters,  Cured  or  Dried  ffish 
or  Pickles,  three  pence. 

27th.  For  every  horse  load  of  onions,  3d.,  Turnips  and  Roots,  id..  Lemons, 
Oranges,  and  other  fruits,  3d. 

28th.  For  every  Bagg  of  Soapers  ashes,  containing  about  J^  a  Bristol  Barrell, 
three  pence,  and  so  in  proportion  for  any  other  quantity. 

29th.  No  goods  of  any  kind  whatsoever  brought  to  Markett,  under  the  value 
of  five  pence,  to  Pay  any  Toll,  and  no  small  Basket  of  Eggs,  Chickens  or  other 
poultry,  to  pay  any  toll. 

30th.  No  Ffreeman  to  pay  any  toll  for  any  Gkxxis  he  buys  out  of  the  Town 
Liberty's  for  his  own  consumption  or  to  be  consumed  or  made  use  of  in  any  Trade  or 
Calling  he  follows  in  the  Town  of  Clonmell  or  Libertys  thereof.  PROVIDED  always 
that  no  Ffreeman,  under  colour  of  his  Ffreedom,  pass  or  ffree  any  Butter,  Com, 
or  other  Goods,  or  Merchandize  whatsoever  that  shall  be  bought  upon  Commission,  or 
designed  for  the  manufacture  or  consumption  of  any  Fforreign  Markett  whatsoever, 
whether  in  this  Kingdom  or  elsewhere.  Neither  is  any  Toll  to  be  paid  or  taken  for  any 
Goods  sold  by  a  Ffreeman  out  of  the  Libertys  to  any  person  when  the  same  are 
brought  into  town,  and  all  Ffreeman's  Widdows  during  their  Widdowhood  to 
have  the  same  benefit  of  their  Husband's  Ffreedom  as  though  he  were  living. 

31st.  All  disputes  arising  by  the  collecting  of  the  Toll  of  the  Marketts  and  Ffairs 
of  said  town  to  be  determined  by  the  Mayor  thereof  for  the  time  being,  agreeable 
to  the  Rates  and  Directions  of  this  Dockett. 

32nd.  Nothing  else  Lyable  to  pay  anything  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Markett 
but  what  is  mentioned  in  this  Dockett,  and  all  persons  concerned  are  to  pay  due 
obedience  thereto  (c). 

(c)  The  following  particulars  are  taken  from  the  Municipal  Corporations  Report,  1833 : — 

Tolls  and  customs  are  claimed  by  the  corporation.  They  formerly  produced  from  j£30o  to 
j^400  a  year,  but  latterly  they  have  produced  only  about  £iSo. 

The  toll  on  corn  and  tonnage  on  boats  were  taken  olf  altogether,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
merchants,  20  years  ago. 

The  tolls  were  formerly  leased  by  the  year,  but  they  are  not  leased  now. 

The  tolls  and  customs  were  formerly  given  to  the  mayor  in  lieu  of  salary  ;  that  is  about  30  years 
ago,  or  upwards. 

Tolls  and  customs  are  levied  on  every  week-day  as  well  as  on  market  days.  A  great  number  of 
additional  persons  were  formerly  employed  on  fair  days,  in  the  collection  of  the  tolls,  in  consequence 
of  the  opposition  to  them,  and  the  disposition  to  evade  them  by  forcing  cattle,  goods  and  chattels, 
t)oth  in  and  out  of  the  different  toll  gaps.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  public  disturbance  in 
consequence  of  the  collection  of  toll.  It  was,  on  one  occasion,  necessary  to  call  out  the  military 
Serious  riots  very  often  occur,  on  account  of  the  collection  of  customs. 

P2 


218  History  of  Clonmel. 

From  the  earliest  period  it  appears  that  the  citizens  compounded  with 
the  lord  of  the  manor  for  the  burgage  rents  by  a  joint  payment.  But  the 
evidence  obtainable,  points  to  the  fact  that  the  district  now  known  as  "  the 
burgagery"  was  parcelled  out  and  held  by  several  burghers  as  absolute 
owners.  The  rest,  now  called  "  the  commons,"  was  held  by  all  jointly.  In 
the  latter,  no  more  than  in  the  former,  were  the  lands  deemed  to  be  held  in 
trust.  If  at  any  time  the  burghers  wished  to  alienate  these  lands  they  might 
have  done  so  by  common  agreement  A  corporation  therefore  in  the  modern 
sense,  did  not  exist  before  the  reign  of  James  L  In  the  sixth  year  of  that 
reign,  a  charter  was  granted  which,  with  the  exception  of  two  brief  intervals, 
regulated  the  affairs  of  the  town  down  to  the  Municipal  Reform  Act,  1842. 

Charter  of  Clonmel. 

James,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  Ireland, 
Introduction   King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  UNTO  all  to  whom  these  our  Letters  shall 
of  the  Grant.  ^^^  GREETING.    Whereas  the  town  or  Borrough  of  Clonmel,  SITUATE 
and  being  in  the  severale  Counties  of  the  Liberties  of  Tipperary  and  Water- 
ford  is  an  ancient  Borough,  founded  and  established  from  its  beginning, 
with  fforts  and  walls  well  fenced,  by  subjects  and  faithfull  Liege  people 
of  the  Crown  of  England  coming  from  and  having  its  beginning  from  the 
ancient  Birth  of  England,  having  and  enjoying  English  Laws  Habitts  and 
Manners,  AND  WHEREAS  the  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Borrough  in 
times  past,  have  performed  commendable  services  to  us  and  our  Progenitors 
of  England  against  Rebellious  destroyers  of   the  Commonwealth  with 
the  loss  of  their  blood  and  Lives,  AND  WHEREAS  the  said  town  or 
Comendation  Borrough  is  near  and  contiguous  to  a  most  famous  river  called  Shure,  having 
of  the  place,   annexed  to  it  a  haven  or  Harbour,  convenient,  fitt  and  necessary  for  Trans- 
portacon  of  boates,  a  high  and  long  Bridge  sustained  and  maintained  with 
arches,  and  is  also  compassed  and  fortified  on  every  side  with  turretts 
Castles  and  Forts,  for  the  amendments  and  repair  whereof  great  and 
frequent  costs  and  labours  are  expended,  and  at  present  by  ancientness 
and  want  of  Inhabitants  is  worn  and  consumed :  which  Inhabitants  by  reason 
of  two  years  plague  there  do  groane,  and  by  reason  of  the  burning  of  their 
houses  and  edifices,  are  reduced  to  great  need  and  poverty — whence  it 
cometh  to  pass  that  the  said  town  is  dayly  ready  to  fall  to  decay  unless 
we  apply  our  speedy  helping  hands,  AND  WHEREAS  it  appears  unto  us 
that  the  said  town  or  borrough  is  a  place  opportune  and  very  convenient  to 
entertain  our  Justices,  Comrs.  and  Army,  and  in  which  our  Liege  subjects 
Services         heretofore  have  in  their  severall  ofiices  and  services  with  great  alacrity  of 
Done.  mind  done  and  exhibitted  to  us  great  and  faithful  services  and  testimonies 

of  their  faithfuUness,  KNOW  ye  that  we  the  premisses  considering,  and 
willing  our  grace  in  this  behalf  in  a  bountiful  manner,  to  do  and  extend  to 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Borrough,  of  our  special  grace  and  certain 
knowledge  and  meer  motion  by  the  assent  of  our  well  beloved  and  faithful 
Sir  Arthur      Councellor,  Arthur  Chicester,  Knight,  our  Deputy  Generall  of  our  said 
Chicester,       kingdom  of  Ireland,  as  also  according  to  the  Intention  and  Effect  of  certain 
Deputy-         Letters  Pattents  and  our  Commission  under  our  great  scale  of  the  said 
Generall.        Kingdom  of  England,  made  and  perfected  bearing  date  at  Westminster  the 
Twentieth  day  of  March  in  the  year  of  our  Reign  of  England,  Ffrance  and 
Ireland,  the  fourth,  and  of  Scotland  the  fortieth,  to  our  said  Deputy  Generall 
directed,  and  now  Inrolled  and  remaining  of  Record  in  the  Rolls  of  our 
Chancery  of  our  said  Kingdom  of  Ireland,  HAVE  GRANTED  and  by  this 


History  of  Clonmel. 


210 


Created 
Corporation. 


Mayor  & 
Bayliffs. 

In  number 
Twenty. 


Burgesses 
named. 


our  present  Charter,  for  us,  our  Heires,  and  Successors,  do  give  and  grant 
to  the  Sovereigns,  Provost,  Burgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  Borrough  of 
Clonmel  afforesaid,  or  by  whatsoever  other  name  the  Livers  or  Inhabitants 
of  the  town  or  Borough  be  called,  named,  or  knowne,  that  the  said  town  or 
Borrough  of  Clonmel,  together  with  the  Subbs  of  ye  same  in  ye  whole  extent 
or  space  of  ground  and  water  in  every  part,  within  the  ancient  limits, 
bounds  or  franchises  of  ye  said  town  in  the  several  counties  of  ye  liberties 
of  Tipperary  and  Waterford,  BE  HEREAFTER  forever,  a  free  Borrough 
and  Corporacon  by  itself  and  that  hereafter  it  be  called  named  and  known 
by  the  name  of  the  town  or  ffree  borrough  of  Clonmel ;  and  that  within  ye  said 
town  or  Borough  there  being  one  body  politique  and  incorporated  in  itself, 
and  in  that  name  created  and  made,  and  shall  consist  of  the  said  Livers  or 
Inhabitants  of  ye  said  town  and  flfreeborrough  of  one  Mayor,  two  Bayliffs, 
ffree  burgesses  and  Comonalty,  and  that  there  shall  be  only  twenty  ffree 
Burgesses  in  the  said  town  or  Borrough,  whereof  the  Mayor  and  Bayliffs 
shall  be  three,  and  with  that  intention  that  in  ye  ages  to  come  it  may  appear 
that  the  said  body  be  Incorporated  as  now  in  its  beginning  it  is  founded, 
and  composed  of  good,  lawful  and  honest  persons,  OF  OUR  special  grace, 
certain  knowledge,  and  meer  motion,  by  the  assent  aforesaid,  for  us,  our 
heires  and  successors,  doe  make,  constitute  and  ordaine  John  White  Ffitz 
Geffry,  Mayor  of  said  town  or  Borrough  of  Clonmel,  for  and  during 
one  whole  year,  beginning  from  the  feast  of  Saint  Michael  ye  Arch- 
angel next  coming,  AND  we  also  make,  constitute  and  ordaine  by 
these  presents  James  White  Ffitz  Richard  and  Joseph  White  Ffitz 
Lawrence,  BayliflFs  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  for  ye  said  year,  beginning 
from  the  feast  of  Saint  Michael  aforesaid,  and  Pierce  Bray,  Nicholas  White 
Ffitz  Henry,  Patrick  White  Ffitz  Thomas,  Thomas  Goagh,  James  White 
Ffitz  Robert,  Richard  White,  John  Bray,  Nicholas  Wall,  Leonard  Creagh, 
Edmond  Wall,  Thomas  White,  Thomas  Roche,  Nicholas  White  Ffitz 
Thomas,  James  Daniel,  Pierce  Bray  Ffitz  Michael,  Mellchior  White,  and 
Benedict  White  Ffitz  Geffry  being  the  best  and  discreetest  men  of  and  in  ye 
said  town  or  Borrough,  we  make  and  constitute  ye  Burgesses  of  ye  said 
town  or  Borrough,  which  ffree  Burgesses  being  seventeen  together  with 
the  Mayor  and  Bayliffs  for  the  time  being,  shall  make  the  comon  council  of 
the  town  or  Borrough  aforesaid,  and  all  other  persons  ffreemen  living  and 
remaining  or  to  remain  of  or  within  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  we  make 
constitute  and  ordain  to  be  the  Comons  or  Comonalty  of  ye  town  and 
Borrough  aforesaid,  AND  further  of  our  more  abundant  and  special  grace, 
certain  knowledge  and  meer  motion,  we  give,  grant  and  confirm,  unto  the 
said  Mayor,  Bayliffs  Freeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or 
Borrough  of  Clonmel  that  they  and  their  successors,  be  hereafter  forever 
one  body  politique  and  Incorporated  in  deed  and  in  name,  and  they  the 
aforesaid  Mayor,  Bayliffs  ffree  Burgesses  and  Comonalty  and  their  Successors 
in  one  body  Incorporated  and  politique  for  ever  to  remain,  WE  hereby  fully 
make,  create,  establish  and  unite  by  these  presents  that  the  said  Body 
Incorporated  be  forever  named  and  known  by  the  name  of  Mayor,  Bayliffs, 
Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  town  or  Borrough  of  Clonmel,  and 
that  by  the  same  they,  and  their  successors  forever,  be  and  remain  fitt 
persons  and  capable  in  law  to  make,  contract  and  receive,  all  and  all  manner 
of  Grants,  gifts  and  concessions  and  Perquisites  as  any  other  body  politique, 
in  any  wise,  may ;  and  likewise  that  they  and  their  successors  by  ye  name 
of  Mayor  Bayliffs  Ffree  Burgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or 
Borough  of  Clonmel  may  hold,  plead  and  Implead  before  us,  our  Heires 
and  successors  whatsoever,  as  well  spirituall  as  temporal,  in  any  of  our 
Courts,  our  heires  or  successors  or  in  any  other  Courts  erected  or  to  be 
erected,  in  and  of  all  and  all  manner  of  actions  reale,  personal,  and  mixed 
suits,  quarrells  and  demands  against  them,  or  by  them  in  any  wise  to  be 
prosecuted  or  obtained,  AND  FURTHER  of  our  more  plentiful  and  special 


220  History  of  Clonmel. 

grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere  motion,  we  will,  and  by  these  presents 

for  us,  our  heires  and  successors,  WE  GRANT  unto  the  said  Mayor, 

Election  of     BayliflFs,  Ffree  Burgesses  and  Comonalty  and  their  Successors,  that  ye  said 

u^^^ff^"^      Mayor  and  Bayliffs  be  forever,  annually  elective  and  that  the  said  Ffree 

Bayliffs.         Burgesses  and  Comonalty,  or  ye  greatest  part  of  them,  every  feast  of  Saint 

John  the  Baptist,  yearly  at  the  ThoUsell  within  ye  said  town  or  Borough 

aforesaid,  at  their  pleasure  may  chose  of  the  Ffree  Burgesses  for  ye  time 

being,  one  fitt  and  able  person  to  be  their  Mayor,  and  two  other  persons  to 

be  Bayliffs  of  ye  said  Borrough,  who  severally  ye  offices  aforesaid  on  ye 

feast  of  Saint  Michael  ye  Archangel  then  next  coming,  may  assume,  and 

rule  and  govern  ye  Borough  aforesaid  by  ye  space  of  one  year  then  next 

following,  and  that  they  have  a  perpetual  succession ;  and  if  and  as  often  as 

such  Mayor,  Bayliffs  or  either  of  them,  within  ye  said  year  after  such 

election  so  made,  shall  dye  or  for  want  of  sound  and  wise  government  of  ye 

town  or  Borough  aforesaid  or  some  crime  or  other  cause,  they  or  either  of 

them  from  ye  office  aforesaid  shall  be  taken  away  or  deposed,  then  and  so 

Election  in     often  the  Ffree  Burgesses  and  Comonalty  aforesaid  and. their  successors, 

case  of  death,  another  able  person  or  persons  of  ye  Ffree  Burgesses  for  ye  time  being,  in 

Crime,  or  re-  ye  place  or  places  of  such  Mayor,  Bayliff,  or  Bayliffs  so  dead  or  removed, 

moval  within  foj.  y^  residue  of  ye  said  year  within  ten  days  next  after  for  the  Regulateing 

Ten  days.       ^^^  Governing  of  ye  said  Borough,  may  choose  and  substitute ;  and  if  any 

of  the  Ffree  Burgesses  aforesaid  shall  dye  or  be  removed  or  disfranchised, 

that  then  ye  Mayor  and  other  Ffree  Burgesses  and  Comonalty,  or  ye  greatest 

part  of  them,  from  time  to  time  may  choose  and  elect  another  fitt  person  in 

the  place  of  such  Ffree  Burgesses  so  dead  or  removed,  and  that  the  said 

John  White  whom  by  these  presents  we  have  made  and  constituted  first 

Mayor  of  the  said  town  or  Borrough,  may  take  and  receive  before  the  Chief 

Baron  of  our  Exchequer  forthe  time  being,  or  before  our  Justices  of  Assizes 

in  ye  said  County  of  the  Liberties  of  Tipperary  next  assigned,  at  or  upon 

the  feast  of  Saint  Michael  next  following  the  oath  following  in  these  wonis : 

The  Mayor's  YOU  shall  swear  faithfully  and  truly  to  serve  the  king  and  the  people  of 

Oath.  this  Corporacon  during  your  being  Mayor  of  this  Borrough ;  you  shall  not 

do,  nor  consent  to  ye  doing,  of  anything  which  may  turn  to  ye  damage  or 

disinherriting  of  our  Lord  the  King,  his  heires  or  lawful  successors.    You 

shall  not  conceal  any  treason  or  unlawful  conspiracies  against  the  King's 

Majesty,  his  heires  or  successors,  but  endeavour  to  suppress  the  offenders 

or  Practicers,  and  the  same  treason  to  reveal  to  the  King's  Deputy  or  some 

of  his  Majesty's  privy  Council  within  this  Realm  with  jdl  convenient  speed 

you  can ;  you  shall  do  equal  right  to  poor  and  rich  without  regard  of  persons 

or  reward,  and  hold  and  keep  this  Borough  and  Town  to  and  for  ye  King's 

Majesty  his  heirs  and  successors  against  all  foreign  enemies  and  home  bom 

Rebels  whatsoever,  soe  help  me  God.    And  that  the  said  Mayor,  the  oath 

aforesaid  being  to  him  administered  in  manner  and  form  aforesaid  on  ye 

feast  of  St.  Michael  ye  Archangel  ye  next  following,  you  shall  give  and 

Bayliffs  administer  for  us,  and  in  our  name,  another  oath  to  ye  said  Bayliffs  and 

Oath.  either  of  them,  which  oath  followeth  in  these  words,  viz.,  We  shall  truly 

occupy  the  office  of  Bayliffs  of  the  Town  and  franchises  of  Clonmel  for  this 

year  to  come,  and  doe  right  to  ye  poor  as  well  as  to  ye  rich  in  our  office, 

doing  and  truly  execution  do  of  all  that  is  recovered  in  our  Courts  and  of 

all  writs,  processes  directed  to  us  out  of  any  the  kings  Courts  and  suffer  no 

manner  of  person  to  retail  within  ye  said  franchises  contrary  to  the 

ordinances  thereupon  made  so  help  us  God.    AND  that  every  other  Mayor 

and  Bayliffs  who  for  the  future  shall  be  chosen  for  the  said  Borrough 

according  to  ye  tenor  of  these  presents,  on  ye  feast  of  Saint  Michael  the 

Power  in  the  Archangel  next  after  their  election,  before  the  Mayor  of  the  said  Borough 

succeeding     whom  the  office  aforesaid  ye  year  before  hath  preceded,  in  ye  presence  of  the 

Mayors  to      freeburgesses  and  Commons  in  ye  said  Borough  or  the  major  part  of  them,  in 

give  the  oath,  ye  Thollsell  of  ye  said  Borough  shall  administer  unto,  and  give  unto  him  and 


History  of  Clonmel. 


221 


Burgesses 
and  Freemen 
to  be  sworn . 


Recorder . 


Recorder's 
Oath. 


Election  of  a 
Town  Clerk. 


Election  of 
one  Sword 
bearcr&  three 
Sergeants-at- 
Mace. 


Inferior 
Officers. 


Power  of 
deputing  a 
Mayor,  and 
how  Sworn. 


them  respectively,  ye  oaths  above  expressed  and  specified,  and  that  every 
free  burgess  or  freeman  who  by  these  presents  is  constituted  or  hereafter 
shall  be  elected  and  admitted  unto  the  said  franchise  of  the  said  Borough 
take  before  ye  Mayor  and  Bayliffs  of  the  said  Borough  for  ye  time 
being,  so  many  and  such  oaths  which  anciently  were  used  and  administered 
to  ye  ffree  burgesses  and  ffreemen  of  the  said  town  or  Burrough,  AND 
FURTHER  of  our  larger  special  grace,  contain  knowledge  and  meer 
motion,  WE  give,  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  Successors, 
doe  grant  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffree  burgesses  &  Commons  of  ye 
town  or  Borough  aforesaid  that  they,  and  their  Successors  from  time  to  time 
do  make,  constitute  and  establish,  and  from  time  to  time  may  have,  make 
and  constitute  one  sufficient  and  able  man,  well  bred  and  skilled  in  the 
Laws,  to  be  the  Recorder  of  the  said  Borrough  during  their  pleasure,  or  as 
long  as  he  shall  well  behave  himself  as  to  them  shall  please,  and  that  such 
Recorder  so  constituted  may  from  time  to  time  exercise  and  execute  all 
offices  to  a  Recorder  in  any  wise  belonging  or  appertaining,  and  that  every 
Recorder  for  the  time  being  shall  take  the  same  corporall  oath  before  ye 
Mayor  of  the  town  or  Borough  aforesaid  for  ye  time  being  for  ye  well 
faithful  doing  and  executing  ye  offices  of  a  Recorder,  the  tenor  whereof 
followeth  in  these  words  viz.,  I  shall  be  a  true  liege  man  to  our  Sovereign 
Lord  the  King,  his  heirs  and  successors,  and  true  to  the  (franchises  of 
the  town  of  Clonmel,  and  the  same  maintain  with  all  my  wit  and  power, 
and  shall  truly  and  faithfully  advise  the  Council,  Mayor  and  Bayliffs  of  ye 
same  town  in  all  things  concerning  the  said  Corporation,  and  truly  exercise 
ye  office  of  Recorder  of  the  said  town  and  all  that  to  the  same  appertaineth, 
so  help  me  God.  AND  further  our  will  is,  and  by  these  presents  for  us, 
our  heirs  and  successors,  WE  GRANT  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffree 
Burgesses  and  commons  of  ye  Borrough  aforesaid  that  they  and  their 
Successors  from  time  to  time  do  make  and  constitute  one  Clerk  of  ye 
Thollsell  to  exercise  do  and  execute  all  and  singular  to  ye  office  of  the  Clerk 
of  the  Thollsell  belonging  or  appertaining,  in  as  large  manner  and  forme  as 
ye  Clerk  of  ye  Thollsell  of  our  Citty  of  Waterford  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of 
ye  Thollsell  of  ye  said  Citty  doth  or  may  exercise  ye  said  office,  as  long  as 
he  behaveth  himself  well  in  ye  said  office  and  not  otherwise,  AND 
MOREOVER  of  our  more  abundant  grace  for  us  our  heirs  and  successors 
by  these  presents  WE  GIVE  and  Grant  unto  ye  said  Mayor  and  Bayliffs 
Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  said  Town  or  Borrough  and  their 
successors  full  power  and  authority  to  name,  elect  and  constitute,  one  Sword 
bearer  and  three  Sergeants-at-Mace  within  the  Borrough  aforesaid,  and  such 
and  as  many  other  Inferior  officers  and  servants  necessary  for  ye  good 
government  and  service  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  as  to  ye  said  Mayor, 
Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  for  ye  time  being,  shall  seem  meet. 
AND  THAT  such  officers  or  ministers  so  chosen  and  appointed,  do  perform 
before  the  Mayor  of  ye  said  Borrough  for  ye  time  being,  such  respective 
corporall  oaths  as  hath  been  heretofore  used  in  ye  said  Borrough  of  Clonmel. 
And  as  often  as  the  Mayor  of  ye  said  Borrough  for  ye  time  being  as  well 
for  the  publick  good  of  the  said  Borrough,  as  for  his  own  proper  and 
supernumerary  business  shall  happen  to  be  absent  from  ye  said  Borrough 
WE  GIVE  therefore  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors, 
to  ye  said  Mayor  of  the  said  town  or  Borrough  and  his  succeeding  Mayors, 
that  they  and  either  of  them  at  their  will  by  the  consent  of  ye  Comon 
Council  of  the  said  Borrough,  or  the  greater  part  of  them.  Nominate  Depute 
Assign  one  other  sufficient  ffree  person  of  the  Ffreeburgesses  of  the  said 
Borrough  to  bear  ye  place  and  stead  of  Mayor  of  the  said  Borrough,  during 
ye  absence  of  ye  said  Mayor,  AND  to  doe  and  execute  all  things  appertaining 
to  ye  said  office  in  as  large  and  ample  manner  and  forme  as  if  he  himself 
were  present.  But  soe  as  such  person  soe  assigned  and  deputed  before  the 
execution  of  his  Deputacon  aforesaid,  before  ye  Mayor  and  Recorder  of  ye 


222 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Seales  of 
Two  sorts. 


Mayor  and 
Recorder 
Justices  of  ye 
Peace. 


Mayor  and 
Deputy 
Escheator 
and  Coroner 
without 
account  for 
the  same . 


The  Bayliffs 
power  to 
execute  all 
manner  of 
writts. 


said  Borrough  for  ye  time  being,  shall  take  the  said  corporall  oath  to  be 
performed  in  manner  and  forme  as  by  the  said  Mayor  it  was  to  be  performed 
AND  ALSOE  of  our  like  special  grace  we  with  and  by  these  presents  for 
us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  WE  GIVE  unto  the  said  Mayor,  BayliflFs, 
Ffreeburgesses,  and  Comonalty  of  the  said  Borrough  of  Clonmel  and  their 
successors  that  they  have  and  may  have  forever  one  Comon  Seale  engraven 
and  carved  with  such  formes  and  inscription  as  hitherto  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  and  ye  sealing  of  all  and  singular  Writings,  Indents,  Grants, 
Warrants  of  Attorney,  and  all  Muniments,  Hereditaments,  and  all  other 
publick  matters  whatsoever  to  the  said  town  or  Borrough  belonging  or 
concerning,  AS  ALSOE  another  seale  of  office  of  Mayoralty  to  be  and 
remain  in  ye  custody  of  the  said  Mayor  for  the  time  being  to  seale  all 
and    singular    Testimonies    Certificates,    Attachments,    and    Processes 
whatsoever,    AND    FURTHERMORE    of   our    special    grace,    certain 
knowledge  and  meer  motion,  we  will  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors,  WE  GRANT  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs  and 
Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  said  Borrough  of  Clonmel  and  their 
Successors  that  ye  Mayor  of  ye  town  or  Borrough  aforesaid  for  ye  time 
being,  and  the  Recorder  of  the  same  for  the  time  being,  be  Justices  and 
keepers  of  our  peace,  and  either  of  them  be  Justice  and  keeper  of  our 
peace,  within  the  town  and  Borrough  aforesaid  and  Ffranchises  thereof, 
and  that  they  may  and  doe  execute  all  things  to  ye  office  of  a  Justice  of  ye 
Peace  belonging  or  appertaining,  AND  FURTHER  we  will,  and  by  these 
presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  Successors,  WE  GRANT  to   the  said 
Mayor,   Bayliffs,    Ffreeburgesses    and    Comonalty    of   the    Borrough    of 
Clonmel  aforesaid  and  their  Successors  that  the  said  Mayor  of  the  said 
town  or  Borrough  for  ye  time  being,  and  his  successors  Mayors  and  either 
of  them,  or  his  deputy  in  his  absence,  be  Escheator  and  Coroner  and  the 
heirs  and  successors  of  ye  Mayors  within  ye  said  town  and  Borrough  and 
liberties  and  Ffranchises  of  ye  same  forever,  and  that  he  exercise  and 
execute  all  and  singular  such  things  and  matters  as  to  ye  said  offices  or  either 
of  them  severally  do  belong  or  appertain  as  any  other  Coroner  or  Escheator 
in  any  county  within  our  said  Kingdom  of  Ireland  lawfully  may,  ought  or 
can  do  for  ye  future.    SOE  as  no  foreign  Escheator  or  Coroner  of  ours,  our 
heirs  or  successors,  beside  the  Mayor  of  ye  said  Borrough  for  ye  time  being 
and  his  successors,  in  the  said  town  or  Borrough  to  execute  or  exercise 
ye  offices  aforesaid  or  any  of  them,  may  enter  or  either  of  them  enter  or 
themselves  in  any  thing  or  wise  within  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  Liberties 
Ffranchises  or  Jurisdiction  of  the  same  to  Intromitt  or  put  in  for  ye  future 
AND  THAT  the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of 
the  said  Borrough  and  their  Successors  forever  have  and  receive  to  the 
publick  good  of  the  said  Borrough,  and  in  their  hands  may  retain  and  keep 
all  and  every  the  profits,  comodities,  perquisittes  and  emoluments  whatso- 
ever to  the  said  offices  of  Coroner  and  Escheator,  or  either  of  them  belonging 
or  appertaining,  or  thereout  in  any  wise  arising  or  growing  without  any 
account  therefore  or  thereout  unto  us,  our  heirs  or  successors,  to  be 
rendered ;  and  furthermore  of  our  more  abundant  and  special  grace  we 
grant,  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  WE  GIVE 
AND  GRANT  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty 
of  ye  said  town  and  Borrough  and  their  successors  forever,  that  the  said 
Bayliffs  of  the  said  town  or  Borrough  for  ye  time  being,  and  their  successors 
for  ever,  have  the  absolute  execution  and  return  of  all  and  singular  Writts, 
Mandates,  Precepts,  Summons,  Attachments,  Warrants  and  Bills  of  our 
heirs  and  successors,  and  of  ye  summons,  attachments,  Distresses  and  all 
other  processes  within  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  and  the  Ffranchises  thereof, 
before  us  our  heirs  and  successors  in  our  Chancery  or  before  us  in  our 
chief  place,  or  before  our  Justices  of  the  Common  pleas  assigned,  or  any 
other  our  Justices  or  of  our  heirs  and  successors  of  our  said  kingdom  of 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Ireland  to  be  held,  to  be  returned  as  well  at   our  suite,  our  heirs  and 
successors,  as  at  the  suite  of  any  other  person  or  persons  whatsoever  to  be 
prosecuted  and  returned ;  so  as  noe  Sherriffe,  Bayliffs  or  other  officer  or 
Minister  of  ours,  our  heirs  or  successors,  into  the  town  or  Borrough  for  ye 
executing  or  returning  any  Writt,  Summons,  Warrants,  Mandate,  Attach- 
ment or  other  process  may  enter,  unless  by  the  defect  of  the  said  BayliflFs 
of  the  said  town  or  Borrough  for  ye  time  being,  or  their  successors,  WE 
GIVE  further  and  by  these  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  we  grant  unto 
the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  and  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  town  or 
Borrough  aforesaid,  that  they  may  call  together  assemblies  or  meetings  at 
Power  of        as  many  times  in  the  year  as  they  please,  in  the  Guild  hall  or  ThoUsell  of  ye 
assembling     said  Borrough  for  ye  benefitt,  advantage,  and  profit  of  the  said  Borrough, 
to  make  bye-  and  ye  Liberties,  Ffranchises  and  Jurisdiction  of  the  same,  to  consult  and 
laws.  then  and  there  all  such  acts,  ordinances,  lawfull  and  wholesome  statutes  for 

the  publick  good  and  sound  government  of  the  said  Borrough  and  Ffran- 
chises thereof,  lawfully  and  without  punishment,  to  ordaine,  establish  and 
make,  such  as  shall  not  be  contrary  and  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes 
of  this  our  kingdom  of  Ireland,  AND  if  any  of  the  Ffreeburgesses  or  Comons 
of  the  said  Borrough  shall  violate,  or  break  or  refuse  to  fulfill  the  said 
statutes  and  ordinances,  so  enacted  and  ordained,  that  then  it  shall  be  lawfull 
Punishment    ^or  Y^  said  Mayor  of  ye  said  Borrough  of  Clonmel,  and  his  successors  for 
of  the  Of-    the  time  being,  to  distrain  the  goods  and  chatties  of  ye  said  Ffreeburgesses 
fenders  of       or  Comons,  or  either  of  them,  so  offending  against  the  fforme  and  effect  of 
such  Laws,     the  Statutes  or  ordinances  aforesaid  and  if  they  have  not  sufficient  distress 
by  them,  THAT  then  it  may  be  lawful  for  ye  said  Mayor  and  his  successors 
to  arrest.  Imprison  and  in  safe  custody  to  keep  such  transgressors  and 
delinquents  until  they  give  full  satisfaction  of  the  fines  and  amerciaments 
upon  them,  or  either  of  them  impost  AND  FURTHER  we  will  and  by 
these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  we  grant  unto  the  said 
Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comons  of  the  said  Borrough  and  their 
successors  forever  that  they  may  have  a  certain  Guild  of  Merchants,  and  a 
Guild  Hall  to  the  same  belonging,  within  the  said  Borrough,  AND  that 
no  foreign  or  strange  Merchant  or  any  other  whosoever  who  is  not  of  their 
Power  of        Guild  aforesaid,  may  have  or  occupy  or  in  any  wise  retail,  sell  or  buy  any 
raising  Guild  Merchandices,  Mercimonies  or  wares  of  what  kind  or  sort  soever  they  be. 
Halls  and  for-  within  the  Borrough  aforesaid  or  the  Ffranchises,  Burgagery  or  Liberties 
feiture  upon   thereof,  without  the  special  lycence  of  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses 
strangers.       and  Comonalty  aforesaid,  under  the  forfeiture  of  all  and  singular  the 
Mercimonies  and  wares  so  bought,  had,  occupied,  or  sold  within  the  Borrough 
or  Ffranchises,  Burgagery  or  Liberties  thereof  without  the  special  Lycence 
as  aforesaid,  unless  such  Merchandizes  or  Mercimonies  be  sold  or  bought 
by  foreigners  strangers  on  ye  markets  or  markett  days  at  the  hour  and 
place  accustomed  which  forfeitures  to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses 
and  Comonalty  their  successors  for  us  our  heirs  and  successors  WE  give 
and  grant  by  these  presents  forever ;  and  further  of  our  like  special  grace 
we  will  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  WE  GRANT 
to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  and 
Borrough  that  they  and  their  Successors  may  divide,  distinguish  themselves 
into  severall  Guilds  or  fratemitys  according  to  their  severall  conditions, 
arts  and  misteries  and  that  every  Guild  have  and  may  use  one  distinct 
Ensign,  in  token  and  note  of  distinction  of  Ffratemity  and  their  Mystery 
or  Trade,  and  that  each  Guild  have  and  build  one  distinct  hall  or  place 
More  Guilds   convenient  within  ye  said  Borrough  where  ye  brethern  of  such  Guild  may 
if  need  gather  themselves,  and  also  that  every  Guild  or  Fraternity  yearly  forever 

required.  may  elect,  chose  and  constitute  to  itself  one  Warden  or  Master  being  one  of 
the  same  Ffratemity  who  may  exercise  the  office  of  Master  or  Warden  for 
one  entire  year  and  noe  more,  and  further  of  more  ample  special  grace, 
certain  knowledge  and  meer  motion  we  give  by  these  presents  for  us,  our 


224 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Mayor's 
Court  weekly 
on  Wednes- 
days. 


Prison . 


Pines  and 
Perquisites. 


TwoMarketts 
a  week  Pye- 
powder  Court 


heirs  and  successors,  WE  GRANT  unto  ye  said  Mayor  Bayliffs,  Ffree- 
burgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  Borrough  and  town  of  Clonmel  and 
their  successors  forever  that  the  said  Mayor,  and  Bayliffs  for  ye  time  being 
and  their  successors  have  and  may  have  and  hold  twice  in  each  year  forever 
one  Court  Leet  or  view  of  ffrank  pledge  within  ye  said  town  or  Borrough 
and  Ffranchises  of  ye  same  by  the  Recorder  of  the  said  town  or  Burrough 
or  his  sufficient  Deputy  for  ye  time  being  according  to  the  laws  and 
customs  of  our  kingdom  of  England  or  Ireland  to  be  kept  forever  and  all 
things  to  ye  said  Court  Leet  or  View  of  ffrank  pledge  belonging  or 
appertaining,  AND  FURTHER  we  will  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors,  we  grant  to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses 
and  Comons  of  ye  said  Borrough  for  ye  time  being,  that  they  and  their 
successors  have  and  may  have  and  hold  another  Court  within  ye  said 
town  or  Borrough  and  ffranchises  of  ye  same  every  Wednesday  in  every 
week  forever  before  ye  Mayor  and  Bayliffs  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough 
for  ye  time  being,  and  that  in  ye  same  Court  they  have  full  power  and 
jurisdiction  of  knowing,  hearing,  and  determining  all  and  all  manner  of 
actions  as  well  real  as  personal  and  Mixt  suites,  quarrells  and  demands  of 
all  and  singular  Lands,  Tenements,  Debts,  Detentions,  Trespasses,  Attempts, 
Contracts,  Deceyts,  Replevies  and  of  old  and  anciently  contracted  causes 
of  demand  of  any  matter  whatsoever,  to  what  sum  soever  they  amount, 
attain  or  arise,  within  ye  said  town  and  Borrough  and  Ffranchises  of  ye 
same  and  not  elsewhere  being,  arising  or  happening,  and  that  the  said 
Mayor  and  Bayliffs  of  the  town  or  Borrough  aforesaid  for  ye  time  being 
have  full  power  and  authority  to  hold,  hear,  and  determine  ye  said  pleas 
and  quarrells  according  to  the  due  forme  of  law,  and  of  proceeding  to 
judgment  upon  the  same  and  making  execution  thereupon  according  to  the 
laws  and  customs  of  our  Kingdom  of  England  or  Ireland,  and  that  the  Courts 
aforesaid,  and  each  and  every  of  them,  be  reputed  Courts  or  Court  of  Record, 
AND  further  of  our  larger  Grace  we  will,  and  by  these  presents  for  us, 
our  heirs  and  successors,  we  grant  to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses 
and  Comonalty  of  the  said  Borrough  or  town  and  their  successors  that 
they  build  or  cause  to  be  built  one  strong  sufficient  Goall  or  Prison 
within  the  said  town  or  Borrough  and  ffranchises  of  the  same  and  that  the 
Bayliffs  of  the  said  Borrough  for  ye  time  being  forever  have  the  custody  and 
keeping  of  the  said  Goall  and  of  all  and  singular  the  Prisoners  in  the  same 
from  time  to  time  by  the  said  Mayor  and  BayliflFs  for  ye  time  being  imprisoned 
or  to  be  imprisoned,  WEE  also  give  and  by  this  our  present  Charter 
for  us  our  heirs  and  successors  grant  to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs, 
Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  aforesaid  that 
they  and  their  successors  forever  have,  and  for  themselves  may  detain  and 
keep  all  and  all  manner  of  ffines.  Issues,  Forfeitures,  Amerciaments,  in  ye 
Courts  or  either  of  them  as  often  as  ye  same  is  offered  or  imposed  together 
with  all  and  singular  other  perquisites,  profitts,  Comodities,  and  Emoluments 
to  ye  said  Court  belonging  or  appertaining  or  any  wise  thereout  arising  or 
issuing,  for  ye  better  maintaining  and  sustaining  of  ye  town  and  Borrough 
aforesaid,  without  making  or  rendering  unto  us  our  heirs  or  successors 
any  accounts  of  ye  same,  and  moreover  by  this  our  present  Charter  for  us, 
our  heirs  and  successors.  We  grant  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Mayor, 
Bayliffs,  FfreeBurgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  for  ye 
time  being  that  they  and  their  successors  forever  have  and  keep  and  may 
have  and  keep  two  several  marketts  in  some  convenient  place  within  ye  said 
town  or  Borrough  in  every  week  forever  (that  is  to  say)  one  markett  on 
Tuesday  and  another  on  Saturday  in  every  week,  to  be  held  forever  together 
with  a  Pyepowder  Court  there  during  ye  said  Marketts  and  with  all  and  all 
manner  of  Liberties  and  ffree  customs,  profitts,  Comodities,  advantages  and 
emoluments  whatsoever  to  such  a  Court  in  any  manner  belonging  or 
appertaining  or  any  wise  arising  or  issuing,  without  accounting  for  ye  same 


History  of  Clonmel. 


225 


Exemption 
from  all 
Juries. 


Noe 

Strangers  or 
Foreigner  be 
of  ye  Town 
Juries. 


To  wear  such 
habits. 


Mayor  to 
have  4d.  per 
ton  out  of 
every  Boat, 
&c. 

Bridge 
Monev. 


to  US  our  heirs  or  successors,  so  as  the  said  marketts  be  not  to  ye  damage  or 
hurt  of  other  marketts  and  that  ye  said  Mayor  of  the  said  town  of  Clonmel 
for  ye  time  being  and  his  successors  forever  successively  be  the  Clerk  and 
Master  of  ye  Say  within  ye  town  and  Borrough  aforesaid  and  the  Ffranchises 
of  ye  same  and  have  have  ye  assize  of  Bread,  Wine  and  Beer,  and  the  cor- 
rection and  amendment  of  ye  same  from  time  to  time,  and  have  full  power 
and  authority  of  exercising  and  executing  ye  office  of  Clerk  of  ye  Marketts 
or  Master  of  ye  Say  within  ye  town  or  Borrough  aforesaid,  and  of  all  other 
matters  to  ye  said  office  belonging  or  to  them  or  either  of  them  appertaining, 
soe  as  noe  other  Clerk  of  ye  Marketts  or  Master  of  ye  Sayes  of  us  our  heirs 
or  successors  within  ye  town  or  borrough  s^oresaid  or  ye  Liberties  thereof 
for  ye  future,  may  enter  for  ye  exercising  the  office  of  ye  Clerk  of  Marketts 
or  Master  of  ye  Sayes  or  in  any  wise  Interpose  or  Intermeddle  with  the 
office  aforesaid.    AND  further  of  our  special  Grace,  certain  knowledge  and 
meer  motion,  we  will  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors, 
WE  give  and  grant  unto  ye  said  Mayor,  BayliflFs,  Ffreeburgesses  and 
Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough,  and  their  successors,  that  neither 
they  nor  any  of  them  may  not  be  putt  in  any  Recognizances,  Juries  of 
Assizes,  or  Inquisitions  whatsoever  to  be  taken  upon  any  matter,  thing, 
cause  or  matter  of  trespass  or  Contract  whatsoever  out  of  the  said  town  and 
Borrough  and  Ffranchises  thereof;  nor  that  noe  stranger  or  foreigner  who 
are  not  of  the  town  and  Borrough  afforesaid  be  putt  upon  any  Juries, 
Recognizances,  Assizes,  or  Inquisitions  to  be  taken  upon  any  thing,  matter 
or   cause  whatsoever  within  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  or  ffranchises 
thereof  made,  happened  or  being,  but  that  ail  and  singular  Inquisitions, 
Recognizances,  Juries  and  Assizes  for  the  future  to  be  returned,  summoned 
or  arraigned  upon  any  thing,  cause  or  matter  within  the  town  or  borrough 
afforesaid  or  the  ffranchises  thereof  made,  being  or  happening,  shall  consist 
of  good,  fitt  and  able  men  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough  alone,  without  any 
foreigner  or  stranger  to  be  sworn  with  them  or  returned  (tho'  he  or  they 
have  or  hath  some  Lands,  Tenements  or  Hereditaments  in  some  place  or 
country  without  ye  said  town  or  Borrough),  AND  further  of  our  special 
grace  we  will,  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  WE 
grant  to  ye  said  Mayor  of  the  said  town  or  Borrough  and  his  successors  that 
he  ye  said  Mayor  for  ye  time  being,  and  his  successors  forever,  may  wear 
such  habit.  Ensign,  Garment  or  Ornament  whatsoever  as  the  Mayor  of  our 
city  of  Waterford  for  the  time,  did  wear  or  hereafter  shall  or  ought  to  wear 
by  virtue  of  any  Charter,  Gift,  Grant,  Confirmation,  Custom,  Prescription, 
Use,  or  any  other  Legall  way  whatsoever,  AND  further  of  our  like  special 
grace  we  give  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  doe 
grant  to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye 
Borrough  Afforesaid  (as  much  as  in  us  lyeth)  that  they  hold  and  enjoy  for 
themselves  and  their  successors  forever  one  Key  in  ye  said  town  or  Borrough 
of  Clonmel  upon  ye  Bank  or  Shore  of  the  River  Shure,  and  that  they  have 
and  receive  of  every  Barque,  Boate  or  Bargess  coming  and  drawing  near  ye 
said  Key  to  load  or  unload.  Import  or  Export  any  things  or  Merchandizes, 
for  Key  age  for  ye  better  maintaining  the  Key  aforesaid,  for  every  ton  weight 
the  said  Barque,  Boates,  or  Bargess  will  import  to  ye  said  Key,  or  from  ye 
said  Key  will  export,  load  or  unload,  four  pence  current  money  of  England, 
and  according  to  the  said  rate  for  more  or  less,  and  that  they  the  said  Mayor, 
Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  Borrough  and  their 
successors  forever,  have  and  receive  Pontage  or  Bridge  Money  of  ye  said 
Borrough  in  as  ample  Custom  Manner  and  Fforme  as  the  Sovereign, 
Provosts,  Burgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  said  Borrough  anciently  have  or 
had  received  or  used  to  have  and  receive,  without  Impediment,  Hindrance 
or  Molestacon  of  us  our  heirs  or  successors  or  any  officers  or  Ministers  of  ours 
whatsoever,  AND  moreover  of  our  more  abundant  grace  we  give  and  by  these 
presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  we  grant  (as  much  as  in  us  lyeth) 


226 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Freedom  of 
Duty  of  all 
ports  of  the 
Kingdom. 


ye  Advowson 
&c.  Ffreedoin 
of  Mannors 
to  ;f  20  a 
year  above 
reprises. 


Wayfes  and 
Stravs. 


Rent  Ten 
Shillings 
Irish. 

Saving. 


to  the  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or 
Borrough  and  their  successors  that  all  their  Goods,  Chatties  and  Merchandizes 
be  quitt  and  free  forever  of  all  Toll,  halting  or  loading.  Murage,  Bridge  money 
Passage,  Stalage  or  Standing,  Keyage,  Cranage  or  Wharfage,  in  all  and 
singular  Citties,  Borroughs,  Towns,  Ports,  Creeks,  Waters,  Ffayers, 
Marketts,  and  in  all  other  places  whatsoever,  in  and  throughout  all  our 
Kingdoms  and  Dominions  soever,  in  as  large  and  ample  manner  as  the 
Burgesses  of  our  town  of  Kilkenny  are  or  in  any  way  or  manner  ought  to 
be.  And  further  of  our  more  plentifull  grace,  certain  knowledge  and 
meer  motion,  WE  give  and  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  doe  grant 
unto  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  said 
town  or  Borrough  of  Clonmel  and  their  successors,  full  power,  Lycence  and 
Authority  of  holding  their  Mannors,  Messuages,  Lands,  Tenements,  Rents, 
Reversions,  Services,  Advowson  of  Churches,  Chappels  or  Hereditaments 
after  what  manner  soever  they  be  held  of  us  our  heirs  or  successors, 
whether  they  arise  in  chief  or  otherwise  by  knight  Service,  to  attain  and 
acquire  ye  same  to  the  clear  yearly  value  of  Twenty  pounds  lawfuU  money 
of  England  above  all  reprises  by  one  or  more  our  grant  or  grants, 
Ffeoffmts.,  Ffine,  or  Recovery  or  otherwise  TO  HAVE  AND  TO  HOLD 
to  ye  said  Mayor,  BayliflFs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  said 
Town  and  their  successors  forever,  notwithstanding  any  Statute,  Act, 
Ordinance,  Provision  or  Restriction  of  Lands  or  Tenements  made,  had,  or 
provided  to  ye  contrary  or  any  other  matter,  thing  or  cause  to  the 
contrary,  notwithstanding,  AND  further  we  and  by  these  presents  for  us 
our  heirs  and  successors  we  grant  to  ye  said  Mayor,  BayliflFs,  Ffreeburgesses, 
and  Comonalty  of  the  said  Town  or  Borrough  and  their  Successors,  all 
and  singular  goods  and  chatties  that  are  wayfes  and  strayes  within  ye 
said  town  or  shall  appear  within  ye  same  or  the  liberties  or  presincts 
thereof,  without  account  thereof  to  be  given  us  our  heirs  or  successors, 
and  further  of  our  more  abundant  and  special  grace,  certain  knowledge  and 
meer  motion,  we  give  and  grant,  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs 
and  successors,  WE  give,  grant  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Mayor,  BayliflFs, 
Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  the  said  town  or  Borrough  of  Clonmel  and 
their  successors,  that  they  and  their  successors  may  have,  enjoy  and  possess 
freely,  quietly,  honourably,  and  in  peace  (as  much  as  in  us  lyeth)  all  and 
singular  the  lands,  tenements,  houses,  messuages.  Tofts,  Mills,  Dovehouses, 
Gardens,  Orchards,  Ffields,  Meadows,  Pastures,  woods,  underwoods,  Water- 
courses, waters,  Rivers,  Rivuletts  and  all  Hereditaments  whatsoever  which 
are  of  ye  old  Burgagery  of  ye  said  Borrough  or  town  aforesaid  and  which 
heretofore  ye  sovereign.  Provost,  Burgesses,  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said 
town  aforesaid  or  their  predicessor.  Inhabitants,  Dwellers,  or  Comonalty  of 
the  same  by  the  name  of  Sovereign,  Burgesses  or  Comonalty,  or  by 
another  name  whatsoever,  had  possessed  or  enjoyed ;  to  be  held  from  us 
our  heirs  and  successors  in  flFree  Burgagery,  rendering  and  yielding  there- 
out yearly  to  us  our  heirs  and  successors  at  ye  Receipt  of  our  Exchequer, 
or  to  the  hands  of  our  Vice  Treasurer  or  Generall  Receiver  of  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors  of  our  said  Kingdom  of  Ireland  for  the  time  being, 
Ten  Shillings  Current  Money  of  Ireland  att  ye  Ffeasts  of  St.  Michael  the 
Archangel  and  Easter  by  equal  portions  yearly  to  be  paid  SAVING 
ALWAYS,  and  this  our  Grant  altogether  reserving  the  right.  Title  and 
Interest  of  all  and  singular  our  subjects  to  the  premisses  or  any  parte 
thereof  (any  thing  in  these  presents  specified  to  ye  contrary  notwith- 
standing), AND  further  of  our  fuller  grace  we  will,  and  by  these  presents 
for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Mayor, 
Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses  and  Comonalty  of  ye  said  town  or  Borrough 
and  their  successors  forever  that  these  our  letters  Patents  and  all 
and  singular  the  Articles,  Gifts,  Grants  and  Privileges,  Franchises,  Liberties, 
Immunities,  Jurisdictions,  Authorities,  and  all  other  things  whatsoever, 


History  of  Clonmel.  227 

before  Justices,  Commissioners  or  other  our  officers  or  Ministers 
our  heirs  or  successors,  and  to  ye  most  and  greatest  advantage  and 
benefitt  of  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  Ffreeburgesses,  and  Comonalty  of  ye 
town  or  Borrough  and  their  successors,  against  us  our  heirs  and  successors, 
be  and  may  be  interpretted,  expounded,  understood  and  adjudged  soe  that 
the  express  mention  of  the  annuall  value  or  of  the  certainty  of  the 
premisses  or  of  other  Gifts  or  Grants  by  us  or  any  of  our  progenitors 
or  predecessors  hitherto  made  and  perfected  to  ye  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs, 
Ffreeburgesses  and  Comons  of  ye  said  Town,  in  these  presents  in  no 
wise  may  be  made  (Any  Statute,  Ordinance  or  Provisoe  or  any  other  thing 
Cause,  or  matter  to  ye  contrary  in  any  wise  notwithstanding)  in  Testimony 
of  which  we  have  caused  these  our  Letters  to  be  made  Patents  our  said 
Eteputy  Generall  of  our  said  Kingdom  of  Ireland  at  Dublin  ye  fifth  day  of 
July  in  ye  year  of  our  Reign  of  England,  France  and  Ireland  the  Sixth  and 
of  Scotland  ye  fort3rfirst  (d). 

This  charter  was  in  some  essential  particulars  altered  by  the  "New 
Rules  "  made  by  Lord  Essex,  23rd  September,  1672.  These  rules  gave  legal 
sanction  to  the  CromwelHan  settlement  of  the  municipalities,  as  the  Act  of 
17  and  18  Chas.  IL,  chap.  2,  had  previously  sanctioned  the  settlement  of  the 
land.    The  rules  briefly  were  : — 

1.  The  name  of  each  person  elected  mayor,  bailiff,  recorder,  burgess  and 
town  clerk,  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  and  Council  for 
approval,  and  no  person  shall  be  capable  of  serving  in  these  offices  until 
such  approval  is  obtained. 

2.  No  person  shall  be  capable  of  holding  or  executing  said  offices  until 
he  shall  have  taken  in  addition  to  the  usual  oaths,  the  oath  of  supremacy, 
2nd  Elizabeth — "  I,  A.R,  doe  utterly  testif e  and  declare  in  my  conscience 
that  the  King's  highnesse  is  the  onely  supreame  governour  of  this  realme, 
as  well  in  all  spirituall  or  ecclesiasticall  things  or  causes,  as  temporall,  and 
that  no  foreine  prince,  prelate,  etc.,  hath  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction, 
power  or  authoritie,  ecclesiasticall  or  spirituall  within  this  realme,"  etc. 

3.  All  foreigners  and  aliens,  as  well  others  as  Protestants,  who  are 
merchants,  traders,  artisans,  skilled  in  any  trade  or  in  any  manufacture,  who 
shall  come  into  the  town  with  intent  to  reside,  shall  upon  their  request,  and 
payment  of  twenty  shillings  fine,  be  admitted  freemen  of  the  town. 

CORPORATE  Officers. 
The  names  of  the  members  of  the  town  council  in  1608  and  1687,  have 
been  already  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  charters  granted  in  these 
years.  The  following  are  lists  of  the  council  at  important  epochs ;  the  first 
and  second  are  the  members  in  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  Ascendancy 
period;  the  third  is  the  corporation  elected  under  the  Reform  Act,  1842;  the 
fourth,  the  existing  one. 

(d)  The  translation  of  the  Latin  charter  was  made  from  the  "  Exemplification "  of  1662,  and 
probably  at  that  date» 


228 


HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 


I695. 
Mayor — John  Moore,  Esq. 
Recorder — Anthony  Suxbury,  Esq. 

I  Thomas  Mokes. 
Bailiffs— \yf.^^^^^^  Craddock. 


Burgesses. 


Richard  Whitehand. 
Richard  Tengan. 
Stephen  Moore. 
John  Henbury. 
Richard  Pecket. 
Thomas  Osborne. 
John  West. 
Francis  Rabone. 


Thomas  Hopkins. 
Redmond  Vynn. 
Thomas  Cieere. 
Thomas  Balfe. 
Stephen  Haniy. 
Charles  Aicock. 
John  Warburton  Spencer. 
Hercules  Beere. 


1839. 


Mayor — William  Henry  Riall,  Esq. 
Recorder — Richard  Pennefather,  Esq. 

I  James  Douglas. 
^*^'''^^l  Samuel  Riall. 


Burgesses. 


Rev.  William  Stephenson. 
John  Croker. 
Samuel  Gordon. 
James  Douglas. 
William  Riall. 
Rev.  Edward  Croker. 
John  Keily,  jun. 
Henry  Croker. 
Richard  Moore. 
John  Keily. 


Charles  Riall. 
William  H.  Keilv. 
Arthur  C.  Creagh. 
George  Gough. 
John  Bagwell. 
Richard  Keily. 
Richard  Pennefather. 
Samuel  Riall. 
Rev.  J.  P.  Rhoades. 


(William  Byrne. 
John  Luther. 
Patrick  Hearn. 


1843. 
Mayor — ^John  Hackett. 

Aldermen. 

{John  Hackett. 
Thomas  Cantwell. 
Patrick  Quinn. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


229 


Councillors, 


William  Forristal. 
'  Thomas  O'Brien. 
I  Edward  Phelan. 
I  Charles  Bianconi. 
East  Ward!  Patrick  Fennelly. 
I  John  Gary. 
[Thomas  Holmes. 
'  Edward  O'Neill. 

William  Singleton. 


'  William  Keily. 
I  Thomas  Stokes. 
lEccles  Greene. 
j  Patrick  Rivers. 
West  Ward/ Daniel  O'Brien. 

j  Patrick  Corcoran. 
[Thomas  Prendergast. 
I  David  Clancy. 
Patrick  Egan. 


1906. 
Mayor — ^Thomas  Skehan. 


(Thomas  Morrissey. 
Walter  Geary. 
Vacant. 


Aldermen, 

I  Thomas  Skehan. 
David  O'Connor. 
Thomas  J.  Condon. 


East  Ward 


Councillors, 
James  Meehan. 
John  Malcomson  Murphy. 
William  Toohey. 
Richard  Dennehy. 
Thomas  Cleary. 
James  Reidy. 
Martin  Ryan. 
Edward  J.  O'Connor. 


John  O'Donnell. 


Edmund  Burke. 
William  T.  Fayle. 
i  James  J.  Hickey. 
I  Michael  Hogan. 
West  Ward 'James  Cahill. 
John  Cashin. 
Arnold  Power. 
Stephen  J.  Purcell. 
John  Mulcahy. 


Out  of  the  total  number  of  sovereigns  who  governed  the  town  from  1371, 

when  that  office  was  created,  to  1608  only  the  following  names  have  been 
recovered : — 

1424  John  White.  1 581  GeofFry  White. 

1526  Thomas  White.  1582  Michael  Bray. 

1539  John  Stritche.  1586  Geoflfry  White. 

1542  John  Stritche.  1589  Geoflfry  White. 

1543  William  Pagan.  1600  Nicholas  White. 
1565  Walter  White. 

Mayors  under  Charter  of  1608. 

1608  John  White.  1636  John  White. 

1609  Nicholas  White.  1637  Francis  White. 
1614  Patrick  White.  1639  Henry  White. 
1625  Henry  White.  1641  John  White. 
1633  John  White.              ^  1649  John  White. 


230 


History  of  Clonmel. 


During  the  years  1650-6, 
military   governor.      In   the 
established. 
1656  Thomas  Stanley. 
1659  Thomas  Batty. 

1661  Samuel  Foley. 

1662  Charles  Blount. 

1663  Richard  Perrot. 
1666  Charles  Alcock. 
1668  Samuel  Foley. 
1673  Francis  Hopkins. 

1684  Thomas  Limbry. 

1685  John  Hanbury. 
1687  James  Butler. 
1692  John  West. 
1695  John  Moore. 
1697  Thomas  Batty. 
1701  Thomas  Salmon. 
1704  John  Wilson. 

1710  Thomas  Lackey. 

171 1  Richard  Kellett. 

17 1 2  John  Walkinton. 

1713  Thomas  Tothall. 

1714  Richard  Whitehand. 

171 5  James  Castell. 

1716  Richard  Carleton. 

1717  Thomas  Hopkins. 

1718  John  Power. 

1719  Bartholomew  Labarte. 

1720  Hercules  Beere. 

1721  John  Cooke. 

1722  Philip  Carleton. 

1723  Guy  Moore. 

1724  Stephen  Moore. 

1725  James  Going. 

1726  Robert  Moore. 

1727  William  Cole. 

1728  James  Going. 

1729  Thomas  Lackey. 

1730  John  Power. 


there  were  no  mayors,  the  town  being  under  a 
latter  year  the  Cromwellian  corporation  was 

173 1  James  Castell. 

1732  Bartholomew  Labarte. 

1733  William  Cole. 

1734  James  Going. 

1735  Bartholomew  Labarte. 

1736  Charles  Atkins. 

1737  Richard  Going. 

1738  Jeremiah  Morgan. 

1739  Gilbert  Lane. 

1740  John  Power. 

1 741  Samuel  Gordon. 

1742  Richard  White. 

1743  John  Lackey. 

1744  Robert  Moore. 

1745  George  Cole. 

1746  Samuel  Gordon. 

1747  Jeremiah  Morgan. 

1748  Robert  Shaw. 

1749  George  Cole. 

1750  Jeremiah  Morgan. 

1751  Richard  Going. 

1752  Robert  Shaw. 

1753  William  Kellett. 

1754  Theobald  Lewis. 

1755  John  Hayman. 

1756  Thomas  Luther. 

1757  Stephen  Moore. 

1758  John  Luther. 

1759  William  Kellett. 

1760  Theobald  Lewis. 

1 761  Thomas  Luther. 

1762  Stephen  Moore. 

1763  Robert  Shaw. 

1764  Theobald  Lewis. 

1765  Thomas  Luther. 

1766  Stephen  Moore. 

1767  Thomas  Luther. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


231 


1768  George  Myles. 

1769  Thomas  Luther. 

1770  Theobald  Lewis  &  John  Luther. 

177 1  John  Hayman. 

1772  Samuel  Labarte. 

1773  John  Luther. 

1774  John  Hayman  &  John  Luther. 

1775  Stephen  Moore,  jun. 

1776  Thomas  Chidley  Moore. 

1777  Samuel  Labarte. 

1778  John  Luther. 

1779  Stephen  Cole. 

1780  Christopher  Kellett. 

1781  Richard  Moore. 

1782  Nathaniel  Mitchell. 

1783  John  Luther. 

1784  Richard  Moore. 

1785  Thomas  Gordon. 

1786  Nathaniel  Mitchell. 

1787  Edward  Collins. 

1788  John  Luther. 

1789  Nathaniel  Mitchell. 

1790  Thomas  Gordon. 

1791  John  Luther  &  Stephen  Moore. 

1792  Thomas  Power. 

1793  George  Cole. 

1794  Stephen  Moore. 

1795  Richard  Moore. 

1796  Nathaniel  Mitchell. 

1797  John  Hackett. 

1798  George  Heaslop. 

1799  Richard  Moore. 

1800  Stephen  Collins. 

1801  John  Bagwell. 


1802  Richard  Bagwell. 

1803  William  Bagwell. 

1804  John  Bagwell. 

1805  Richard  Bagwell. 

1806  John  Bagwell. 

1807  Richard  Bagwell. 

1808  John  Bagwell. 

1809  Henry  Langley. 

1 810  John  Croker. 

181 1  Henry  Langley. 

1812  John  Keilly. 

1813  John  Croker. 

1814  John  Keilly. 

1 81 5  John  Croker. 

1816  Henry  Langley 

1817  John  Keilly. 

1818  William  Keilly. 

1819  John  Croker. 

1820  William  H.  Keilly. 

1821  William  Bagwell. 

1822  William  Bagwell. 

1823  William  Bagwell. 

1824  John  Croker. 

1825  William  Bagwell. 

1826  William  Chaytor  (e). 


1827 

Do. 

1828 

Do. 

1829 

Do. 

1830 

Do. 

I83I 

Do. 

1832 

Do. 

1833 

Do. 

1834 

Do. 

1835  Benjamin  B.  Bradshaw. 


(e)  In  a  duodecimu  printed  in  London,  1834,  entitled  "The  Sketch  Book,'*  the  anonymous 
writer,  who  saw  Chaj'tor  at  dinner  in  the  Great  Globe  Hotel,  thus  describes  him:—"  Nearly  opposite 
me,  sat  a  middle-aged,  middle-sized,  cowardly  looking  fellow ;  he  seemed  to  have  a  tear  in  the  corner 
of  his  eye  and  it  would  appear  that  the  fates  had  decreed  that  he  was  never  to  shed  it,  for  I  met  him 
two  years  since  and  there  the  tear  stands  still;  when  he  sheds  it,  I  hope  it  will  atone  for  his  political 
delinquency  and  tergiversation.  The  feast  went  on,  knives  and  forks  clancked  round  as  in  a  fray.  I 
marked  the  customer  opposite  me,  and  if  he  were  as  valiiant  in  the  iield  as  he  was  at  the  table  he 
would  be  fit  to  head  an  army.  As  he  appeared  to  be  a  cunning,  hypoa'itical  fellow,  I  asked  my 
neighbour  who  he  was.  He  replied  that  he  was  the  factotum  of  the  town — that  is  Chaytor,  the 
turncoat  quakcr;  he  is  mayor  of  the  place,  stamp  distributor,  butter  taster,  head  scavenger,  etc.  He 
like  his  tribe  played  his  cards  sure,  by  looking  into  every  man's  hand;  he  renounced  the  errors  of 
Quakerism  to  qualify  himself  for  taking  the  oath  to  be  sworn  mayor." 


232 


History  of  Clonmel. 


1836  Benjamin  R  Bradshaw. 

1837  William  H.  Riall. 

1838  Do. 

1839  Do. 

Reformed  Corporation 


1840  William  H.  Riall. 

1841  Do. 

1842  Do. 


1843  John  Hackett. 

1844  Edward  Phelan. 

1845  Charles  Bianconi. 

1846  Do. 

1847  Edward  Phelan. 

1848  John  Luther. 

1849  Patrick  Quinn. 

1850  Joseph  Kenny. 

1 85 1  Do. 

1852  William  Byrne. 

1853  Edward  Phelan. 

1854  O'Brien  Mahoney. 

1855  William  Smyth. 

1856  John  Prendergast. 

1857  Joseph  Kenny. 

1858  David  Clancy. 

1859  W.  L.  Hackett. 
i860  Patrick  Corcoran. 

1861  Francis  Ryan. 

1862  W.  L.  Hackett. 

1863  Michael  Guiry. 

1864  Joseph  Kenny. 

1865  William  Wright. 

1866  John  Griffin. 

1867  Edmond  Woods. 

1868  W.  L.  Byrne. 

1869  Thomas  Cantwell. 

1870  Joseph  Kenny. 

187 1  Do. 

1872  O'Connell  Hackett. 

1873  Edward  Cantwell. 

1874  I>o. 


1875  Edmond  Woods. 

1876  Joseph  Kenny. 

1877  Edmond  Woods. 

1878  Denis  O'Mahoney. 

1879  O'Connell  Hackett. 

1880  Do. 

1881  Edmond  Cantwell. 

1882  Do. 

1883  Edward  C.  Hackett. 

1884  Do. 

1885  Do. 

1886  Benjamin  Wright 

1887  Do. 

1888  Edward  Murphy. 

1889  Thomas  J.  Condon. 

1890  Do. 

1891  Do. 

1892  James  Byrne. 

1893  James  H.  Lonergan. 

1894  Do. 

1895  Edward  Cantwell. 

1896  Patrick  Nugent. 

1897  Edward  Burke. 

1898  Patrick  Nugent. 

1899  Edward  Murphy. 

1900  Thomas  Condon. 

1901  Thomas  Condon. 

1902  Do. 

1903  Thomas  Morrissy. 

1904  Do. 

1905  Thomas  Skehan. 

1906  Do. 


Corporate  Estates. 

As  has  been  stated  in  Chapter  II.  the  founders  of  the  town  endowed  the 
early  inhabitants  with  certain  lands.  These  lands  were  held  partly  in 
severalty,  partly  in  common.  The  fertile  plain  on  the  Tipperary  side  of  the 
Suir,  now  known  as  Burgagery,  East  and  West,  and  comprising  about  1,050 
plantation  acres  (inclusive  of  the  town  and  suburbs,  350  acres),  was  held  by  the 


History  of  Clonmel.  253 

townsfolk  in  separate  holdings  by  the  tenure  called  free  burgage.     Judging 

from  the  Cromwellian  allotment  infra,  these  holdings  would  be  about  four 

acres  for  each  messuage  in  the  town.    Across  the  river  the  alluvial  district 

embracing  the  townlands  of  Croan  and  Raheen,  was  retained  by  the  lord 

himself  as  a  manorial  perquisite,  as  were  also  the  lands  of  Barravaukeen  and 

Lieranearla.    These  apart,  the  whole  territory  for  miles  south  of  the  town, 

was  held  by  the  inhabitants  in  common.    By  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 

century  some  thirty-three  persons  held  the  burgagery  lands   as  absolute 

proprietors.    They  were  known  as  "ancient  burgesses,"  and  were  descended 

from,  or  representative  of,  the  original  community.    These  also  were  owners 

of  the  Commons,  and  enjoyed  exclusively  the  commonage  rights.    It  does  not 

appear  that  the  charter  of  1608  affected  in  any  way  the  status  of  this  older 

community.    When  in  1655  a  jury  of  the  natives  of  the  town  was  impannelled 

to  report  on  the  corporate  estates,  they  set  forth  in  careful  detail  the  several 

houses  and  lands,  but  make  no  mention  whatever  of  Burgagery  lands  or 

Commons   as   the    property    of    the  corporation.      The    earliest    evidence 

of  the  connection  of  the  Commons  with  the  corporation  is  in  the  *'  Book  of 

Distribution  "  of  the  County  Waterford  under  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and 

Explanation,  1662-5. 

Commons  of  Clonmell. 

Grantees        ...  ...  ...  ...  Corporacon  Clonmell  ^/A 

Proprietors  in  1641      ...  ...  ...  The  Commons  of  Clonmell. 

Acreage  (Irish)  unprofitable  ...  ...  3»803. 

Do.         do.      profitable  ...  ...  1,300. 

The  most  recent  mapped  survey  shows  a  diminished  acreage,  being 
5,017  a.  I  r.  22  p.  Irish.  The  corporate  estate  begins  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and 
lies  east  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  extremity  of  the  boathouse  island  due 
south  (g).  It  extends  almost  to  the  Nire,  being  in  length  about  five  miles 
with  an  average  breadth  of  three.  The  rest  of  the  corporate  property  is 
substantially  as  recorded  in  the  survey  of  1654. 

But  the  town  derives  little  profit  from  this  huge  estate.  While  much  of 
the  mountain  is  comparatively  valueless,  the  estate  comprises  lands  of 
unquestionably  great  fertility.  These,  however,  have  long  been  mis- 
appropriated by  corporate  jobbery.  Some  particulars  have  been  given 
already,  but  the  whole  leasehold  rental  is  highly  instructive. 


(t)  P.R.O.  In  1848,  during  the  mayoralty  of  J.  Luther,  the  Keformed  Corporation  attempted 
to  make  out  title  to  the  Burgagery  lands.  Mr.  Morrin,  the  well-known  archivist,  was  employed  to 
enquire  whether  these  lands  had  been  held  on  trust  for  charitable  purposes,  and  the  profits  devoted 
to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  support  of  almshouses,  etc.  In  such  case  the  validity  of  the  grants  under 
t  he  Acts  of  Settlement  would  be  open  to  question. 

(g)  This  island,  in  part  corporate  property,  was  formerly  known  as  Batty 's  and  Moore  Island. 


234 


History  of  Clonmel. 


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History  of  Clonmel.  255 

The  rents  therefore,  reserved  by  the  corporation,  are  only  one-fourth  of 
the  valuation.  The  actual  letting  value  would  even  show  a  greater 
disproportion  (h). 

Corporation  Regalia. 

By  the  charter  of  James  I.  power  was  granted  the  Mayor,  Bailiffs, 
Freeburgesses  and  Commonalty  "  to  name,  elect  and  constitute  one  Sword- 
bearer  and  three  Sergeants-at-Mace "  and  such  other  necessary  officers  as 
seemed  good  to  them.  It  would  appear  that  this  power  was  exercised,  and  a 
sword  bearer  forthwith  appointed.  The  Sexton  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum, 
which  belong  to  the  early  seventeenth  century,  state  under  1608  "Clonmell 
had  first  a  Mayor  and  Bayliffe  with  a  Sword."  The  present  regalia  however, 
date  only  from  the  establishment  of  the  Cromwellian  Corporation,  half  a 
century  later.    They  consist  of  a  sword  and  two  silver  maces  (i). 

The  sword  is  four  feet  in  length,  the  blade  being  three  feet  and  half  an 

inch.    The  blade  is  of  genuine  Spanish  make  and  probably  saw  service  in 

warfare.      It  bears  on  one  face  the  word  "Jesu"  on  the  other  "Maria" 

together  with  the  marks  of  the  Toledo  fabric,  a  cross  and  anchor.     The 

guard,  hilt  and  pommel,  are  all  of  silver  but  without  hall  or  maker's  mark. 

The  guard  or  cross  is  a  segment  with  upturned  points,  and  measures  one  foot 

two  inches  from  point  to  point.    It  is  very  rudely  chased  with  oak  leaf 

ornament,  acorns  being  placed  at  the  centre  and  extremities.    The  hilt  or 

handle  proper,  is  formed  of  fine  silver  wire  wound  closely  round  a  core. 

The  pommel,  two  inches  in  diameter,  shows  on  one  side  the  Stanley  arms ; 

on  a  bend  three  stags  heads  caboshed,  on  the  sinister  canton  a  vallary 

crown  of  three  points  (/y.    An  inscription  in  cursive  hand,  is  carried  round 

the  shield : — 

Ex  dono  X  Thome  x  Standly  x  /(S56. 

The  obverse  side  of  the  pommel  exhibits  the  arms  of  the  town  (k);  on  a 

bridge  of  three  arches  in  fess,  masoned,  a  deer  and  hound  courant,  in  base  a 

stream  fluent  with  three  fishes  ;  the  motto 

Fidelis  in  eternum, 

(h)  The  tutal  rental  of  the  corporate  estate  represents  atx)ut  ;f  530.  The  principal  debts  were, 
1880,  ;f6ooo  for  erection  of  Town  Hall;  1883,  jf3000  for  Cemetery;  1892  and  following  years 
;f  18,437  for  Waterworks;  1894,  13,000  purchase  of  Gas  VV^orks.  The  loans  were  consolidated  in 
1896  by  floating  a  municipal  stock  for  ;^49,ooo. 

(i)  There  is  a  mayor's  chain  but  it  is  of  quite  recent  date. 

(j)  Probably;  but  the  crudely  graven  charge  maybe  read  as  an  inverted  label  to  distinguish  the 
eldest  son  of  the  first  house. 

(k)  This  is  the  earliest  known  representation  of  the  Clonmel  arms,  those  carved  in  the  panel  of 
the  Palatine  Court  (the  present  Main  Guard),  belonging  to  a  period  twenty  years  later.  The 
helmet  and  supporters  seem  to  have  been  added  by  some  local  herald.  A  fine  carving  in  wood  of 
the  corporate  arms  once  adorned  the  Council  gallery  in  old  St.  Mary's,  but  it  has  disappeared  with 
the  gallery  itself. 


236  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  sword  is  enclosed  in  a  velvet  scabbard,  the  silver  tip  of  which,  about 
four  inches  long,  is  almost  cotemporary  with  the  handle.  The  chasing  is 
even  ruder  than  that  on  the  handle.  At  the  extremity  on  each  side  a  rough 
crown  is  punched  between  the  Latin  initials  C.R.  (King  Charles).  The  rest 
of  the  plate  is  engraved  with  a  rose  and  marigold  design. 

The  maces  are  at  present  on  exhibition  at  the  Dublin  Museum,  and  to 
this  fortunate  circumstance  the  writer  is  indebted  for  a  description  of  them 
by  Mr.  J.  R.  Garstin,  the  best  authority  perhaps  on  old  Irish  silverwork. 

"They  are  similar  in  design  and  construction  (I),  but  differ  in  size,  being 
respectively  22  and  l8  inches  in  length  and  having  heads  3  and  25^  inches 
in  depth.  These  heads  are  divided  into  four  panels  or  compartments  by 
simple  perpendicular  bands  of  raised  floral  ornament,  surmounted  by  Caryatid 
figures.  Two  of  these  panels  bear  the  Royal  Arms  of  the  Stuart  period,  viz. : 
1st  and  4th  France  and  England,  quarterly,  2nd  Scotland,  3rd  Ireland,  within 
a  garter  and  surmounted  by  a  crown.  The  other  two  have  conventional 
roses,  for  England,  each  under  a  crown.  They  have  no  emblem  for  France, 
Scotland  or  Ireland,  which  most  Irish  maces  have.  On  the  flat  plates  which 
close  in  the  top  of  each,  a  similar  biit  larger  rose  is  displayed  under  a  crown, 
between  the  letters  C  and  R  (for  *  Charles  Rex  ')i  without  any  indication  that 
the  second  Charles  is  referred  to,  as  is  evident  from  the  date,  1663,  engraved 
on  the  larger  mace  only.  A  smaller  crown  is  over  each  of  these  two  letters, 
so  there  are  three.  The  rose  and  thistle  are  underneath  the  large  crown,  but 
no  Irish  emblem — for  the  shamrock  did  not  come  into  use  until  long  after. 
Such  maces  are  usually  surmounted  by  a  cresting  or  rim — generally  of 
fleur-de-lis — round  the  edge.  These  however  have  not  this  edging,  which 
may  have  been  lost  or  picked  away. 

"Both  maces  are,  as  usual,  wholly  of  silver,  having  no  stick  in  the  stems, 
which  are,  like  the  heads,  hollow  but  heavy.  The  heads  and  stems  bear 
evidence  of  having  parted  company,  possibly  having,  as  there  are  instances 
of,  been  put  in  requisition  as  weapons !  Plates  added  to  strengthen  them 
underneath  are  visible.  The  heads  and  handles  screw  together — the  socket 
of  one  screw  being  on  the  head,  while  that  of  the  other  is  on  the  stem. 

"One  of  the  stems  has  evidently  replaced  an  older  one,  being 
comparatively  modern,  as  appears  from  the  Sheffield  hall-mark  including  as 
date-letter  M,  which  indicates  1879.  Each  stem  is  plain,  having  one  knop  in 
the  middle  and  another  at  the  bottom,  to  which  a  flat  seal-top  base  is  attached. 

(I)  Cloninel  Corix>ralion  Maces.  By  John  R.  Garstin,  K.S.A.,  M.K.I.A.,  author  of  "  Maces  and 
other  Corporation  Insignia  of  Ireland."  The  two  maces  of  Clonmel  having  been  on  loan  in  the 
Dublin  Museum  in  October,  1906,  I  took  the  opportunity  of  examining  them,  and  give  this 
description. — J.R.G. 


History  of  Clonmel.  237 

On  the  latter  are  engraved  in  a  shield  a  heraldic  device,  presumably  for  the 
town  arms  which  may  be  described  in  unheraldic  language  as : — A  dog  chasing 
a  stag  across  a  bridge  of  three  arches,  under  each  of  which  swims  a  fish. 
Burke's  'Armory'  gives  no  arms  for  Clonmel,  .and  the  device  engraved  in 
Lewis's  'Topographical  Dictionary'  is  the  mayor's  seal,  and  quite  different. 

"  Strange  to  say  the  maces  have  no  original  hall-mark  proper,  but  each 
has  a  maker's  mark — the  initials  LS.  in  an  oval  with  a  line  round  them  and  a 
pellet  above  and  below.  These  belong  to  John  Stoaker  or  Slicer,  wh67  with 
the  exception  of  Abel  Ram,  is  the  only  Irish  maker  shown  in  Mr.  Jackson's 
great  book  '  English  Goldsmiths  and  their  marks '  (London,  4to,  1905)  p.  560, 
as  having  made  between  1656  and  1672  articles  known  to  the  author  as  still 
existing,  and  all  but  one  of  them,  including  the  mace  for  Carlow  which  has 
for  date-letter  T  of  the  first  alphabet=i656-7.  Only  ten  older  objects  than 
these  Clonmel  maces  are  recorded  by  Mr.  Jackson  from  the  foundation  of  the 
Goldsmiths'  Hall  in  1637  to  the  *  1663 '  engraved  on  one  of  them.  This 
should  give  an  idea  of  their  importance  and  value." 

There  were  two  seals  granted  by  the  charter  of  James  I. 

And  alsoe  of  our  like  special  grace  we  with  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  heirs 
and  successors  Give  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Bayliffs,  ffreeburgesses  and  Commonalty  of 
the  said  Borrough  of  Clonmell  and  their  successors  that  they  have  and  may  have  forever, 
one  Comon  Seale  engraven  and  carved  with  such  formes  and  inscription  as  hitherto 
they  have  been  accustomed  to,  and  ye  sealing  of  all  and  singular  Writings,  Indents, 
Grants,  Warrants  of  Attorney,  and  all  muniments,  Hereditaments,  and  all  other  public 
matters  whatsoever  to  the  said  town  or  Borrough  belonging  or  conseming,  As  ALSOE 
another  seale  of  office  of  Mayoralty  to  be  and  remain  in  ye  custody  of  the  said  Mayor 
for  the  time  being  to  seale  all  and  singular  Testimonies,  Certificates,  Attachments,  and 
Processes  whatsoever. 

Only  one  impression  of  the  seal  which  "hitherto  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  "  is  known  to  exist ;  it  is  appended  to  a  document  in  Kilkenny 
Castle  of  the  date  1543,  but  it  is  unrecognizable.  The  two  seals  at  present 
in  use  were  probably  provided  in  accordance  with  a  presentment  of  the 
D'Ouir  Hundred  Jury,  24th  May,  1714. 

Wee  present  that  the  Mayor  and  Councill  will  order  a  new  Seale  to  be  made  for 
sealinge  of  Leases  and  Freedomes,  which  wee  desire  to  be  kept  in  the  Chest  and  that 
there  be  a  small  Seale  for  the  Mayor  carrying  in  his  pockett  to  sign  Capiasses  and 
Warrants,  and  that  the  old  Seale  be  melted  down. 

The  larger  seal  is  unmistakably  eighteenth  century  work.  It  is  difficult 
to  conceive  a  greater  degradation  of  the  classic  form  of  Justice,  than  this 
vulgar  female,  with  impossible  hair  and  drapery,  shouldering  the  sword  and 
evidently  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  scales.  But  the  engraver,  however  clumsily, 
has  made  his  meaning  clear.  This  is  not  so  with  the  smaller  seal.  Though 
design  and  execution  are  incomparably  better,  what  the  significance  is  of  the 
dagger  impaling  the  olive  wreath,  must  be  left  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  curious. 


Ohapxe^r  XII. 


CROMWELUAN  CLONMEL. 

CHE  following  documents  illustrate  the  most  important  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  town.  The  uprooting  and  scattering  of  the  old 
burghers  and  the  setting  down  of  a  new  race  in  their  homes,  have 
been  described  in  a  former  chapter.  The  process,  it  is  to  be 
regretted,  through  defect  of  materials,  can  now  be  only  faintly  realized. 
But  the  results,  as  set  forth  in  the  following  records,  stand  out  with  striking 
vividness.  The  first  document  is  the  report  of  a  jury  of  burghers  "  late  of 
Clonmel "  on  the  corporate  rights  and  franchises,  lest  the  memory  of  these 
should  pass  away  with  the  former  inhabitants.  The  second  shows  the  earlier 
stage  in  the  Cromwellian  settlement  of  the  town — the  cantoning  of  the  soldiers 
in  the  several  houses  and  corresponding  burgages.  The  third  forms  a  sort  of 
directory  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  Commonwealth.  The 
fourth  shows  the  town  as  it  was  finally  settled — house  by  house  with  the 
name  of  its  new  and  that  of  its  former  possessor. 

Of  these  documents  the  first  forms  part  of  the  "  Civil  Survey  "  in  the 
Quit  Rent  Office,  Dublin;  the  second  and  fourth  were  obtained  from  the 
Public  Record  Office  (Commonwealth  Books,  Patents  of  Grants  under  Acts  of 
Settlement  and  Explanation).  The  third  is  in  possession  of  the  writer ;  it  is 
the  original,  and  has  appended  the  contemporary  warrant  signed  by  the 
Mayor  and  Bailiffs  of  Clonmel  (m). 

Survey  of  Clonmel.  • 

Com.  Tipperarie  fF. 

The  towne  of  Clonmell  with  the  lands  within  the  Liberties  and  Burgagery 
of  that  Corporation  and  other  lands  in  the  Barony  of  Iflfay  and  Offay 
belonging  to  that  Corporation. 

,fnO  But  for  the  half  leaf  wanting,  it  is  in  fair  preservalion. 


HISTORY    OF  CLONMEL.  239 

At  a  Court  of  Survey  held  at  Clonmell  in  the  County  of  Tipperary  for  the 
said  Towne  and  Burgagery  the  Qth  day  of  August  1655.  Before  Charles 
Blount,  John  Booker  and  Henry  Paris  Esqrs  Com"*  appointed  and  authorized 
by  Comission  from  the  right  honoble  the  late  Com"  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  England  for  the  aff ayres  of  Ireland  for  holding  of  Courts  of  Survey  in  the 
said  County  of  Tipperary.  By  the  oaths  of  Good  and  lawfull  men  formerly 
Inhabitauntes  of  the  sd  Towne  whose  names  are  underwritten.  It  is  found  as 
followeth  viz*- 

James  Brennock  of  Clonmell,  Apotecary. 

Patrick  Donoghow,  late  of  Clonmell,  merchant. 

Walter  Morony,  late  of  ye  same,  merchant. 

Thomas  White,  late  of  ye  same,  merchant. 

John  Dwyer,  late  of  ye  same.  Glover. 

Phillipp  Mohologhan,  late  of  ye  same,  husbandman. 

Thomas  Carran,  late  of  ye  same,  husbandman. 

Luke  Quirck,  late  of  ye  same,  merchant. 

Richard  Esmond,  late  of  ye  same,  husbandman. 

Michael  Bray,  late  of  ye  same,  merchant. 

Ambrose  Bray,  late  of  the  same,  merchant. 

Thomas  Walsh,  late  of  the  same,  husbandman. 
The  Towne  and  lands  within  the  lyberties  and  Burgagery  of  Clonmell  in 
the  County  of  Tipperary  are  bounded  as  followeth  ;  by  Powersland  [Powers- 
town]  and  Mylerstown  in  the  Parish  of  Kilgrant  on  the  east,  Rathronan  in 
the  Parish  of  Rathronan,  Rathduffe  in  the  Parish  of  Kilgrant,  Lawlestowne 
and  Tubburhany  on  the  north,  Ballyngarran  and  Garrishane  on  the  west,  and 
y*  River  Sewir  on  the  south.  The  particular  meares  and  bounds  of  the  said 
Burgagery  lands  of  Clonmell  are  knowen  by  the  sd  Jury  being  Antient 
Inhabitauntes  thereof,  and  often  heretofore  trod  out  by  them  and  all  ye  sd 
lands  within  the  lyberties  of  Clonmell  were  lately  surveyed  at  the  charge 
of  the  present  Inhabitaunts  thereof.  The  sd  Towne  of  Clonmell  is  situated 
on  the  North  Side  of  the  River  Sewir  in  the  County  of  Tipperary 
and  is  walled  about  with  a  stone  wall  of  Lyme  and  stone,  with  severall 
Turretts  and  hath  the  accomodation  of  a  stone  Bridge  together  with  two 
Greist  mills  on  the  same  and  had  the  conveniency  of  three  suburbs  viz** 
The  East  suburbs  extending  to  the  lane  called  Bohir  Mullineparky  containqing 
fiftye  Cabbins  or  thereabouts  with  garden  plotts  and  three  weires  likewise 
three  houses  and  gardens  wch  leadeth  from  the  sd  East  Suburbs  unto  the 
North  Suburbs.  The  sd  North  Suburbs  consistinge  of  fowerteene  houses  or 
thereabouts  with  gardens  and  from  the  sayd  North  Suburbs  there  was  a  lane 
enclosed  all  along  with  gardens  and  oarchards  leadinge  unto  the   West 


240  History  of  Clonmel. 

Suburbs  wch  suburbs  consisted  of  eighty  bouses  or  thereabouts  whereof  six 
were  good  slate  houses  and  one  mill  And  ye  said  suburbs  did  extend  from 
the  West  Gate  to  a  lane  called  Borineninardchsy  comonly  called  Chiefe  rent 
Lane.  The  sd  Towne  had  the  priviledges  viz'*  by  Charter  graunted  them  in 
the  yeare  1608  they  were  to  make  choyse  of  twenty  men  for  their  councell 
and  out  of  the  twenty  they  were  to  elect  a  Mayo""  and  two  Bayliffes  about 
Midsumer  and  sweare  them  at  Michellmas  together  with  a  Recorder.  There 
was  likewise  a  Court  of  Record  once  a  fforthnight  or  accordinge  as  occasion 
served  to  determine  any  difference  betwixte  party  and  party  for  any  sume  or 
sumes  or  other  causes  or  Actions.  There  were  alsoe  fFower  Deerehundred 
Courts  every  yeare.  A  Court  Lette  twice  a  yeare  a  Court  Barron  once  a  yeare. 
A  Pyepowder  Court  as  often  as  occasion  served  and  the  Mayo""  of  the  Towne 
for  the  Tyme  being  was  alwayse  Corono'  Sealema*"  and  Justice  of  the  Peace 
and  Quorum  for  the  County  of  Tipperary  and  had  three  Sarieants  to  attend 
him  with  maces,  a  sword  and  a  sword  bearer  A  Comon  Seale  of  Office  and  a 
capp  of  Mainetenance.  There  was  a  Clarke  of  the  Markett  belonginge  to  the 
said  Towne  and  ye  Maio'  for  the  time  being  did  receive  Custome  from  every 
stranger  that  passed  over  the  Bridge  with  Carriage  or  Cattle  and  there  was 
likewise  a  Comon  Sellar  Keyage  and  Boateage  to  Receive  Strangers  goods 
as  they  came  from  or  went  to  Waterford  and  a  markett  twice  a  week  viz* 
upon  Tuesdayes  and  Saturdayes. 

The  Towne  of  Clonmell  and  lyberties  thereof  had  bene  alwayse  time  out 
of  minde  an  Intire  Corporation  of  themselves  distinct  from  the  Barony  of 
IfFay  and  Offay  or  any  other  Barony  and  never  deemed  taken  or  reputed 
member,  pt  or  parcel!  of  the  said  Barony  or  any  other  Barony.  The  tythes  of 
the  Parish  of  Clonmell  were  two  third  parts  of  all  ye  Tythes  greate  or  small 
Imppriate,  and  belonging  to  the  Earle  of  Ormond  by  patent  from  the  Crowne. 
The  other  third  part  to  the  vicar  and  were  all  worth  in  the  year  1640  .  .  . 
.  .  /40  05.  Od.  The  lands  within  the  lyberties  and  Burgagery  of  Clonmell 
in  the  County  of  Tipperary  by  estimation  Nine  hundred  thirty  five  plantation 
acres  all  pfitable  land  enjoyed  for  the  most  part  in  ye  yeare  1640  by  ye 
persons  whose  names  doe  ensue  but  their  particular  and  respective  pportions 
we  are  not  able  now  to  sett  forth. 

The  Names  of  the  Antient  Burgesses  of  Clonmell  who  were  Proprieto"*  of 
lands  within  the  Burgagery  of  Clonmell  in  the  yeare  1640. 

James  Lord  Marques  of  Ormond. 

John  White  fz  Bennet  of  Clonmell. 

Henry  White  of  Clonmell. 

(Francis  White  of  Clonmell. 

Pierce  Bray  of  Clonmell. 


History  of  Clonmel.  241 

John  Stritch  of  Clonmell. 

Andrew  Morony  of  Clonmell. 

John  Bray  of  Clonmell. 

James  ffaggan  of  Clonmell. 

Michaell  Bray  of  Clonmell. 

James  Wall  of  Clonmell. 

John  Lea  of  Waterford. 

Patrick  Walsh  of  Waterford. 

Thomas  White  fz  Richard  of  Clonmell. 

Nicholas  Everard  of  flfethard. 

David  White  of  Russelstowne  in  ye  County  of  Waterford. 

JelFry  Barron  of  Clonmell. 

W"  Leynogh  of  Clonmell. 

Richard  Butler  of  Clonmell. 

John  White  fz  Lawrence  of  Clonmell. 

Thomas  Roch  of  Clonmell. 

Edmond  Brenock  of  Clonmell. 

Pierce  Wall  of  Clonmell. 

W"  Swyny  of  Clonmell. 

John  Corr  of  Tubburhany  in  ye  County  of  Tipperary. 

Bartholomy  Creagh  of  Clonmell. 

John  Wall  of  Clonmel. 

William  Lincoln  of  Waterford. 

Alexander  Power  of  Powerstowne  in  the  County  of  Tipperary. 

Thomas  White  fitz  Richard  fitz  David  of  Clonmell. 

Richard  Morony  of  Clonmell. 

Thomas  Donoghow  of  Clonmell. 

John  English  of  Clonmell. 
— Irish  Papists. 
Corporation  Lands  and  houses  within  the  Burgagery  and  Towne  (besides 
what  were  the  Inheritances  of  the  sayd  Proprieto**)  are  hereafter  sett  downe. 
And  houses  and  lands  belonging  to  the  Hospittals  &c  sett  apart  for  pious 
uses. 

The  viccars  house  and  garden  sett  apart  for  that  use  (time  out  of  minde) 
situate  on  the  south  side  of  the  Church  yard  in  Clonmell.  The  house  destroyed 
sithence  ye  takeing  of  Clonmell.  The  Garden  now  in  the  possession  of  M*"- 
Richard  Hamerton  of  Clonmell  by  lease  from  the  late  Com"*  of  Reuenue  in 
Tipperary. 

A  house  destroyed  before  the  Rebellion  with  a  garden  adioyneing  there- 
unto wch  was  sett  aparte  time  out  of  mind  for  a  Ifree  schoole  situate  on  the 

R 


242  History  of  Clonmel. 

south  side  of  the  Church  yard  afforesd  in  Clonmell.  The  garden  now  in  the 
possession  of  M*"-  Hamerton  aforesd.  A  stone  slate  house  built  situate  on 
the  East  side  of  the  Church  yard  afForsd  in  Clonmell  built  aboutt  thirty  yeares 
sithence  by  the  Comons  of  Clonmell  upon  a  part  of  their  Comon  land  and 
sett  apart  for  an  Hospitall  for  old  impotent  decayed  inhabitants  of  Clonmell 
and  soe  used  untill  the  takeing  of  the  Towne  in  the  yeare  1650.  The  sd  house 
is  now  in  lease  to  Coll  Sankey  from  the  late  Com"  of  Reuvenue  and  is  in 
Repayre. 

A  parcell  of  ground  where  the  Comon  Pound  stood  situate  on  the  East 
side  of  the  Hospitall  house  afforesd.  A  garden  belonging  to  the  late  viccar 
of  Clonmell  and  soe  held  and  enioyed  (time  out  of  minde)  situate  on  the  East 
side  of  the  Hospitall  and  Pound  alforesayd,  bounded  with  the  Towne  wall  on 
the  North  and  extendinge  in  the  East  to  the  garden  and  House  where  David 
Walsh  lived. 

The  County  goale  and  Towne  hall  built  over  the  same  situate  neare  the 
middle  of  the  Towne  now  in  good  repayre.  Three  stone  built  slate  houses 
situate  in  the  middle  Roe  behind  the  sd  Towne  Hall  leading  to  the  West 
Gate  in  Clonmell  built  upon  the  Corporation  lands  by  certaine  burgesses 
thereof  upon  seuerall  leases  to  them  granted  of  the  sd  lands  by  the  Comons 
of  Clonmell  about  fifty  yeares  sithence  for  one  hundred  yeares  to  come  from 
the  comencem*  of  their  respective  leases  at  the  yearley  rent  of  one  pound 
thirteene  shill'  and  4^  for  each  house.  One  of  those  houses  is  now  possessed 
by  Ralph  Chadcroft.  Another  by  Thomas  Sellin  by  lease  from  the  late 
Com**  of  Revenue,  both  in  good  repaire,  the  third  wholy  ruined  and  in  the 
Roome  thereof  a  guardhouse  lately  built. 

A  Part  of  the  stonehouse  and  backhouses  and  backside  in  Logt  streete  in 
Clonmell  wherein  James  Brenock,  Apottecary,  lately  dwelth  built  uppon  the 
Corporacon  land  about  sixty  yeares  sithence  by  the  sayd  James  his  father, 
and  the  sayd  James,  and  held  by  them  in  Lease  from  the  sayd  Corporacon 
for  one  hundred  and  one  yeare  at  the  yearely  rent  of  twelve  shillings,  now 
possessed  by  the  Wid :  Spinser. 

A  stone  built  house  neare  the  East  Gate  built  uppon  the  Corporacon 
lands  by  James  Daniell  of  Clonmell  neare  twenty  yeares  sithence  held  by 
lease  from  the  Corporacon  for  one  hundred  and  one  yeares  at  one  shilling 
six  pence  yearely  wch  house  is  included  within  the  late  built  flfort  in  Clonmell 
and  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Governor. 

Divers  other  thacht  houses  and  slate  houses  now  for  the  most  part 
demolished  and  included  within  the  walls  of  the  sd  flfoort  wch  was  built 
uppon  ye  Corporacon  lands  by  seuerall  burgesses  thereof,  who  held  the  same 
by  lease  from  ye  Corporacon  together  with  the  Comon  Seller  to  receive 


History  of  Clonmel.  ^43 

strangers  goods  and  the  Guild  hall  built  over  the  same  and  a  private  chamber 
built  over  the  Watergate  belonging  to  the  Corporacon,  which  did  yield  the 
Corporacon  in  the  yeare  1640  six  poundes  per  ann,  All  whch  are  now  wholly 
destroyed. 

All  the  Castles  and  Turretts  uppon  the  Towne  walls  yeilded  yearely  a 
certaine  rent  to  the  sd  Corporacon. 

The  other  part  of  the  stone  built  house  upon  the  Corporacon  lands  built 
by  John  Stritch  wherein  George  Carr  now  dwelleth,  yeilded  the  yearely  rent 
of  six  shillings  and  8d  to  the  sd  Corporacon. 

All  the  houses,  stayres,  Pynnyons  and  Gutters  and  other  structures 
erected  either  upon  the  Towne  walls  or  upon  the  streetes  of  the  sd  Towne. 
The  respective  parties  for  buildinge  pd  a  yearely  rent  to  the  sd  Corporacon. 

The  stone  house  in  the  middle  of  the  Towne  in  the  South  side.  The 
upper  part  whereof  was  formerly  used  as  a  guard  house. 

A  guard  house,  the  middle  part  thereof  was  continually  used  by  Butchers 
to  sell  meat  and  the  Loer  part  thereof  comonly  used  for  a  Comon  Goale  wch 
was  alwayse  time  out  of  minde  pperty  belonging  to  the  Corporation  and 
imployed  to  the  uses  alforesd. 

The  lane  under  the  house  lately  belonging  to  John  White  iz  Lawrence 
and  now  in  the  possession  of  Richard  Parrett  yeilded  the  Corporation  a 
yearely  rent  for  the  buildings  over  the  same. 

The  Toll  of  the  Comon  Barrell  of  the  sayd  Towne  yeilded  the  Corporation 
the  rent  of  twenty  eight  pounds  in  the  yeare  1640. 

The  Sheire  Goale  under  the  West  Court  house  sett  by  the  sd  Corporation 
for  the  yearely  rent  of  eight  pounds  to  the  Goaler  in  the  yeare  1640. 

Two  Mills  upon  the  Bridge  of  Clonmell  in  the  County  of  Tipperary  did 
yeild  the  sd  Corporation  a  yearely  rent  in  ye  yeare  1640  and  alwayse  before 
time  out  of  minde.  The  one  halfe  of  the  fish  taken  in  the  River  of  Sewir 
(otherwise  then  at  weires  and  Mills)  from  Borrinahow  to  Pooks  [Query  Rocks] 
mill  on  the  North  side  of  the  sd  River  belongeth  to  the  sd  Corporation  time 
out  of  mindei  The  custome  of  all  cattle  sould  at  the  Markett  of  y*  sd  Towne 
yeilded  a  yearely  rent  to  the  sayd  Corporation.  Many  other  houses  parks 
and  gardens  as  well  within  the  walls  of  the  sd  Towne  as  in  the  Suburbs 
thereof  belongeth  to  the  sayd  Corporation  and  yeilded  them  some  small  yearely 
rent,  the  particulars  whereof  we  cannot  certainely  sett  dowhe.  Nor  the 
persons  names  in  whose  possession  the  sd  houses  and  gardens  were  in  the 
yeare  1640.  The  poesesso"  of  them  haveing  joyned  them  to  their  owne  lands 
and  broken  downe  the  meares  betweene  them. 

Corporation  lands  without  the  walls  and  within  the  Burgagery 
of  Clonmell. 


244  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  Spittle  or  Lazars  house  situate  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  westward 
from  Clonmell  wholly  destroyed  onely  some  part  of  the  wall  standinge  with 
twenty  plant"  Acres  of  arable  land  and  meddow  by  computation  scattered 
and  intermixed  with  other  lands  within  the  Burgagery  of  Clonmell  worth  in 

the  yeare  1640  ten  pounds  p  annu llOOs.  Od.  wch  house  and 

lands  were  held  and  enjoyed  by  the  Corporacon  of  Clonmell  (time  out  of 
minde)  and  were  possessed  in  the  yeare  1640  by  John  White  fitz  Lawrence 
of  Clonmell,  Burgesse,  by  Mortgage  from  the  sd  Corppracon  and  the  sd  John 
White  paying  thereout  to  the  Corporacon  yearely  one  pound,  19s,  and  some 
odd  pennyes  as  wee  remember  over  and  above  his  Mortgage. 

The  thatcht  house  in  the  west  suburbs  with  three  gardens  thereunto 
belonging,  now  in  the  possession  of  James  Brenock  Appotecary  and  in  the 
yeare  1640  built  for  a  house  of  Correction  and  belonged  to  the  sd  Corporacon 
time  out  of  mynde. 

A  small  parcell  of  land  neare  the  Gibbett  hill  without  the  North  gate  of 
the  sd  Towne  belonged  to  the  Corporacon  afforesd  time  out  of  minde,  on 
part  whereof  Victor  white,  Daniel  MoUoghan,  Mlaghlin  Skehane,  Michael 
Kott  and  Edmond  Purcell  have  lately  built  cabbins. 

Corporacon  lands  lyeing  in  the  Barony  of  IlFay  and  OfFay  without  the 
Burgagery  of  Clonmell. 

The  Castle  towne  and  lands  of  Ballymac  Adam  with  a  cley  pitt  thereupon, 
lyinge  in  the  County  of  Tipperary  and  Parish  of  Caher,  containing  three 
colpe  acres  of  the  old  extent  and  it  was  bestowed  time  beyond  the  memory 
of  man  by  the  Lady  Dowager  of  Cahir  upon  the  sd  Corporacon  and 
accordingly  enjoyed  time  out  of  mind  by  the  sd  Corporacon  to  their  publique 
use  and  enjoyed  by  Morrish  m*"  Adam  in  the  year  1640  As  tenant  to  the  sd 
Corporacon  for  the  yearely  rent  of  six  pounds. 

The  sd  Corporacon  (time  out  of  minde)  likewise  enjoyed  to  their  publique 
use,  two  fields  of  land  between  both  the  Annor  bridges  in  the  parish  of 
Killoloan  in  the  East  division  of  Iffay  and  OfFay,  being  by  estimation  ten 
plantation  acres,  whereon  there  was  a  tuckinge  Mill  built  in  the  yeare  1640 
and  now  demolished,  wch  lands  and  mill  was  held  by  John  Walsh  Esq.  from 
the  Corporacon  at  a  certaine  rent. 

Thomas  Castle  at  Ardf ynan  otherwise  called  Shortcastle,  with  one  colpe 
Acre  of  the  old  extent  consisting  of  twenty  plantation  acres  by  estimation. 
The  meares  and  bounds  whereof  they  can  not  sett  forth  here  because  they 
doe  not  know  the  names  of  the  lands  that  meares  about  it,  which  Castle  and 
lands  did  belong  to  the  Corporacon  of  Clonmell  time  out  of  minde  and  was 
worth  in  the  yeare  1640  the  sume  of  fFower  pounds  ster,  yearely  04/1  005.  ood. 

This  Inquisition  was  taken  before  us  at  Clonmell  the  9th  day  of  August,  1655. 

H.  Paris,    Char.  Blount.    Jo  :  Booker, 


History  of  Clonmel. 


245 


Settlement  of  1654. 
An  Exact  Rent  roll  of  the  Houses  and  Burgagery  land  of  the  Towne  of 
Clonmell  as  they  were  sett  by  lease  by  the  late  Com"  of  Revenue  of  the 
precincts  of  Clonmel  aforesaid,  for  the  space  of  six  years  commenceinge  the 
first  of  May  1654,  to  the  undernamed  persons  for  the  Annuall  rents  to  their 
names  respectively  annexed  viz*- 


n 


Coll  John  Booker,  new  dwelling  house,  mill,  Bakehouse,  35  ac  95  per.  sett"^ 
at  no  rent  or  which  rent  was  respited  by  order  of  late  Comrs.  of  [ 
the  Commonwealth  on  12  Ap.  1654  for  one  whole  year  ...  ...  ) 

Thomas  Price,  his  dwelling  house  2  ac.  127  per. 

Thomas  Taylour,  his  thatdihouse 

Ralph  Chadraft,  house  13  ac  41  per.  and  garden  plott 

Margaret  ffrankes,  house  4  aa  32  per.  and  garden  plott 

Nathaniel  Thompson,  house,  garden  with  4  ac.  32  per. 

Edward  Hill,  house,  4  ac.  81  per.  garden  plott  ... 

Robert  Loveles,  house,  garden  plott,  I  ac  120  per.  at  2d.  the  yeare  for 
years  commencing  I  May  1654  in  consideration  of  building 

Henry  Wainright,  house  with  7  ac  179  per.  garden  plott 

Henry  Heware,  house,  8  ac  35  per. 

Mrs.  Jane  Charles,  house,  gulden,  li  ac  66  per. 

Zachary  Salmon,  thatch  house  and  garden 

Arthur  Rawlinson,  thatch  house,  backside  thereunto  belonging 

Richard  Rouse,  thatch  house  with  garden 

Daniel  Powell,  thatch  house  with  garden  plott 

Elizabeth  Bowen,  her  house    ... 

John  Reanan,  slate  house  and  small  thatch  house,  garden  15  ac.  120  per. 

Elizabeth  Merritt,  house  19  ac  81  per.  garden  plott 

Henry  Paris,  Esq.,  a  small  thatcht  house 

Richard  Rouse,  house,  16  ac  159  per.  garden  plott 

Ensigne  Henry  Proud,  house,  7  ac  104  per. 

James  Sheely,  house,  8  ac  97  per.  garden  plott 

Richard  Betsworth,  house,  9  ac  14  per.  garden  plott 

Thomas  Turpin,  house,  9  ac  66  per.  garden  plott  at  the  rent  40  shillings 
for  the  first  yeare  and  five  pounds  for  the  foure  ensueingd 

Charles  House,  house,  7  ac.  96  per.  garden  plott 

George  Moore,  house,  6  ac  45  per.  garden  plott 

John  Greete,  house,  5  ac  153  per.  garden  plott 

Robert  Thompson,  house,  4  ac  27  per.  garden  plott 

Capt.  Edmond  Hyegate,  house,  6  ac  190  per. 

Francis  Hopkins,  house,  5  ac  97  per. 

Mr.  Oliver  Latham,  house,  4  ac.  103  per. 

Solomon  Richards,  Esq.,  house,  II  ac  120  per. 

Richard  Ely,  house,  18  ac  and  garden  plott 

Edward  Markham,  house,  8  ac  34  per. 

Thomas  Chelcum,  house,  8  ac  80  per. 

Lieut.  Coll.  John  Brett,  house,  18  ac.  90  per.     ... 

Katherine  Spencer,  house,  1 1  ac.  67  per.  garden  plott 

Thomas  Bates,  thacht  house  — 

John  Gosling,  house,  5  ac  36  per.  garden  plott 

Robert  Carr,  house,  7  ac  64  per.  garden  plott 

John  Draper,  house,  8  ac.  63  per. 

Capt.  Thomas  Richards,  house,  II  ac  1 16  per. 

Lyonell  ffoard,  house,  garden  plott 

Major  Robert  Knight,  house,  25  ac  2  per. 

Coll.  Solomon  Richards,  house  in  Breach  streete,  30  ac  6  per. 


£   s.    d, 
60  13    0 


5  12 

0 

I  0 

0 

8  0 

0 

3  0 

0 

3  0 

0 

2  8 

6 

2 

4  2 

6 

3  13 

0 

4  0 

0 

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0 

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0 

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0 

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0 

I    3 

0 

8  10 

0 

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0 

5  n 

0 

6  6 

0 

i  \ 

0 

6 

2  10 

0 

5  0 

0 

4  0 

0 

2  0 

0 

410 

0 

3  10 

0 

9  0 

0 

7    0 

0 

8  3 

6 

6  7 

0 

2  0 

0 

II  14 

3 

4  0 

0 

I  0 

0 

4  0 

0 

2  10 

0 

!■; 

0 
0 

2  0 

0 

14  0 

0 

II  0 

0 

246 


History  of  Clonmel. 


George  Tucker,  house,  5  ac.  92  per.  garden  plott 
Leonard  Proctor,  thatchouse,  garden  plott 
Thomas  Wheatley,  thatchouse,  garden  plott    ... 

Capt.  Henry  Newberry,  house,  19  ac.  66  per.  garden  plott 
John  Bayly,  a  garden  plott,  8  ac.  30  per. 

Coll.  Daniel  Abbott,  house,  mill  with  backside  85^  ac    ... 

The  said  Coll.  Abbott,  another  house,  iSJ^  ac. 

Coll.  Solomon  Richards,  house,  yarde  and  gardens,  32  ac.  29  per. 
John  Cooke,  house,  14  ac.  24  per. 

Richard  Moore,  house,  garden  II  ac.  24  per. 

George  Carr,  house,  garden    ... 

Geffrey  Jenkins,  house,  garden 

Capt  Henry  Butler,  house,  16  ac.  23  per. 

John  Nicholls,  house,  garden  Sac.  147  per. 

James  Cooke,  house,  garden  7  aa  15  per. 

Richard  Hamerton,  house,  garden  7  ac.  13  per. 

Lieutenant  Herrickes,  house,  18  ac.  32  per. 

James  Sturzecar,  house,  small  garden  5  ac.  126  per. 

Lieut  Humphrey  Minchin,  house,  II  ac.  121  per. 

Amy  Chaffin,  house,  II  ac.  112  per.    ... 

Sarah  Warin,  house,  garden  8  ac.  22  per. 

Richard  Parrett,  house,  garden  17  ac.  71  per.    ... 

James  Ketty,  house,  5  ac  83  per  garden  plott 

William  Lane,  house,  garden  plott  9  ac  24  per. 

Thomas  Batty,  Esq.,  thacht  house,  parcell  wast  ground 

Coll.  Thomas  Blount,  house,  mill  21  ac  17  per. 

Quarter  Master  Oliver,  house,  8  ac.  30  per.  garden  plott 

Thomas  Batty,  Esq.,  new  dwelling  house,  28  ac  126  per.  garden  plott 

Mrs.  Mary  Dunbarr,  house,  mill  II  ac  77  per.  garden  plott 

Richard  Gowing,  house  and  garden  plott 

Robert  Thomill,  house 

John  Lillington,  thacht  house ... 

Capt.  John  Earpe,  house  and  garden    ... 

Diggery  Bagnall,  thacht  house 

Henry  Paris  Esq.,  his  small  garden  plott  in  west  suburbs 

ffrancis  Vaughan  Esq.,  14  ac.  139  per.  ... 

William  Hanbury,  House 

John  Gresham,  house  in  high  st.  4ac  109  per.  garden  plott 

John  Pickett,  house,  garden  12  ac  176  per. 

Henry  Everard,  house  garden  plott  17  ac.  20  per. 

George  Slaughter,  house  in  shambles  lane  garden  plott  5  ac.  133  per. 

Capt  William  Palmer,  house  in  West  Gate  lane  4  ac.  54  per. 

Major  Martin  Dix,  house  in  High  St  garden  plott  14  ac  69  per.  ... 

Coll.  John  Booker,  house  in  West  Gate  Lane  with  Ruined  mill  and  two  baksides 

Walter  Bagshaw,  house  in  Breach  Street 

Capt.  Henry  Newberry,  two  small  cabbins  with  a  little  garden  plott  without  > 
the  East  Gate  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...) 

William  Galfe,  house  in  Breech  St,  14  ac  106  per.  garden  plott 

Capt  Samuel  Foley,  2  fields  of  burgagery  land  containing  9  ac  33  per.  laid) 
by  the  late  survey  to  the  house  late  belonging  to  Ellice  ne  Henny  [ 
for  which  he  is  to  pay  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...) 

The  said  Capt  flFoley  having  a  lease  of  the  house  where  the  Com"  of  Revenue  ^ 
did  usually  sitt  for  the  tearme  of  five  yeares  comencinge  ye  I  of  f 
November,  1654,  for  which  he  is  to  pay  for  ye  five  yeares  fifty  C 
shillings  and  five  pounds  yearly  for  ye  five  years  one  half  ensuing  J 

Coll.  Solomon  Richards,  his  lease  of  three  fields  of  the  lands  of  Cruan  and  ) 
Rahines  for  3  yeares  comenceing  first  May,  1654,  and  sett  to  him  [ 
for  ye  small  rent  of  18  shillings  ...  ...  . . . ) 


£  s. 

d. 

3  0 

0 

I  10 

0 

10 

0 

14  0 

0 

3  10 

0 

4  14 

0 

13  14 

0 

9  12 

6 

10  16 

7 

6  0 

0 

II  10 

0 

5  0 

0 

5  10 

0 

4  16 

0 

4  10 

0 

10  18 

0 

10  0 

0 

3  0 

0 

6  10 

0 

4  0 

0 

5  0 

0 

n  5 

0 

2  I 

6 

3  2 

0 

I  0 

0 

"Jl 

0 

0 

15  15 

0 

3  0 

0 

3  3 

0 

6  0 

0 

I  0 

0 

3  2 

6 

I  0 

0 

5 

0 

3  0 

0 

2  0 

0 

2  18 

6 

6  0 

0 

13  0 

0 

2  I 

6 

I  18 

0 

8  0 

0 

I  10 

0 

I  0 

0 

9 

0 

6  0 

0 

I  10   0 


I    5    0 


18    0 


HISTORY    OF  CLONMEL.  247 

POLE  Money  Book,  i66i. 

By  the  Com™-  for  putting  in  Execution  the  ordinance  of  Pole  money 
within  the  Barronye  and  liberties  of  Clonmell  for  his  Ma''***  service. 

Pursuant  to  an  ordinance  of  the  Gen"'  Convention  of  Ireland  bearing  date 
the  first  day  of  March  l66o,  directed  to  vs  as  Com"*  for  putting  the  same  in 
due  and  effectual  execution  :  Yow  the  undernamed  are  hereby  authorized  and 
required  to  leavy  and  collect  from  the  before  named  persons  [in  original  this 
order  follows  the  list  of  names]  the  severall  summes  to  their  names  respectively 

annexed.    And  in  case  of  refusal are  to  distrayn  him 

or  them  by  their  goods  and  chattells  and  the  distresses  (after  the  keeping  of 
them  six  dayes)  to  cause  to  be  appraised  and  if  not  presently  redeemed  to  sell 
the  same  for  satisfying  of  what  moneyes  is  due  thereout  and  the  over  plus  if 
any  be  (after  first  deducting  such  costs  and  charges  as  yow  shall  be  att  in 
distreyneing  and  keeping  of  the  distresse)  to  deliver  back  to  the  owner  or 
owners  thereof.  Which  said  summes  soe  by  yow  collected  you  are  to  pay 
over  vnto  Capt  William  Hubbard  Chief  e  Collector  or  his  assignes  att  or  before 
the  7***  day  of  May  instant,  and  all  high  and  petty  Constables  and  all  other 
his  Ma*****  officers  and  good  subjects  whatsoever  both  Civill  and  Military  are 
required  to  be  ayding  and  assisting  in  the  execution  of  the  premisses,  and 
for  their  soe  doing  this  shall  bee  a  sufficient  warrant  and  authority.  Dated 
in  Clonmell  the  first  day  of  May  l66l  (n). 

To  Richard  Dennison  sub  collector 

of  the  towne  and  suburbs  of  *  S.  fFoley  Mayor. 

Clonmell.  Robert  Lovelace. 

I  doe  approve  of  the  above  Rich^-  Perot. 

sub  Collector  as  Wittness  my 

hand  this  l8th  of  May  l66l 

W.  Hibbart, 

Borough  of  Clonmell  in  the  County  of  Tipperary. 

Names  and         n.,^/;<f^^/,vi«c        Summes  in 
Sir  Names,         Q^tficatwns,  p^^^^^ 

£  5.  d. 

John  Dwyer  [runnaway]  servant  2  0 

William  Casheene,  servant       ...  2  0 

George  Tucker,  Slater              ...  6  0 

Elizabeth  Tucker,  his  wife        ...  2  0 

Anne  West,  a  prisoner's  wife    ...  2  0 

Onnor  Ryane,  a  Kilne  woman  2  0 

Richard  Mary,  a  porter             ...  2  0 

Ellen  Mary,  his  wife                  ...  2  0 

Mathew  Kenny,  Miller              ...  2  0 


Names  and         n..^/;/?^^#.v,^c        Summes  in 
Sir  Names.         Q^tficatwns,  ^^^^^ 

£   5.  d, 

John  Booker,  Esquire                ...  2    0  0 

Catherine  Booker,  his  wife        ...  2  0 

Thomas  Booker,  his  sonne  Gentl.  I    a  o 

John  Horsman,  husbandman    ...  o  0 

Elizabeth,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Ivane,  his  nurse                         ...  2  0 

Mary  Walsh,  servant                ...  2  0 

Thomas  Hutchman,  servant     ...  2  0 

Richard  Butler,  servant            ...  2  0 

[Here  half  a  leaf  is  wanting  containing  about  forty-four  names. — W.P.B.] 

(it)  In  later  hand  inserted  '*  Mein**""»-  that  the  total  of  th's  booke  mounts  vnto  One  hundred 
forty  and  seaven  pounds  twelve  shillings  ster.  147/f  125.  or/." 


248 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Names  and         n.,r,ii4i^^fi^^^        Summes  in 
Sir  Names.         Qualifications.  ^^^^^^ 

£   5.   d. 

Anthony  Watts,  shopkeeper     ...  14    0 

Martha,  his  wife                        ...  2    0 

Morris  Kennelly,  servant          ...  2    0 
Stephen  Morris,  a  poore  shopkeeper      2    0 

Christian,  his  wife                     ...  20 

Elizabeth  Madison,  a  soldier's  wife  2    0 

John  Walters,  Malster               ...  60 

Sarah,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

John  Dullaghunty,  Miller          ...  2    0 

Rose,  his  wife                            ...  2    0 

Richard  Taylour,  Clothier        ...  60 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Toby  Dwyle,  servant                 ...  2    0 

Robert  Collbecke,  servant         ...  2    0 
Robert  Lovelace,  Gentleman     ...      140 

Susanna,  his  wife                       ...  2    0 

Walter,  his  servant                    ...  2    0 

Peige,  his  servant                      ...  2    0 

Daniell  Hallourhan,  servant     ...  2    0 

Honora  Carroll,  servant            ...  2    0 

Richard  Botsworth,  Aleseller    ...  60 

Ellinor,  his  wife                         ...  2    0 

Catherine  Glissane,  servant      ...  20 

John  Esmeath,  Cooke                ...  60 

Lettice,  his  wife                         ...  20 

his  maid                         ...  2    0 

Richard  Williams,  Aleseller     ...  60 

Margery,  his  wife                      ...  2    0 

Mary  Cornane,  servant              ...  20 

ffrancis  Rawbone,  taylor          '...  60 

Jane,  his  wife                             ...  2    0 

Robert  Silvester,  servant           ...  2    0 

John  Pressicke,  Sadler               ...  60 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  20 

Charles  Howes,  Shooemaker    ...  60 

Elizabeth  Howes,  his  wife         ...  2    0 
William    Nicholls,    Journeyman! 
servant                                 .../ 

Joseph  Howes,  servant              ...  20 

Katherine  Ny.  Cragh,  servant  2    0 

George  Moore,  a  poore  shoemaker  6    0 

Margaret,  his  wife  2    0 

Thomas  Stapleton,  servant        ...  20 

Edward  Smith,  Joyner               ...  60 

Anne,  his  wife                            ...  20 

John  Greete,  ffarmor                  ...  14    0 

Joane,  his  wife                            ...  2    0 

Mory  Symmes,  his  sister  in  law  2    0 
John  Parker,  his  sonne  in  law,  Sadler    6    0 

Mary,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Robert  Tompson,  Baker           ...  14    0 

Susan,  his  wife                           ...  20 

John  Boorke,  servant                 ...  2    0 

Richard  Whitehand,  shoemaker  14    0 

Mary,  his  wife                            ...  20 


2     0 


Names  and 
Sir  Names. 


Qualifications. 


Andrew  Hare,  (Journeymen) 


Summes  in 
Figures. 
£   s.   d 
2    0 

JohnWoodall,  I    servants    i  2    0 

John  Richison,  Journeyman  servant  2    0 

Alice  Power,  servant                 ...  2    0 

Mary  Scott,  a  foot  soldier's  wife  2    0 

Thomas  Browne,  Boatman        ...  2    0 

Catherine,  his  wife                     ...  2    0 

Dorothy  Johnston,  a  poore  widow  2    0 

ifrancis  Hopkins,  Chandler       ...  14    0 

Joane  Hopkins,  his  wife            ...  2    0 

Margaret  Buoland,  servant       ...  2    0 

Walter  Brenocke,  Apothecary  14    0 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  20 

Patricke  Hannyne,  servant       ...  2    0 

Charles  Walters,  Barbour         ...  60 

Margery,  his  wife                      ...  2    0 

James  Cranwell,  servant            ...  60 

Anthony  Marshall,  butcher       ...  2    0 

Anstace,  his  wife                       ...  2    0 
Anstace  Kearney,  a  labouring  woman    2    0 

George  Ardine,  Shoemaker       ...  60 

Philip  Smith,  his  servant          ...  2    0 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Edmond  fflannagan,  Barbour    ...  60 

Ralph  Bertles,  Inn  Keeper        ...  14    0 

Anne,  his  wife                            ...  2    0 

Ellinor  Connell,  servant            ...  2    0 

Katherine  Cranwell,  a  soldiers  wife  2    0 

John  Harper,  shopkeeper          ...  60 

Jane,  his  wife                             ...  20 

Joane  Ryane,  sevant                  ...  .   i    0 

Edward  Hutchinson,  Gentleman  140 

Richard  Davies,  his  servant      ...  20 

James  Hamilton,  Esquire          ...  200 

Thomas  Wheelewright,  Merchant  14    0 

John  Harwood,  Shopkeeper      ...  14    0 

Mary,  his  wife                            ...  2    0 

Dorothy,  his  daughter               ...  2    0 

Joane,  his  daughter                    ...  20 

Thomas  Prichard,  Shop  Keeper  14    0 

Sarah,  his  daughter                   ...  20 

Thomas  Williams,  servant        ...  20 

Robert  Craddocke,  Taylor        ...  60 

Hester,  his  wife                          ...  2    0 

Thomas  Browne,  Baker            ...  60 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  20 

Nicholas  Britton,  servant          ...  20 

Mary  Butler,  servant                 ...  20 

Richard  Moore,  Gentleman       ...  140 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2    0 

Edward  Batty,  Gentleman         ...  140 

John  Moore,  servant                  ...  20 

Thomas  Grace,  servant             ...  20 

Nora,  his  wife                             ...  20 

John  Diggin,  servant                 ...  2    0 


History  of  Clonmel. 


240 


Names  and 
Sir  Names. 


Qualifications, 


John  Roe,  servant 
Edmond  Hogane,  servant 
Thomazine  Lobb,  servant 
Margery  Tomer,  servant 
Joane  Mullowny,  servant 
Ralph  Henley,  Cutler 
Katherine,  his  wife 
Thomas  Spencer,  his  servant 
Jane  Jones,  a  soldiers  wife 
Thomas  El  well,  Labourer 
Elizabeth,  his  wife 
James  Halsey,  Gentleman 
Anne,  his  wife 
Nicholas  power,  servant 
Mary  Waters,  servant 
Robert  Carr,  ffarmor 
Sarah,  his  wife 
Nathaniel  1  Carr,  his  sonne 
Gilbert  Trayer,  husbandman 
Elizabeth,  his  wife 
John  ffoster,  labourer 
Mary,  his  wife 


Summes  in 

Figures. 

£   s.  d. 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

I     4  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

14  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 


Names  and 
Sir  Names. 


Qualifications. 


Mary,  a  soldiers  wife,  John  Williams     2  0 

Joseph  Hughes,  Butcher           ...  6  0 

Hannah,  his  wife                       ...  2  0 

MacKane,  his  Cowboy               ...  2  0 

James  Holmes,  a  poore  Glover  ...  2  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Mary  Holland,  a  soldiers  wife  ...  2  0 

Lyonell  fford,  Labourer            ...  2  0 

Mercy,  his  wife                         ...  2  0 

Susanna  Scott,  his  daughter  in  law  2  0 

Charles  Alcocke,  Esquire          ...      2    0  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

Mrs.  Margt.  Moyles,  his  sister  in  law       2  o 

Edward  Gough,  servant            ...  2  0 

Morris  power,  servant  ...  20 

John  Carroll,  servant                 ...  2  0 

William  Bird,  servant               ...  2  0 

Alice  Bird,  his  wife                   ...  2  0 

Katherine  ffennell,  servant        ...  2  o 

Alice  Dennison,  servant            ...  2  0 

Elizabeth  Mort,  servant  2  0 

Elizabeth  Rouse,  widow            ...  2  0 

Sheely,  a  soldiers  wife               ...  2  0 

Lyonell  Silvester,  Junr.,  poore  taylor     2  o 

Pettemell,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

Sarah  Holloghane,  a  soldiers  wife  2  0 

Brian  Clarke,  Labourer             ...  2  0 

Owny  Clarke,  his  wife               ...  2  0 

ifrancis  Courtney,  Smith            ...  6  0 

Alice,  his  wife                            ...  2  0 

John  Moore,  servant                  ...  2  0 

Hugh  Malady,  Aleseller           ...  2  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

William  Bradford,  labourer      ...  2  0 


Summes  in 
Figures. 
£   s.   d 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Elian  Thornton,  A  soldiers  wife  2    0 

William  Webb,  Labourer         ...  2    0 

Ellis,  his  wife                             ...  2    0 

Morris  Nagle,  Carpenter           ...  2    0 

Elian,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Mary  Offly,  a  soldiers  wife        ...  2    0 

William  Godfrey,  Labourer      ...  2    0 

Mary,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Joanne  Gibbs,  a  soldiers  wife    ...  2    0 

Katherine  Stamp,  a  troopers  wife  2    0 

Henry  Wainwright,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 

Nicholas  Locker,  servant          ...  2    0 

Elian  Wall,  servant                   ...  2    0 

Thomas  Low,  Labourer            ...  2    0 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  2    0 
Samuell  ffoley.  Esquire             ...      2    0    0 

Elizabeth,  his  wife                     ...  2    0 

Richard  Madockes,  servant       ...  2    0 

Thomas  Butler,  servant            ...  2    0 

Thomazin  Windgate,  servant   ...  2    0 

Mary  Condon,  servant               ...  2    0 

Walter Skehane,  Smith             ...  2    0 

Anstace,  his  wife                       ...  20 

Humphrey  Jones,  taylor            ...  2    0 

Elizabeth,  his  wife                     ...  2    0 

Mary  Acres,  a  soldiers  wife      ...  2    0 

Geffroy  Jenkins,  Butcher           ...  2    o 

Elizabeth,  his  wife                     ...  20 

William  Streete,  servant           ...  2    0 

Anstace  Clensy,  servant            ...  2    0 

George  Carr,  Shopkeeper          ...  14    0 

Elizabeth,  his  wife                     ...  20 
John  Carr,  his  father,  Gentleman      140 

Edward  Bray,  servant                ...  20 

Winifrid  Mathewes,  servant      ...  20 

ifrancis  Thomas,  Baker             ...  60 

Mary,  his  wife                           ...  20 

Amy  Cooper,  servant                ...  20 

Ellinor  Connell,  servant            ...  20 
John  Guraler,  a  poore  bodyes  maker        2    0 

Richard  Huett,  Boatman          ...  20 

Mary,  his  wife'                           ...  20 

Deliverance  Yates,  his  mother  2    0 

George  Webber,  a  poore  Glover  2    0 

Elizabeth,  his  wife                     ...  20 

Roc  [51V]  Wigmoore,  servant     ...  20 

William  Hanbury,  Shopkeeper  14    0 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  20 

Mary  Hogan,  servant               ...  20 

James  Cooke,  Labourer             ...  20 

Ellinor,  his  wife                         ...  20 
Richard  Hamerton,  Gentleman        140 

Sarah,  his  wife                           ...  20 

Thomas  Holder,  servant           ...  20 


250 


History  of  Clonmel. 


"srs'a:^,.  <^'""^-  '7s^£ 

£   s.   d. 

William  Vaughan,  servant  ...  2    0 

Elizabeth  Hamlen,  servant  ...  2    0 

Katherine  Daton,  servant  ...  2    0 

Henry  Shaw,  servant  ...  2    0 

James  Hackett,  servant  ...  2    0 

Nicholas  White,  servant  ...  2    0 

Charles  Blount,  Esquire  ...      2    0    0 

Valentine,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Mrs.  Susan  Blount,  his  kinswoman  2    0 

William  Hunt,  servant  ...  2    0 

Morris  Power,  servant  ...  2    0 

Isabell  Leynagh,  servant  ...  2    0 

Ellinor  Dal  ton,  servant  ...  2    0 

Joane  Corban,  servant  ...  2    0 

John  flFryer,  pewterer  ...  14    0 

Mary,  ,his  wife  ...  2    0 

James  O  Quynn,  servant  ...  20 

Samuell  Moore,  servant  ...  2    0 

John  flFoxton,  Aleseller  ...  60 

Anne,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Margaret  White,  his  mother  in  law  2    0 

Katherine  Boorke,  servant  2    0 

John  Power,  servant  20 

Enoch  ffrances.  Carrier  60 

Joane,  his  wife  ...  20 

John  Daniell,  servant  ...  2    0 

Anthony  Lawrence,  ffamour  ...  14    0 

Amy,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Sarah  Warren,  his  mother  in  law  2    0 

John  Wharly,  servant  ...  2    0 

Mary  Kennedy,  servant  ...  2    0 

Margaret  Peacocke,  a  soldier's  wife  2    0 

Robert  Cony,  Boatman  ...  2    0 

Margaret,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Alice  Bamlett,  widow  ...  2    0 

Thomas  Monday,  Dyer  ...  60 

Katherine,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

John  Mokes,  flFelt-maker  ...  60 

Dorothy,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

John  Nuell,  servant  ...  2    0 

Richard  Perrot,  Gentleman  ...      I    4    0 

Edith,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Peter  Rooth,  servant  ...  2    0 

Edmond  Hogane,  servant  ...  2    0 

Peter  Dolane,  servant  ...  20 

David  Connell,  servant  ...  2    0 

Ellinor  Butler,  servant  ...  2    0 

Mary  Murphy,  a  soldier's  wife  2    0 

Henry  Loveday,  Aleseller  ...  60 

Mary,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Daniell  McCragh,  servant  ...  20 

Phillipa  Cox,  a  trooper's  wife  ...  2    0 

James  Ashmoore,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Richard  Phillips,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Ellinor,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Joane  Curran,  servant  ...  2    0 


SX^f        fi-'^'---       '"^eS! 

£  s.  d. 

John  Bennett,  Merchant  ...  6    0 

James  Kelly,  Aleseller  ...  60 

Jane,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

John,  his  servant  ...  2    0 

William  Lane,  Aleseller  ...  60 

Anne,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Edward  Broody,  servant  ...  2    0 

Nora  Meagher,  servant  ...  2    0 

George  Derby, ...  60 

Temperance,  his  wife  ...  20 

Jennings,  his  wife's  brother  2    0 

Katherine,  his  maid  servant  ...  2    0 

Mary  Hatley,  a  trooper's  wife  ...  2    0 

Katherine  Crosse,a  petty  ffarmor's  I  ^    n 

widow  ... ) 

William  Thwaits, ...  60 

Elizabeth,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Edmond  Kelly,  his  servant  ...  20 

Anne,  his  servant  ...  2    0 

George  Collett,  Glover  ...  60 

Elizabeth,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

John  Collett,  his  sonn  ...  2    0 

ffrancis  Collett,  his  sonn  ...  2    0 

George  Collett,  his  sonn  ...  2    0 

Lyonell  Silvester,  senior,  Sexton  2    0 

Joane,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Richard  Dennison, ...  60 

Mary,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Katherine  Swyney,  servant  ...  2    0 

Allen  Pockett,  a  tanner's  widow  4    8 

Richard  Pockett,  her  sonne  ...  2    0 

Thomas  Brassill,  servant  ...  2    0 

Thomas  Williams,  Tanner  ...  14    0 

Richard  Newman,  servant  ...  2    0 

Walter  Hayes,  servant  ...  2    0 

Richard  Gowen,  Dyer  ...  14    0 

Rebecca,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

John  Hacker,  servant  ...  20 

John  West,  Aleseller  ...  2    0 

Alice,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Mary  Hanley,  servant  ...  2    0 

*  John  Weekes,  a  poore  Cooper  ...  20 

Susan,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Elizabeth  Sellin, ...  2    0 

Ralph  Chaderaft,  Innholder  ...  14    0 

Elizabeth,  his  wife  ...  20 

Thomas  Wynn,  servant  ...  2    0 

William  Barry,  servant  ...  20 

Phillipa  Lloyd,  servant  ...  2    0 

James  Sturzeear,  a  petty  ffarmour  6    0 

Anne,  his  wife  ...  20 

Edward  Commerford,  Merchant  14    0 

Christopher  Portingall, ...  60 

Henry  Headley,  Slater  ...  60 

Richard  Stapers,  Esquire  ...  2    0 


[Charged  at  Kilteynane,  Midlethird.] 


History  of  Clonmel. 


251 


West  Suburbs  of  Clonmell. 


Names  and 
Sir  Names, 


Qualifications. 


2    0 


Summes  in 
Figures. 
£   s.   d. 

Teige  Roe,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Margaret,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Thomas  ffinusie.  Smith  ...  2    0 

Onnora,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Teige  Hurley,  servant  ...  2    0 

James  ffinusie,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Juan,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

John  Baron,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Katherine  Barron,  his  wife  2    0 

John  Power,  Broagmaker  ...  6    0 

Richard  Power,  his  servant       ...  2    0 

John  Bime,  Broagmaker  ...  2    0  j 

James  Brittin,  his  servant         ...  2    o| 

John  Grant,  Labourer  ...  2    0 

Anne,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

William  Kennedy,  a  poore  Broag-1 
maker  ...J 

Katherine,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Donnogh  Lonergan,  Glouer      ...  2    0 

Margaret,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Edward  Laffan,  Yeoman  ...  14    0 

Christian,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Mary  Wale,  servant  ...  2    0 

Mary  Teige,  servant  ...  20 

Laurence  Wailsh,  Merchant     ...  14    0 

Margarett,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Nicholas  White,  his  servant     ...  2    0 

Edmond  Butler,  servant  ...  2    0 

Margaret  Deady,  servant  ...  2    0 

Thomas  Deady,  broagmaker    ...  60 

William  Brazill,  Yeoman  ...  14    0 

Katherine,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Katherine  ny  Teige,  his  servant  2    0 

Theobald  Butlere,  Taylor         ...  60 

Katherine,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Patricke  Comerforde,  Labourer  2    0 

Onora,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Joane  Baron,  a  poore  widow     ...  2    0 

Edmond  Daniell,  husbandman ...  60 

Katherine,  his  wife  ...  2    0 

Cahill  Linsie,  his  servant  ...  2    0 

Constance  Daniell,  Labourer    ...  20 

Patrick  Donnoghow,  Yeoman  ...  14    0 

Ellen,  his  wife  ...  20 

Thomas  Donnoghow,  servant   ...  2    0 

Juan  Bawne,  servant  ...  20 

Gillian  English,  servant  ...  2    0 

Margaret  Dwyer,  widow  ...  2    0 

Teige  Merry,  his  servant  ...  20 

Ann  White,  widow  ...  20 

Margaret  White,  her  servant    ...  2    0 

Thomas  Skanlane,  Labourer    ...  2    0 

Anstase,  his  wife  ...  20 


Names  and 
Sir  Names. 


Qualifications. 


Summes  in 
Figures. 

£   s.  d 

Margaret  Roch,  widow             ...  2  0 

Katherine  Clevane,  a  poore  widow  2  0 

Juan  Condon,  Labouring  woman  2  0 

Margaret  Donnilly,  Labouring  woman    2  0 

Richard  Dunn,  a  poore  Cobler ...  2  0 

Bridgett,  his  wife                       ...  2  0 

John  Wall,  a  poore  taylor         ...  2  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

John  Conway,  Labourer            ...  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

John  ffling,  a  poore  ould  Tincker  2  0 

Elian,  his  wife                           ...  2  0 

Dauid  ffinusie.  Labourer           ...  2  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

William  Boorke,  Cottner           ...  60 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Laurence  power,  Broagmaker  ...  6  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Thomas  Cravan,  a  poore  Weaver  2  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Luke  Hackett,  Tobaccomonger  6  0 

Juane,  his  wife                           ...  2  0 

William  McConnor,  a  poore  labourer  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

William  Phellan,  Labourer       ...  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

James  McPhillip,  tobaccomonger  6  o 

Ellen,  his  wife                            ...  2  0 

Phillip  McEdmond,  Labourer  ...  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                   ...  2  0 

Thomas  Boorke,  Labourer        ...  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

Bernard  ffinusie.  Carrier           ...  60 

Elian,  his  wife                           ...  2  0 

Edmond  Connell,  husbandman...  6  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Edmond  Doody,  servant            ...  2  0 

Juane    ,Ny  Connor,  servant   ...  2  0 

Phillip  ODivane,  a  poore  Weaver  6  0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Ellen  ny  Mary,  a  poore  Widow  2  0 

Margaret  Mahoney,  Spinster     ...  2  0 

Juane,  her  servant                     ...  20 

Patrick  Ederton,  a  poore  Butcher  2  0 

Mary,  his  wife                            ...  2  0 

Thomas  Methane,  Labourer     ...  2  0 

Juan,  his  wife  2  0 

JfohnSharuchan, Weaver           ...  6  0 

Margt.,  his  wife                          ...  2  0 

Thomas  Phellane,  Labourer     ...  2  0 

Ellen,  his  wife                            ...  2  0 

Owen,  his  servant                     ...  2  0 

Dominicke  Bluett,  husbandman  6  0 


262 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Names  and 
Sir  Names, 


Qualifications, 


Katherine,  his  wife 

Richard  Power,  servant 

Laghlin  Ryan,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  ^fe 

Connor  McTeige,  Labourer 

Sarah,  his  wife 

Edmond  Meagher,  Labourer 

Mary,  his  wife 

William  Hannyne,  Labourer    .. 

Onora,  his  wife 

Teige  Kennedy,  Labourer 

Margaret,  his  wife 

Daniel]  Carroll,  Labourer 

Sarah,  his  wife 

Richard  Daniell,  Labourer 

Juane,  his  wife 

Thomas  Esmond,  Labourer 

Gillian,  his  wife 

Richard  Condon,  Carrier 

Mary,  his  wife 

Richard  Kearne,  Labourer 

Katherine^  his  wife 

Gullypatricke Grady,  Labourer.. 

Juan,  his  wife 

William  Clovane,  Labourer 

Juan,  his  wife 

Thomas  White,  Labourer 

Ellen,  his  wife 


Summes  in 
Figures. 

£   s.  d. 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 


6     0 


Anstace  Cravan,  a  Labouring  woman  2    0 

John  Mc Williams,  Mason         ...  6    0 

Thomas  Mc  Williams                ...  6    0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  20 
Thomas    McRichard,    Tobacco- 1 

monger  ...  f 

Anstase,  his  wife                       ...  2    0 

John  Comnaerford,  Labourer     ...  2    0 

Margaret,  his  wife                     ...  2    0 

Katherine  Gerraldine,  widow    ...  48 

Juan  Shea,  her  servant              ...  2    0 

William  Hennessie,  her  servant  2    0 

James  Brenocke,  Yeoman          ...  14    0 

Catherine,  his  wife                    ...  2    0 

John  CafFee,  his  servant             ...  20 

Juan  fitz  James,  servant            ...  2    0 

Thomas  White,  servant            ...  2    0 

Mathew   Brennock,  sonn  to  the|  -    n 

said  James  *  .../ 

Margaret  Wale,  a  poore  widow  2    0 

Edmond  Kennedy,  Labourer    ...  2    0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  20 

John  Kennedy,  Broagmaker      ...  60 


Names  and 
Sir  Names, 


Qualifications, 


Ellis,  his  wife 
Ellin  fitz  Edward,  Servant 
Dennis  Egan,  Labourer 
Anstace,  his  wife 
William  Boy,  servant 
Kotherine  Corr,  widow 
Juan,  her  daughter 


Margaret  ny  Bryne,  Labouring! 
woman  .../ 

James  Gorman,  a  poore  taylor 
Margaret,  his  wife 
William  Egan,  Tobaccomonger 
Katherine,  his  wife 
Thomas  Power,  Tobaccomonger 
Ellinor,  his  wife 
James  Sheine,  servant 
Katherine  Connor,  servant 
George  Sherlocke,  Tobaccomonger 
Edmond  English,  Labourer 
Ellis,  his  wife 

John  Cahill,  a  poore  Glover 
Anstace,  his  wife 

Margaret  White,  a  Labouring  woman 
Mary  Grady,  a  poore  widow 
Katherine  Roche,  widow 
Symon  Harford,  husbandman  ... 
Donnogh  McGrath,  Labourer   ... 
Ellis,  his  wife 
William  Meagher,  Smith 
Mary,  his  wife 
Mary  fitz  James,  widow 
Richard  Keatinge,  a  poore  butcher 
Margaret,  his  wife 
James  Archer,  Labourer 
Bridgett,  his  wife 
Mortagh  Quirke,  Labourer 
Ellis,  his  wife 
Thomas  Hickie,  Labourer 
Katherine,  his  wife 
Gilliam  Walsh,  widow 
Teige  MacShane,  Labourer 
Juan,  his  wife 

Thomas  Shallovey,  his  servant 
Teige  Carroll,  Labourer 
Ellen,  his  wife 
John  Barry,  foot  post 
Margarett,  his  wife 
Nicholas  Barron,  Constable 
Joane,  his  wife 
Robert  ffleminge,  servant 
Ellis  Duan,  servant 


Summes  in 
Figures, 
£  s,  d. 
2  0 
2  0 
2  0 
2  0 
2     0 

4    8 

2     0 


North  Suburbs  of  Clonmell. 


Murtagh  Divane,  poore  Cottner  6    0 

Margaret,  his  wife  ...  2    0 


William  Mullryan,  Labourer 
Ellen,  his  wife 


:.} 


2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

6  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 

2  0 


4    O 


History  of  Clonmel. 


253 


Names  and 
Sir  Names, 


Qualifications. 


Nicholas  White,  Tobaccomonger 

Elian,  his  wife 

Daniel  Molloghane,  Carrier 

Juan,  his  wife 

James  MoUoghane,  servant 

John  Lawles,  servant 

Ellish  Wall,  spinster 

Mary  Cott,  spinster 

Thomas  Pryce,  Victualler 

Elizabeth,  his  wife 

Mary  Hicky,  servant 

Victor  White,  polty  flFarmour 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Anne  White,  servant 

Juan  Morrish,  spinster 

Dorothy  Kennedy,  spinster 

Margaret  Hennessy,  spinster 

John  Phelane,  Labourer 

Catherine,  his  wife 

Morris  Dooly,  broagmaker 

Vny,  his  wife 

Teig  Michane,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Teig  Brian,  Labourer 

Marg*-  his  wife 

John  Shea,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Daniell  Tiemy,  Labourer 

Joan,  his  wife 

John  Kelly,  Carrier 

his  wife 

James  Keathing,  Labourer 

Thomas  Punt,  Labourer 

Juan,  his  wife 

John  Mary,  Labourer 

Onor,  his  wife 

Thomas  Dwyer,  Glover 

Joane,  his  wife 

Teige  McKnogher,  Carrier 

Anastase,  his  wife 

Redmond  McMorrish,  servant 

Katherine  fitz  Nicholas,  servant 

Tho  Merry,  Journeyman  taylor 

Juane,  his  wife 

John  McHugh,  tobacco  seller 

Katherine,  his  wife 

William  Neale,  servant 

Joane,  his  maid 

Edmond  purcell  &  Elian  his  wife 

Butcher 
William  Cnoghy,  Labourer 
Knogher  purcell,  servant 
Mary  Meagher,  servant 
Ellin  fitz  Gerald,  Charwoman 


Summes  in 
Figures, 
d. 


£   s, 

6 

6 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

8 

2 

2 
2 
2 


4 
6 

2 

8 

2 
2 

4 
8 

2 
2 

i6 

2 

4 
2 


4  0 

8  0 

4  0 

4  0 

4  0 

4  0 

8  0 

2  0 

4  0 


0 
0 

0 

0 

0 
0 

0 

0 

0 

0 


Names  and 
Sir  Names. 


Qualifications. 


Denis  Sexton,  Miller 

Ellinor,  his  wife 

Henry  Kennedy,  Labourer 

katherine,  his  wife 

William  Spillane,  broagmaker .. . 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Thomas  Lonnergane,  servant  ... 

Donnogh  Kennedy,  servant 

Jasper  Portingall,  Merchant 

Joane,  his  wife 

Thomas  Quiffe,  servant 

Sheely  Meagher,  servant 

Joane  ny  Shane,  spinster 

Ellen  Newman,  yeomans  widow 

Edmond  Durie,  Labourer 

Nora  Headine,  servant 

Phillip  Dogane,  servant 

Donnell  Carrine,  Labourer 

Redmond  Keathinge,  Carryer  ... 

Ellis,  his  wife 

Tho.  Holane,  Labourer 

Ellen,  his  wife 

Laghlin  Skehane,  Smith 

Margaret,  his  wife 

Katherine  Cahesy,  servant 

Ellin  Phelane,  Charwoman 

Teige  Hally,  Labourer 

Sarah  Qurke,  Charwoman 

Teige  Agherine,  Labourer 

Juan,  his  wife 

John  Phellane,  Labourer 

Ellane,  his  wife 

John  ffennell,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

John  Dwyer,  Labourer 

More,  his  wife 

David  Triskane,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Teige  Cary,  Gunstocker 

Margaret  Cahesy,  Charwoman 

John  6  Neale,  Labourer 

Margaret,  his  wife 

John  McMorrish,  poore  butcher 

John  Heany,  Labourer 

Margaret,  his  wife 

William  Molloghan,  Labourer  ... 

Grace,  his  wife 

Richard  Wale,  Labourer 

Margaret,  his  wife 

Thomas  ffleming.  Labourer 

Bane,  his  wife 

Nicholas  Quiffe,  Labourer 

Margaret  QuiflFe,  his  wife 


Summes  in 
Figures, 
d. 


£   s. 
4 

4 

8 

2 
2 

14 

2 
2 
2 
2 

4 

2 
2 
2 
2 
6 
2 


4    0 
8    0 


4    0 


0 
0 
0 


4    0 

2     0 
2     0 


4 

2 

4 

4  0 

4  0 

4  0 

2     0 
2     0 


254 


History  of  Clonmel. 


East  Suburbs  of  Clonmell. 


Names  and 
Sir  Names, 


Qualifications. 


Summes  in 
Figures, 


Robert  Lynane,  Carrier 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Teig  MuUryan,  labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Andrew  White,  Taylor 

Onnor,  his  wife 

Nicholas  Geyton,  Labourer 

Ellen,  his  wife 

Toby  Purcell,  Stockenmaker 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Margaret  Clere,  servant 

Donnogh  Carran,  Mason 

More,  his  wife 

James  Cahyr,  Porter 

Onnor,  his  wife 

Thomas  Mangan,  Mettleman    .. 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Phillip  Mohollo^ghane,  Labourer 

Margaret,  his  wife 

James  Mary,  porter 

Margaret,  his  wife 

John  Mary,  Glover 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Paul  Goyny,  Boatman 

Katherine,  his  wife 

John  Walsh,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Katherine  Phelane,  widow 

Robert  Brenocke,  Labourer 

Grany,  his  wife 

George  Conway,  Labourer 

Elizabeth  Gauny,  widow 

Mathew  Wall,  Labourer 

Ellish,  his  wife 

Dauid  Cleere,  Weaver 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Thomas  Cleere,  his  sonne 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Toby  Nash,  Labourer 

Ellish,  his  wife 

Morrish  Eustas,  Labourer 

Ellen,  his  wife 

Ony  Gullypole,  servant 


£  s. 
6 
2 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

6 

2 
2 
6 
2 
2 
2 
6 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
6 
2 

6 

2 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
6 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 


Names  and 
Sir  Names. 


Qualifications, 


Patricke  Cahesy,  Weaver 

Unny,  his  wife 

John  Cahesy,  servant 

Symon  Connery,  Labourer 

Ellin,  his  wife 

Connor  DufTe,  Labourer 

Ellish,  his  wife 

Nicholas  Lahyffe,  poore  Mettleman 

Ellin,  his  wife 

Thomas  Reyley,  Carpenter 

Anstas,  his  wife 

Thomas  Murphy,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Nicholas  Quott,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Katherine  Neale,  Labourer  [sic] 

Edward  Langton,  Labourer 

Katherine,  his  wife 

Katherine  Slattery,  servant 

Katherine  Hoare,  a  soldiers  wife 

Richard  Betts,  Constable 

Margarett,  his  wife 

James  Headen,  Cottner 

Ellen,  his  wife 

John  McOwne,  Labourer 

Joane,  his  wife 

Edmond  Brenocke,  Labourer 

Ellen,  his  wife 

Teige  Dullany,  porter 

Joane,  his  wife 

Walter  Walch,  Cottner 

Joane,  his  wife 

John  Brenocke,  Carrier 

Anstas,  his  wife 

Ellen  Meagher,  servant 

Derby  Dowle,  a  poore  Cottner 

Anne,  his  wife 

John  Waylsh,  servant 

William  Morisshy,  Taylor 

Joane,  his  wife 

James  Wall,  mettleman 

Joane,  his  wife 

Katherine  Cantwell,  servant 


Summes  in 
Figures, 
£  s.  d. 
6 


John  ffowler.  Miller 
Amne,  his  wife 
Thomas  Dowgin,  Miller 
John  Mullynex,  servant 
Margaret,  his  wife 
James  Cooke,  Ale  Seller 
Alice,  his  wife 


South  Suburbs  of  Clonmell. 

2  0     Thomas  Daniell,  servant 

2  0     Onnor,  his  maid  servant 

2  0     Juane  purcell,  widow 

2  0     Thomas  Hart,  Slater 

2  0  I  Juan,  his  wife 

6  0     James  Davyne,  his  servant 

2  0     William  Demsy,  Labourer 


2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

6 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
6 
2 
2 
2 
6 

2 
2 
2 
6 
2 
6 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
6 
2 
2 
2 
2 


2 
2 
2 

6 

2 
2 
2 


History  of  Clonmel. 


255 


Names  and         n^.^ti^.-^fi^^^        Summes  in 
Sir  Names,         Q^^ficatwns,           ^^^^^ 

£   5.  d, 

Ss^rah,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Daniell  Swyney,  porter  ...  2  0 

Elian,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Mortagh  Hogane,  boatman  ...  6  0 

Margaret,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Edmond  Hogane,  ffish  monger  6  0 

Ellen,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Teige  Meagher,  his  servant  ...  2  0 

Thomas  Power,  broagmaker  ...  6  0 

Ellen,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Thomas  Toben,  Labourer  ...  2  0 

Elian,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Thomas  White,  porter  ...  2  0 

Ellen,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Peter  Stephens,  G)nstable  ...  2  0 

Ellen,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

John  Powhill,  Labourer  ...  2  0 

Elian,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Edmond  Hackett,  Glover  ...  6  0 

Juane,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Willm  Quirke,  Labourer  ...  2  0 

Anastace  White,  Spenster  ...  2  0 

Morrish  Buoghilly,  Labourer  ...  2  0 

Anastace,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Luke  Quirke,  Labourer  ...  2  0 

Margarett,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Thomas  Kennedy,  poore  broagmaker    2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Teige  Cahesy,  G)bler  ...  2  0 

Juane,  his  wife  ...  2  0 

Teige  Dullany,  Broagmaker  ...  6  0 


Names  and 
Sir  Names, 


Qualifications, 


Summes  in 
Figures. 


jt   s.  d, 

Isabell,  his  wife                         ...  2  0 

Walter  Hickes,  Tucker             ...  2  0 

Besse,  his  wife                           ...  2  0 

Walter  Morrissie,  Labourer      ...  2  0 

Margarett,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

James  Mandeville,  Labourer    ...  2  0 

Mangaret,  his  wife                     ...  2  0 

Paul  Brenocke,  Labourer  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife  2  0 

Juan,  his  maid                            ...  2  0 

Roger  Hally,  Carrier                 ...  6  0 

Juane,  his  wife                           ...  20 

Thomas  McGullypatricke,  Labourer  2  o 

Giles,  his  wife                            ...  20 

John  Gullypatrick,  Labourer    ...  2  0 

Anne,  his  wife                           ...  2  0 

WilliamSt.  John,  his  servant  ...  2  0 

Mahowne  O  Mulrian,  Labourer  2  0 

Owny,  his  wife                           ...  2  0 

Roger  Quinlin,  butcher             ...  2  0 

Juan,  his  wife                             ...  2  0 

William  McOwny,  Labourer    ...  2  0 

Donnogh  Hasey,  Labourer        ...  2  0 

Katherine,  his  wife                    ...  2  0 

Edward  Bagh,  Gardner             ...  6  0 

Juan, his  wife                            ...  2  0 

Owny    O    Mulryan,  his  servant  2  0 

Mahowne O  Bryen,  Labourer    ...  2  0 

Mary,  his  wife                           ...  20 

James  Brassill,  Cooper              ...  2  0 

Margarett,  his  wife                   ...  2  0 


SETTLEMENT  OF  l666. 


Holdings. 
Garden 
Malt  house    and   thatcht 

house 
thacht  house  and  garden 

waste  tenement 
house 

house  and  garden 
thacht  house  and  garden 
waste    tenement    and   ... 
garden 

slated  house     ... 


Blind  Street. 

Present  Possessors. 
Edmund  Daniell 
Mr.  Cole     ... 

Richard  Hamerton  .. 


John  Charpe 
John  ffryer 
Joan  Cleyton 
Edmund  Vinn 

{Joan  McGilfoyle 
Mr.  Bayly 


Late  Possessors. 
Thomas  Prendergast 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 

Nicholas    and     Solomon 

White. 
Solomon  White 
Nicholas  White 
Stephen  White 
Stephen  White 
Catherine  Stritch 

(Michael  White,  formerly 
\        Lord  Caher 


256 


HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 


Holdings, 


house  slated 

house  slated 

house  slated 
side. 

house   slated 
side. 


and    back- 


and    back- 


HiGH  Street. 

Present  Possessors, 
Thomas  Browne 
George  Harden 
Robert  Cradock 


Widow     Harper 
Robert  Price 


or 


house  and  backhouse 
slated 


■hach.  hous»,  house  slated  {^''^^Se  te'At" 

waste  tenement  ...     Thomas  peackett 

slate  house,   garden   and    Walter  Brenock 
orchard. 

slate  house 


\ 


slate  house 
house  and  garden 

thacht  house  and  garden 

thacht  house  and  garden 
house  slated  and  garden  ^ 

thacht  house  and  waste 
tenement. 

slated  house    and    back- 
house. 

house  slated  and  backside 

slated  house 

slated  house 

slated  house 

house  slated,  backside  and 
garden. 

house  slated 

house    slated   and  back- 
house. 

garden 

house  slated  and  another 
thacht. 


ffrancis  Hopkins 
ffrancis  Hopkins 
Edmund  Wright 


John    and    James 
Brenock 

Richard  Whitehand 
Robert  Lovelady     . . . 


Late  Possessors. 
Michael  White 
Thomas  Butler 
James  Mulrony 

f  Thomas  White  fitz  Benet 
\  and  Nicholas  White  fitz 
I     Benet 

(Thomas  White  fftz  Benet 
•      and    John    White    fitz 
Benet 

r Thomas    White    fitz 
I     Michael 

Edmund  Bray 

Thomas    White 
Michael 

Thomas    White 
Michael 

Nicholas  White 
Henry 

Nicholas    White  fitz 
Henry 

Nicholas    White  fitz 
Henry 

Thomas  Roth 
Thomas  Roth 


fitz 


fitz 


fitz 


Robert  Thompson  ...     Thomas  Roth 


Thomas  Williams  ... 

Charles  House 

Gilbert  if ryer 

r Thomas    Moake   and 
ijohn  Parker 

Richard  Settleworth 

Robert  Carvell 
Richard  Rickett      ... 

Richard  Settleworth 
Edmund  fflanegan  ... 


Michael  Bray 
Geoffry  White 
Geoffry  White 

{William  LincoU  and 
Nicholas  Mulrony 

John  Leech  and  John 
Wallis 

John  Lee 
John  Lee 

John  Lee 
Lord  Cahir 


History  of  Clonmel. 


257 


Holdings, 

house  slated,  thacht  house  1 
and  garden.  j 

house  slated,  part  in  Bridge 
Street. 

house    slated  and  waste 
and  thacht  house. 

two    houses    slated    and 
thacht  house. 

house  slated  and  thacht 
house. 

garden  adjoyning  the   ... 
churchyard. 

house  slated 

house  slated 

house  slated 

house  slated 

waste  plott 

house  slated,  garden  and 
thacht  house. 

two    houses    slated    and 
stable. 

house  slated  and  backside 

house  slated 

house  slated 

house  slated     ... 

house  slated  and  lime  yard 


house  slated  and  garden 
thacht  house     ... 
thacht  house     ... 

house  thacht  and  waste 

waste  ... 
house  slated 

house  slated 

stable ... 


Present  Possessors. 
'  William  Waytes 
Richard  Baron 

Thomas  Turpin 

Henry  Loveday 

Richard  pickett 

Richard  pickett 

Sarah  Warren 
Anthony  Laurence 
John  ffryers 
John  Sexton 
Mrs.  Blount 
Mrs.  Blount 

Richard  Hamerton  . 

f  James    Cooke    and 
(William  Manghan 

Jeoffry  Jenkins 
flFrancis  Thomas 
George  Can- 
George  Carr 

LOUGH  Street. 

Edward  Batty 
Edward  Batty 
William  Henbury   . 

William  Henbury   . 

William  Henbury   .< 
John  Clarke 

John  Clarke 

John  Clarke 


Late  Possessors. 

fjohn   White  fitz  Henry 
I     and  Patrick  Walsh 

Nicholas  Baron 
John  White  fitz  Henry 
John  White  fitz  Richard 
Michael  White 


John  White  fitz  Benet 
Patrick  Walsh 
Edward  Bray 
John  White  fitz  Laurence 
Richard  Mullroney 
John  Weite  fitz  Benet 

Thomas    White    fitz 
Michael 

Andrew  Bray  and  David 
White,  heires 

James  Mulrony 

Thomas  Creagh 

Nicholas    White  fitz 
Geoff ry 


John  White  fitz  Benet 

John  White  fitz  Benet 

Thomas  White  fitz 
Richard 

Thomas   White  fitz 
Richard 

Richard  White 

Thomas  White  fitz 
Mathew 

Thomas  White  fitz 
Richard 

Thomas  White  fitz 
Richard 


^^^ 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Holdings, 
house  slated 

two  waste  tenements,  etc. 

house  slated      ... 

two    houses    slated    andl 


brewhouse.  J 

waste  tenement  and 
garden. 

house  slated  waste  and  ... 
garden. 

thacht  house  and  waste... 

house  slated  and  two 
gardens. 

garden 

thacht  house  and  garden 

waste  tenements 

garden 

two  houses  slated,  two 
houses  thacht  and 
garden. 

three  houses  slated,  thacht 
house  and  garden. 

house  slated  and  backside 

house  slated,  backside 
court  and  garden. 

two  houses  slated,  court 
and  garden. 

garden 

garden  and  waste 

house  thacht  backside 

and  garden, 
house  slated,  thacht  house 

and  stable. 


Present  Possessors. 
Richard  Eyland 

Capt.  ffolie 
Charles  Alcock 

Charles  Alcock 

Bishop  of  Waterford 

Widow  if ord 

Thomas  Jones 

fDeane  Gore  now 
I  Bishop  of  Waterford 

Deane  Gore 

Henry  Ansell 

John  Walsh 

John  Batty 


I 


Mr.  Witten 


Deane  Gore 

Deane  Gore 
Samuel  Ladyman 

Mr.  Ladyman 

Mr.  Ladyman 
Mr.  Ladyman 

}ffrancis  Browne 
Richard  Moore 


Late  Possessors. 

Thomas  White  fitz 
Richard 

Edward  Bray 

James  ffagan 

f  Richard  White  fitz  Peter 
1     and  Edmund  Bray 

Thomas  White  fitz 
Richard 

James  ffagan 

/John  Newman  and  James 
I     Wall 

Theodore  Butler 

John  English 
John  English 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 

Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 

James  Mulrony 

Patrick  Walsh 
David  White 

Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 

Thomas  White 

William  Swyne 

^William  Swinny,  Thomas 
Rooth  &  Thomas  White, 
Nicholas  White  and 
Thomas  White  fitz  Benet 


Saint  Maryes  Streete. 


waste,  house  slated 
three  gardens 

cabin  and  forge 

thacht  cabin     ... 


house     and    kiln    house 
slated  and  garden 


and    James  Hoomes 


John  Bayly 

Richard  Peryman 
alias  Perry 

Peter  Butler 


Nicholas  White 

Edmund  Brown 

Thomas  White  fitz  Michael 

and  Henry  Con- 
John  Stretch 


HISTORY    OF  CLONMEL. 


259 


Holdings, 
house  slated 
malt  house,  etc. 
malt  house,  etc. 
garden 


Present  Possessors. 
William  Stydell 
Roger  Coale 
Robert  Lovelace 
Deane  Gore 


a  poore  house  formerly  belonging  to  the  poore 


house  thacht  and  garden 

house  slated  and  garden 

waste  and  garden 

house  thacht    ... 

garden 

house  slated  and  backside 

house  slated  backside  and 
garden 

house  slated 

house  thacht,  stable,  etc. 

house  slated 


Robert  Lovelace 
Richard  Taylor 
Richard  Taylor 
Mrs.  Pettyhoone 
Edmund  Daniell 
Edmund  Daniell 
James  Hoone 


Gyles  Maron 
Edward  Hill 


Late  Possessors, 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 
John  White  fitz  Benet 


William  Lincoll 
John  Butler 
James  if  agan 
James  ffagan 
James  ffagan 
Henry  Con- 
Nicholas  White 

John  English 
Thomas  Donoghue 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 


house  slated     ... 

house  slated  and  backside 

thacht  house     ... 

kiln 

house  thacht     ... 
house  slated  and  kiln     ... 
house  slated  and  garden 
three  houses  slated 


NORTH  Lane. 

Richard  Perry 
William  Quirke 


Coll :  Booker 
ffrancis  Rawbone 
Coll:  Booker 
Bryan  Reynolds 
Coll:  Booker 


Nicholas  White 
John  White 
Nicholas  White 
Nicholas  White 
John  Bray 

Patrick  Prendergast 
Stephen  White 
Nicholas  White 


Middle  Row. 


house  slated 
house  slated 
house  slated  and  garden 

thacht  house     ... 
thacht  house     ... 

thacht  house     ... 


Lord  Cahir 


Ralph  Chadraft 

William  Moakes 
Edward  Griffith 

{Richard  Perriman 
alias  Perry 


Richard  Leynach 
Nicholas  White 

Nicholas  White 

Nicholas  White 

Nicholas  White 


and 


^bQ 


History  of  Clonmel. 


West 

Holdings, 

waste  house 

house  slated  and  garden 

waste  tenements 

house  slated     ... 

house  slated 

thatcht  house   ... 

house  slated  and  thatcht 
house 

thatcht  house  and  garden 

house  slated     ... 

waste 

waste  house 

house  slated 

house  slated 

house  slated 


Gate  Lane  or  Streete. 


Present  Possessors. 
John  Weste 
John  Weste 
Widow  Pickett 
John  Staper 
Widow  Pickett 
Widow  Pickett 
Richard  Dennison 

George  CoUett 
George  CoUett 
Thomas  Batty 
Thomas  Batty 
Thomas  Batty 
Thomas  Batty 
Henry  Coale 


Late  Possessors. 
Patrick  Gough 
John  Bray 
Nicholas  White 
Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 
Nicholas  White 
John  White  fitz  Edward 
Nicholas  White 

John  White 
William  Lynach 
William  Lyn?ich 
William  Lynach 
William  Lynach 
William  Lynach 
William  Lynach 


house  slated 
house  slated 


Bridge  Streete. 

Edward  Comerford 
Humphrey  Jones 


castle    and    waste    tene-    Thomas  Batty 
ments 


A  my  11 


stable 


Coll:  Booker 


Thomas  Turpin 


Michael  White  fitz  John 
Nicholas  White 
Nicholas  White 


Thomas    White    fitz 
Mathew 

Richard  Mullroney 


house  slated 

house  slated 

thatcht  house 
thatcht  house 
malt  house 


Shamell's  Lane. 
Ignatius  Lane 

John  White 

ffrancis  Thomas 
Richard  Hamerton 
Captain  ffolie 


two  houses  and  backside     Nicholas  White 


Thomas    White    fitz 
Mathew 

Thomas    White    fitz 
Mathew 

John  White  fitz  Benet 

Lord  Cahir 

John  White  fitz  Benet 

Thomas    White    fitz 
Mathew 


History  of  clonmel. 


261 


Holdings, 
thacht  house     ... 
two  houses  slated 
house  slated 


BOATE  STREETE. 
Present  Possessors. 
James  Cooke 
Capt.  ffolie 
Thomas  Lee 


castle  and  house  slated        Henry  Wainwright 


Late  Possessors, 

William  Lincolne 

John  White  fitz  Benet 

Nicholas  White  fitz  Henry 

(Nicholas  White  fitz  and 
I     John  White  fitz  Benet 


SHEELANE  Streete. 


waste,  thatcht  cabins     ... 

John  Davys 

...     Nicholas  White 

thatcht  cabin  and  garden 

John  Sheerman 

...    Nicholas  White 

thatcht  house  and  garden 

Walter  ff ryers 

fEdmond  Bray  and 
•"  I     Patrick  Neuraghan 

thatcht  cabin    ... 

John  Jones 

...     Edmund  Bray 

house  slated     ... 

Mr.  Derby 

...    James  Wall 

garden 

Mr.  Derby 

...     Edmund  Bray 

house  slated     ... 

Mr.  Derby 

...     Thomas    White    fitz 
Richard 

house  slated     ... 

Thomas  Salter 

Thomas   White    and 
"1     James  Wall 

house  slated      ... 

John  Hayward 

. . .     George  Conway 

thatcht  house    ... 

Hugh  MuUady 

John  White  fitz  Benet 
"*  I     and  Lord  Cahir 

waste 

Edmund  Batty 

. . .     William  Ly nach 

kiln 

Edward  Batty 

Ffort. 

...     Edmund  Bray 

waste  ... 

Captain  Smyth 

. . .    John  White  fitz  Benet 

house  slated 

Captain  Smyth 

...    James  ffagan 

waste 

Captain  Smyth 

...     James  ffagan 

waste 

Captain  Smyth 

...     Patrick  Walsh 

house  slated     ... 

Captain  Smyth 

...    Thomas  White 

waste 

Captain  Smyth 

...     Nicholas   and   Thomas 
White 

house  slated     ... 

Captain  Smyth 

...     James  ffagan 

waste 

Captain  Smyth 

...     John  White  fitz  Benet 

waste 

Captain  Smyth 

...     Thomas    White    fitz 
Richard 

house  slated     ... 

Captain  Smyth 

...     James  Mulrony 

garden 

Captain  Smyth 

^b% 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Holdings. 
little  mill  and  house 
tuck  mill 
corn  mill 

hole  mill  alias  millenfoyle 
ffahen  mill  and  house    ... 
Streaches  Island 
thatcht  cabin    ... 
cabin 
cabin 
cabin 
cabin 
waste 


Bridge. 

Present  Possessors. 
Robert  Lovelace 
Robert  Lovelace 


John  Staper 
Captain  Smyth 
James  Bryan 
Widow  Bath 
Daniel  Haley 
Thomas  Duggan 
Michael  Coole 


Late  Possessors, 


Lord  Cahir 


Also  all  such  benefitt  and  advantage  of  Commonadge  in  the  Commons 
of  the  said  town  of  Clonmel  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  severall  houses  afore- 
said had  therein  on  the  three  and  twentieth  day  of  October  which  was  in  the 
yeare  of  Our  Lord  one  thousand,  six  hundred  forty  and  one,  other  then  what 
is  set  out  to  the  adventurers  and  soldiers,  and  their  heires  and  assigns 
possessed  on  the  seventh  day  of  May  which  was  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  one 
thousand  six  hundred  fifty  and  nine. 


Ohaptor   XIII. 


ST.  MARTS  CHURCH. 

CHE  history  of  St.  Mary's  begins  with  that  of  the  town  itself.  The 
canonical  dedication  was  the  "Church  of  the  Assumption  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,"  but  the  popular  appellation  was  "  Our  Ladye 
of  Clonmell."  Inspired  with  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  the 
Anglo-Normans  erected  in  Clonmel  as  elsewhere  a  shrine  in  her  honour  fo). 
Of  the  original  fabric  not  a  vestige  is  now  existing.  Fortunately,  however, 
when  in  1857  ^^e  present  structure  was  being  put  up,  skilled  antiquarians 
recorded  the  discoveries  made.  A  few  feet  below  the  floor  of  the  present 
church  the  entire  area  appeared  to  be  paved  with  old  monuments.  Fragments 
of  ancient  "Edwardian  cross-slabs,  some  of  them  with  portions  of  inscriptions, 
had  been  used  in  the  foundations  of  the  piers  of  the  work  lately  demolished. 
This  fact  combined  with  the  discovery  of  many  fragments  of  early  English 
sculpture,  shows  that  the  perpendicular  church  which  came  down  to  our  day, 
was  rebuilt  on  the  site  and  with  the  materials  of  an  earlier  church.  What 
was  more  curious  still  was  the  discovery,  beneath  the  foundation  of  one  of 
the  piers,  of  a  skeleton  buried  with  the  head  to  the  east,  a  wooden  cross  on 
the  breast,  and  very  perfect  leathern  buskins  on  the  feet  ornamented  with 
rosettes  "  fp). 

The  early  English  church  whose  remains  were  thus  discovered,  belonged, 
to  the  period  of  Richard  de  Burgh,  and  probably  therefore,  was  erected  by 
the  great  justiciar  pari  passu  with  Athassel.  The  general  plan  was  not 
unlike  that  priory  church,  and  the  dimensions  were  almost  certainly  those  of 


fo)  Compare  the  present  Notre  Dame  de  Rouen,  Notre  Dame  de  Paris. 
(p)  Kilkenny  Arclutohgicul  Journal,  1856-7,  p.  360. 


264  History  of  Clonmel. 

the  church  subsequently  built  in  the  fifteenth  century.    It  had  a  nave  and 

aisles,  a  long  choir,  and  possibly  transepts  iq).    The  fate  of  this  fine  old 

church  we  gather  from  the  preamble  of  a  grant  to  the  citizens  by  James  Earl 

of  Ormond,  in  1385.    Irish  enemies  and  English  rebels  had  so  harassed  the 

people  by  unjust  imposts  that — 

By  reason  of  them  the  citizens  of  CJonmel  have  been  unable  to  repair  the  bridge, 
towers  and  fortifications  thereof,  and  to  maintain  divine  service  in  the  accustomed 
manner  in  their  parish  church,  so  that  the  said  town  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  unless  speedy  redress  is  granted. 

In  the  event  the  graceful  arcade,  the  clustered  column,  the  high-pitched 
roof  disappeared,  and  a  structure  esthetically  inferior,  half  church,  half 
fortress,  was  raised  on  the  old  foundations.  Yet  this  late  fourteenth-century 
church,  which  came  down  to  our  own  days,  was  not  without  a  quaint 
picturesqueness  of  its  own.  If  it  lacked  the  dignity  of  height,  yet  the  long 
roof  line  broken  by  stepped  battlements,  was  some  compensation.  Interiorly 
too  the  square  piers  and  plain  arches,  destitute  even  of  a  chamfer,  bespoke 
quiet  strength,  and  afforded  fine  masses  of  shadow.  But  its  redeeming  feature 
was  the  pair  of  noble  windows  in  the  chancel  and  west  front.  Not  even  the 
"  restoration  "  craze  of  1805  and  1857  could  put  these  away.  They  are  there 
still,  almost  the  sole  memorials  of  the  pre-Reformation  church. 

The  tracery  of  the  two  windows  is  in  motive  and  execution  similar  to  the 
contemporary  work  in  Holy  Cross  and  Kilcooly.  The  west  window  containing 
what  is  known  as  "  net  tracery,"  is,  except  in  its  smaller  size,  identical  with 
the  chancel  window  of  Holy  Cross.  The  great  five-light  east  window  is  one 
of  the  best  examples  of  a  phase  of  Gothic  which  had  more  kinship  with 
France  than  with  England.  The  exact  counterpart  may  be  seen  in  the  ruined 
Dominican  abbey  at  Cashel,  and  details  in  the  chapels  of  Holy  Cross.  The 
flowing  lines  with  their  many  cusps  are  strongly  suggestive  of  early  flam- 
boyant, and  altogether  removed  from  the  perpendicular  Gothic  then  being 
developed  in  England  (r). 

Scarcely  less  deplorable  than  the  loss  of  the  old  church,  was  the 
destruction  of  the  ancient  monuments.  The  burgher  families  for  generations 
were  buried  beneath  the  shadow  of  St.  Mary's,  or  within  the  building  itself. 

(q)  The  present  tower  would  seem  to  occupy  the  site  of  a  south  transept.  The  plan  of  St.  Mary's 
was  the  gridiron  one  (the  long  choir  forming  the  handle)  usually  followed  by  the  early  settlers. 
Some  examples  may  be  seen  in  the  neighbouring  county  at  Thomastown  and  Gowran. 

(r)  The  arms  quartered  in  the  spandrils  of  the  sedilia  of  Holy  Cross  afford  a  clue  to  the  date  — 
closing  years  of  the  fourteenth  century — which  corresponds  with  the  date  above  given  for  the  re- 
building of  Clonmel  church.  In  Hall's  Ireland  is  a  small  woodcut  which  shows  the  battlemented 
roof  previous  to  the  "  restoration  "  of  1857.  The  writer  obtained  many  particulars  of  the  old  church 
from  the  late  Dr.  Hemphill  who,  though  not  an  architectural  expert,  had  sympathetically  and 
accurately  noted  them. 


History  of  Clonmel,  265 

Not  a  few  notable  ecclesiastics,  also,  and  barons  of  historic  name  found  their 
last  resting  place  there.  But  the  memorials  which  the  church  bore  of  them 
have  nearly  all  disappeared.  In  the  south  aisle  stood  an  altar  dedicated  to 
St.  Michael  the  Archangel,  the  aisle  itself  being  the  chapel  or  chantry  of  the 
White  family.  There  they  prayed  in  life,  and  at  their  death  their  bodies 
rested  beneath  its  pavement  Henry  White,  "burgess  of  the  towne  of 
Clonemell,"  made  his  will  in  1577.  "  ffirst  I  comend  my  soule  to  God  almyghty 
through  the  merits  of  Christes  passion  and  the  intercession  of  his  blessed 
Mother,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  the  holy  company  of  heaven,  and  my  boddie 
to  be  buryed  in  the  sepulture  of  mine  auncestors  within  the  parish  church  of 
ClonemeirV^A  Henry  White  fitz  Thomas  in  1614  commends  his  soul  to 
"  thalmyghtie  God,  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  the  hole  [whole]  company 
of  heaven,  my  bodye  to  be  buryed  in  myne  ancestors  buriall  within  Saint 
Michaell's  Chappell  in  the  parish  church  of  Clonmell  aforesaid  "  (t),  James 
White  fitz  Robert  in  1622  commends  "  my  soule  to  Almightie  God  my  maker 
and  redeemer,  and  my  body  to  be  buryed  in  the  sepulture  of  my  ancestors 
within  the  parish  church  of  Clonmell "  (u).  This  James  was,  it  seems,  the 
last  buried  within  the  ancestral  "  sepulture."  Nineteen  years  before,  on  the 
death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Catholic  service  had  been  performed  in  the  church, 
and  Father  James  White,  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Waterford,  had  offered  Mass 
there.  But  in  the  interval  Protestantism  had  become  firmly  established.  St. 
Mary's  had  passed  irrevocably  from  the  Catholics,  and  the  Whites  would  not 
commit  their  bodies  to  desecrated  soil.  Accordingly  on  the  death  of  Nicholas, 
the  head  of  the  family,  in  1622,  his  widow  began  the  erection  of  a  mortuary 
chapel  immediately  adjoining  the  south  aisle,  the  old  place  of  interment 
This  appears  to  have  been  completed  lOth  May,  1623,  and  on  23rd  December 
following,  the  body  was-  exhumed  and  re-interred  in  the  new  chapel.  A 
manuscript  of  1813  in  the  Public  Record  Office,  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  White  Chapel. 

In  the  summer  of  1805  the  chapel  belonging  to  the  White  family  (the  ancient 
proprietors  of  Clonmel)  which  joined  the  south-west  comer  [of  the  church],  was  thrown 
down.  This  chapel  was  built  upon  vaults,  and  against  its  southern  wall  inside  was 
erected  the  family  tomb  and  monument  in  form  of  a  Roman  Catholic  Altar,  at  which, 
it  is  said,  their  chaplain  was  accustomed  to  celebrate  Mass.  About  ten  feet  from  the 
ground  and  over  the  tomb,  was  the  arms  of  the  Whites— an  escutcheon  bearing  three 
roses  and  the  following  distich, 

Et  Trias  est  Numero  et  natura  est  una  colorum 
En  ubi  PRiEsiDiuM  Vrrus  et  arma  locat. 


(s)  Prerogative  Wills,  P.R.O. 
(t)  Ibid. 
(u)  Ibid. 


266  History  of  Clonmel. 

Below,this  were  ornaments  of  stone  work  like  a  canopy,  on  small  marble  pillars  and 
in  the  centre  a  long  Latin  inscription.  Nothing  remains  now  of  this  chapel  but  the 
tomb  and  vaults  beneath,  the  stones  bearing  these  inscriptions  together  with  several 
other  of  its  ornaments  having  being  conveyed  to  a  place  called  Patrick's  Well  about  a 
mile  to  the  west  of  Clonmel  to  mend  an  old  Roman  Catholic  Church  for  several  years 
in  ruins  in  a  most  romantic  valley  on  the  estate  of  Simmons  Sparrow  Esq.  (v). 

To  a  recent  writer  we  owe  a  more  graceful  if  less  detailed  description. 

At  the  south-west  comer  of  the  present  church  of  St.  Mary,  a  little  ecclesiastical 
edifice,  in  correct  architectural  style,  stood  for  centuries,  and  was  known  as  the  private 
chapel  of  the  White  family.  It  cannot  be  more  than  seventy  or  eighty  years  since  its 
removal,  after  it  had  become  unroofed,  and  had  fallen  into  complete  decay.  The 
appearance  it  presented  in  its  ruined  stage,  was  described  to  us  not  long  since  by  one 
who  remembered  to  have  looked  when  a  boy  through  its  broken  windows.  He  saw  the 
long  grass  and  rank  vegetation  that  choked  up  the  interior,  hiding  partly  from  view  the 
richly  sculptured«tombs  and  tablets  which,  in  silent  language,  seemed  to  tell  the  old, 
old  story — "Sic  transit  gloria  mundi"!  Some  of  these  monuments  were  carried  ofT  to 
enrich  other  buildings,  while  the  western  window  in  the  present  porch  of  St.  Mary's, 
once  lighted  the  ancient  chapel  of  the  Whites  (w). 

From  the  foregoing  accounts,  and  the  fragments  existing  at  St.  Patrick's 
Well,  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  reconstructing  the  mortuary  chapel  with  its 
altar-tomb.  The  chapel  apparently  ran  north  and  south ;  its  southern  gable 
being  "  blind,"  light  was  obtained  from  triple  Tudor  windows  in  the  sides.  The 
hood-moulding  of  these  windows  terminated  in  fleur-de-lys  and  the  character- 
istic rose  of  the  Whites.  The  altar,  standing  against  the  southern  gable, 
consisted  of  a  table  or  slab  which  was  supported  in  front  by  four 
cylindrical  columns  on  shallow  bases  and  bearing  three  semi-circular  arches. 
Forming  the  reredos  was  the  large  inscribed  stone  with  scrolls  at  the  sides. 
This  supported  a  slab  of  similar  size  divided  into  three  panels  on  which  are  cut 
in  low  relief,  the  Virgin  and  Child,  the  Crucifixion  and  the  Ascension  respec- 
tively. Crowning  the  whole  was  the  deep  sunk  panel  containing  the  family 
arms  and  motto  before  described.  On  each  side  of  the  panel  were  placed 
the  classic  finials  which  at  present  rest  on  the  altar  table.  One  third  of  the 
inscribed  slab  is  occupied  by  the  sacred  monogram  in  large  interlaced  text. 
In  the  centre  of  this  is  reproduced  in  minute  form  the  same  monogram.    It 


(v)  Here  follows  a  description  of  the  well.  "  There  is  a  very  excellent  mineral  spring  and  a 
well  which  is  celebrated  for  curing  sore  lips,  sore  eyes,  the  scrofula  and  several  other  chronic 
diseases  either  by  drinking  or  washing  in  the  stream  that  issues  from  it.  This  the  Roman  Catholics 
say  was  made  by  St.  Patrick  on  his  visit  to  the  sacred  spot  and  [they]  attribute  the  healing  qualities 
of  these  impregnated  waters  to  the  power  and  sanctity  of  its  patron.  Thousands  flock  here  in 
summer  time  from  all  places  around  to  pilgrimage  in  the  stream  with  bare  legs  in  order  to  wash 
away  their  sins  and  exempt  them  from  the  burning  flames  of  purgatory."— Monk  Mason  Survey  of 
Ireland.     Parish  of  St.  Mary's,  Clonmel. 

(w)  Mr.  William  Clarke  in  Clonmel  Chronicle^  October,  1877. 


HISTORY   OF  CLONMEL.  267 

would  appear  that  this  is  a  sort  of  heraldic  way  of  symbolising  the  widow 
and  heir  as  founders.  The  inscription  which  occupies  the  remaining  two 
thirds  of  the  stone  is  as  follows : — 

Blc  3acct  D*  nicolaus  WDlte 
Jlrtitlocrt  olr  Dictate  constantla  mansiietiidliie 
et  ititcoiitate  monitn  contplcuus  et  amabllls 
obllt  30  die  Jliiottsti  Ho.  DiiL  1622  ejus  corpus 
ex  atitecettonitn  capeila  aiiae  boreaietit  lacelit 
Diijtts  partem  retpldt  lit  doc  momimetitiitit 
ZZ  die  Decetnbrls  Ho.  Dtii«  1623  Cransiatiitit  est 

cujtts  anlmae  propitletiir  Dens* 

Saceiiutit  Doc  s.  notnltil  3esu  ejusaue  oetitrici  B*  marlae  Viralni 
dicatutn  constnixenint  in  perpetiiatn  dicti  nicolai  mem- 
orlatn  BarDara  WDlte  uxor  ejus  vidua  et  Benrlcus 
WDlte  niius  ejus  et  Baeres. 

The  White  arms  are  carved  in  bold  relief — a  chevron  engrailed  between 

three  roses,  two  and  one.    Round  the  shield  is  stiff  conventional  foliage,  the 

tendrils  pendant  at  the  sides  being  wound  into  double  true-lovers  knots. 

The  crest  is  a  dexter  arm  in  armour,  couped  at  the  shoulder,  grasping  a 

branch  with  three  roses.    Underneath  in  Roman  letters  is  the  motto  which, 

it  may  be  observed,  is  divisible  into  two  verses,  a  hexameter  and  a  pentameter. 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  motto  and  inscription : — 

[Motto,] 

Trinity  in  number.    Unity  in  colour. 
Herein  White  puts  his  faith  and  his  arms. 

[Inscription.] 

Here  lies  Mr.  Nicholas  White,  Esquire, 

A  man  known  and  beloved 

For  his  piety,  staunchness,  refinement  and  excellence  of  character ; 

He  died  30***  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1622. 

His  body,  on  the  22"**  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  1623, 

Was  brought  to  this  monument 

From  the  chantry  of  his  ancestors  which  faces  the  north  side  of  this  chapel. 

May  God  have  mercy  on  his  soul. 

Barbara  White,  his  widow,  and  Henry  White,  his  son  and  heir. 
Have  built  this  chapel  as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the  said  Nicholas, 
And  dedicated  it  to  the  holy  name  of  Jesus  and  of  His  Mother 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

On  the  left  of  the  reconstructed  altar  at  St.  Patrick's  Well  is  a  panel  with 
the  White  arms,  beneath  which  is  a  skull  and  cross  bones  and  the  motto 
"  Memento  Mori  "  (Remember  Death).  Carved  on  the  edge  is  *'  lO  Mali  1623," 
the  probable  date  of  the  completion  of  the  chapel. 


268  History  of  Clonmel. 

Within  the  south  aisle  of  St.  Mary's,  the  ancient  "  sepulture  "  of  the 
Whites,  a  tomb  of  the  family,  may  still  be  seen.  It  now  forms  part  of  the 
floor,  but  doubtless  was  once  inserted  in  the  side  wall.  Its  presence  there  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  it  covered  the  remains  of  a  member  of  the  family  interred 
when  the  Catholics  again  had  possession  of  the  old  church,  1641-50.  The 
flag  measures  about  six  by  three  and  a  half  feet.  It  has  the  usual  floriated 
cross,  and  ranged  along  each  side  are  rudely  carved  symbols  of  the  Passion, 
the  scourges,  pillar,  spear,  ladder,  seamless  robe,  etc.  There  are  two 
escutcheons — one  charged  with  the  White  arms  and  the  initials  I.W. ;  the 
other  shows  a  lion  passant  gardant  on  a  chief  indented — initials  T.C.  The 
inscription  which  is  carried  round  the  edge  reads  : — 

JoDannet  oeimo  jacet  $tiD  Doc  ntarmore  Vitus 
CDaraaue  JoDannac  conjuolt  ot$a  piae 
Bit  major  WoittvortD  primutn  proreae  tccundutn 
Cafboiici  tiibieiitc  rocderc  martit 
Obiit  26  JIttOUSti  1643* 

[Translation.] 

John  White  lies  beneath  this  icy  marble, 

As  also  the  bones  of  his  beloved  wife  Johanna, 

He  was  Mayor  twice. 
First,  during  the  viceroyalty  of  Wentworth. 
Second,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Catholic  confederate  war. 

He  died  26  August  1643  fx). 

Besides  the  Whites,  most  of  the  other  Clonmel  families  had  their  burial 
places  within  the  church.  Among  these  were  Walls,  Barons,  Leynachs, 
Daniels,  Stritches  and  Brennocks.  Patrick  Wall  fitz  Piers  in  1641  wills  "  my 
boddy  to  be  buried  in  my  auncestors  monument  within  the  parish  church  of 
Clonmell."  Richard  Leynaghe  in  1627,  "  my  boddye  to  be  hurried  in  our 
Laddye  Churche  in  Clomell."  James  Brennock  in  1676,  "my  body  to  be 
buried  in  the  Parish  church  of  Clonmell  in  my  auncestors  grave  according 
the  rites  of  the  holly  church."  A  few  of  their  inscribed  tombs  are  still 
existing.  One  of  the  oldest  is  that  of  the  O'Donnells,  or  Daniells,  as  they 
came  to  be  afterwards  styled. 

I)ic  jacet  Cmntiut  O'Donei  qui  obiit  4  martii  1583 
et  ejus  uxor  eicna  WDite  auae  obiit  24  Jlprili  1591 
eonitit  niii  Dune  tutmilutn  fieri  reeenitit  n""  D'  1592 
Quibus  sit  propititts  Omnipotent  jinteiil 

(x)  The  last  member  of  the  White  family  buried  in  the  mortuary  chapel  was  probably  Ellen 
Comerford  nee  White,  who  in  her  will  dated  23rd  August,  1748,  states  '*  I  desire  to  be  beryed  in  ye 
Whites  Chapell.    If  no  roume  there,  I  leave  foretteen  pounds  for  a  toume  stone." 


HISTORY   OF   CLONMEL.  269 

[Translation,] 

Here  lies  Terence  O'Donel  who  died  4  March  1583 
And  his  wife  Ellen  White  who  died  24  April  1591 
Their  children  had  this  monument  erected  A.D.  1592 

May  the  Almighty  be  merciful  to  them.    Amen. 

This  tomb  is  a  huge  limestone  flag  about  six  feet  by  four.  The  usual 
cross  fleury  fills  the  centre,  on  either  side  of  which  are  blank  escutcheons. 
Similar  in  size  and  character  is  the  Barron  tomb  which  lies  close  to  it. 

mc  jacet  eaimaus  Barron 

QUI  obilt  Z2  martll  H^  Dni  1601. 
€t  Bellina  WDitc  uxor  ejus  aul  Dune  tiimuiutn  fieri  recent 

Ho  Dni  1605  et  obilt  H^  Dni  1610 

Quonitn  animabtts  propttietur  Deut. 

[Translation,] 

Here  lies  Geoffry  Barron 

Who  died  22  March  A.D.  l6oi 

And  Beale  White  his  wife  who  had  this  tomb  erected 

A.D.  l6os  and  who  died  l6io 

On  whose  souls  may  God  have  mercy. 

The  arms  of  the  husband  and  wife  are  placed  on  each  side  of  the 
inscribed  cross.  Those  of  the  former  are  two  lions  passant.  They  point, 
therefore,  to  an  origin  of  the  Barrons  different  to  that  set  down  in  the  family 
genealogy,  viz.,  that  they  are  a  branch  of  the  Fitzgeralds. 

In  the  corner  of  the  south  aisle  is  the  fine  tomb  of  the  Stritches  : — 

l)ic  jacet  Joannes  StritcDe  buroensis  Dujus  oppiai 

Qui  obiit  25  maii  1622. 

€t  margareta  Daniel  alias  sntitDe  uxor  ejus 

Quae  DOC  monumentunt  superstes 

In  memoriant  aicfi  Joannit  neri  recit  Ho  Dm  1^25 

Quae  obiit 
Quorum  anintabus  propitiefur  Deut* 

[Translation.] 

Here  lies  John  Stritche,  a  burgess  of  this  town, 

Who  died  25  May  1622. 

And  Margaret  Daniel  alias  Smithe,  his  wife,  who  surviving  him 

Had  this  monument  erected  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  1625, 

In  memory  of  the  said  John. 

She  died 

May  God  have  mercy  on  their  souls. 

This  tomb  which  is  of  Kilkenny  marble,  is  in  excellent  preservation ;  the 
date  of  the  wife's  death  was  never  inserted. 


270  History  of  Clonmel.  - 

Besides  these  there  are  in  different  parts  of  the  church  and  cemetery, 
about  ten  coffin  slabs  dating  from  the  thirteenth  century  onward.  With  the 
exception  of  a  fifteenth  century  tomb,  none  of  them  appear  to  have  borne 
inscriptions.  Opposite  the  south  door  is  a  square  flag  with  large  Roman 
letters  rudely  carved  "  N.  L.  ET  SOCII  VII."  the  period  and  meaning  of  which 
must  be  left  to  conjecture.  These  are  all  the  sepulchral  remains  of  old 
St.  Mary's.  But  that  they  are  so  few,  is  less  a  matter  for  surprise  than  that 
they  are  so  many.    The  following  extract  from  the  Vestry  Book  is  instructive. 

I779f  5  April.  Ordered  that  the  tombstones  which  were  surreptiously  taken  out  of 
the  Churchyard  of  this  parish,  be  sold  by  the  Churchwardens  and  the  money  arising 
therefrom  to  be  paid  to  the  widow  Gearin,  after  first  paying  the  expense  of  removing 
and  recovering  the  said  stones,  no  owners  appearing  for  the  same. 

The  late  fourteenth  century  church  existed  in  its  integrity  almost  to  our 
own  day.  Its  dimensions  were,  nave  96,  choir  50  feet,  total  length  146  feet 
internally.  The  nave  was  23  feet  wide,  with  aisles  9  feet  each,  piers  2  feet 
9  inches,  giving  a  total  width  in  the  clear  46  feet  6  inches.  The  north  aisle 
was  103  feet  long  and  contained  five  bays.  There  were  four  bays  in  the  south 
aisle,  the  fifth  space  being  occupied  by  the  tower.  The  church  presented 
some  peculiarities  worthy  of  note.  The  first  was  the  relative  narrowness  of 
the  aisles,  their  proportion  to  the  nave  being  as  9  to  23.  This  is  also 
observable,  though  to  a  lesser  extent,  in  Athassell.  A  more  striking 
peculiarity  however,  was  the  position  of  the  tower.  Thoug^l  during  the 
Romanesque  period,  the  normal  place  for  the  tower  or  towers;  was  by  the 
side  of  the  choir  at  its  junction  with  the  nave,  yet  this  arrangement  was 
rarely  if  ever  copied  by  the  Gothic  builders.  The  explanation  therefore, 
seems  to  be  that  the  fourteenth  century  tower  was  raised  on  the  site  and 
partly  on  the  walls  of  a  south  transept  of  the  earlier  church.  The  great 
dimensions  of  the  basement  of  the  tower,  (27  feet,  batter  included)  point  to 
the  same  conclusion. 

In  1805  the  ancient  structure  underwent  several  important  changes.  The 
east  gable  of  the  choir  which  originally  was  in  a  line  with  the  end  wall  of 
the  old  vicar's  house  (the  present  vestry),  was  set  back  to  its  present  position, 
thus  shortening  the  choir  by  twenty-nine  feeify).  A  new  porch  was 
constructed  at  the  west  end,  in  great  part  out  of  the  materials  of  the  White 
mortuary  chapel.  The  top  storey  of  the  tower  was  taken  off  and  the  present 
octangular  pile  raised  on  it.    Finally  the  whole  fabric  was  elegantly  covered 


fy)  The  original  intention  of  the  Vestry  authorities  appears  to  have  been  merely  the  repair  of 
the  old  chancel.  "  1805  November  22.  Chancel  to  be  repaired  to  correspond  with  the  other  building, 
to  erect  battlements  thereon  and  put  two  large  windows  therein  instead  of  the  side  lights  and  open 
the  lower  part  of  the  end  window."  But  they  probably  employed  an  architect  who  wanted  his 
percentage. 


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History  of  Clonmel.  271 

with  a  coat  of  roughcast  and  limewash^e/  Internally  the  most  notable 
change  was  the  removal  of  the  gallery  belonging  to  the  "  patron  "  of  the  town, 
which  was  placed  on  the  north  side  of  the  church  (aa).  The  Corporation 
gallery  which  occupied  the  corresponding  position  on  the  south  side,  was 
also  removed.  But  fortunately  the  most  valuable  memorials  of  the  post- 
Reformation  church — the  bells,  were  spared.  These  were  four  in  number  and 
were  thus  inscribed : — 

No.  I.  Ex  dono  RDI  Chr.  Patr.  DD.  HUG.  Gower  Quond.  de  Waterfd :  et 
Lism.  Ep.    Tobias  Covey  fudit  1697. 

[Translation,— The  gift  of  the  Reverend  Father  in  Christ,  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  Hugh  Gower,  sometime  Bishop  of  Waterf9rd  and  Lismore.  Tobias 
Covey,  founder  1697.] 

No.  2.  The  gift  of  S'  JOHN  MEADE,  S""  THOMAS  OSBORNE,  JO.  PERRY, 

Richard  Moore,  Charles  Alcocke,  Esquires.    T.  C.  Fudit  1697. 

No.  3.  Thos.  Batty,  Mayr.,  Thomas  Moakes,  Hercules  Beere 
Baylives.    T.  C.  1697  Clonmel. 

No.  4.  Ex  dono  Rd.  Doct  D.  SAMUEL  Ladyman  Quond.  de  Clonm.  Vic. 
Tobias  Covey  Fudit  1697  Clonmel. 

[Translation, — The  gift  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ladyman  Doctor  of  Divinity, 
sometime  Vicar  of  Clonmel.    Tobias  Covey,  Founder  1697.    Clonmel.]  (bb). 

In  1857  the  church  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt  from  designs  by  Mr. 
Welland,  architect  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners.  The  only  parts  of 
the  old  work  surviving  in  the  present  building  are  the  east  and  west  windows, 
the  chancel  arch,  the  lower  storey  of  the  tower,  the  walls  of  the  aisles  and  the 
three-light  window  of  the  porch,  which  once  belonged  to  the  White  mortuary 
chapel  (cc). 

As  Clonmel  was  a  De  Burgh  foundation,  its  parish  church  was  associated 
from  the  earliest  period  with  the  great  Augustinian  priory  built  by  that 
family  at  Athassel. 

William  de  Burc  to  all  men  to  whom  the  present  deed  comes,  greeting. 
Be  it  known  that  I  have  granted,  and  by  this  present  charter  confirmed  to  God  and 
Saint  Edmund,  to  the  prior  and  community  of  Athissel,  all  tithes  and  ecclesiastical 


(z)  Pigott's  Directory  of  Clonmel  1821  records  "the  interior  boasts  an  elegant  simplicity  and 
possesses  an  excellent  organ,  the  exterior  corresponds  with  the  rest  of  the  town  in  appearance,  being 
roughcast  and  white  washed." 

(aa)  This  with  the  rest  of  the  patronage  was  transferred  by  Lord  Mountcashel  to  John  Bagwell 
6th  June  1801. 

(hb)  Monk  Mason  Survey,  P.R.O.,  describing  St.  Mary's  tower  states  "  At  present  (1813)  there 
are  five  very  large  bells  in  it,  containing  a  very  considerable  quantity  of  silver,  cast  more  than  half 
a  century  ago  at  the  expense  of  the  Corporation,  etc.,  these  bells  are  at  present  in  very  bad  order." 

(cc)  The  basin  of  the  ancient  font  of  St.  Mary's  is  now  at  the  Franciscan  House.  It  is  of  local 
sandstone,  and  its  style  Romanesque.  Like  most  of  the  early  13th  century  fonts,  it  is  square  in  shape 
with  engaged  pillars  at  the  corners.  Its  dimensions  are,  sides  24^  inches,  depth  15  inches,  diameter 
of  cup  2T  inches,  depth  9  inches. 


272  History  of  Clonmel. 

benefices  of  Kylfiecle  and  their  appurtenances;  also  all  those  of  Lysrotherath 
[Lisronagh],  as  well  as  those  of  Clonmel  and  Kilsheelan ;  the  whole  land  which  I  have 
given  to  Adam  de  Carrew,  the  whole  land  held  by  Adam  de  Penbrok,  Kilmore  and 
Lisbryn  with  all  their  belongings.  Wherefore  I  wish  and  firmly  enjoin  that  the  said 
Canons  shall  hold  the  foresaid  lands  and  all  other  benefices  well  and  peacefully,  freely 
and  entirely  as  in  "  free,  perpetual,  pure  alms,"  in  everything  which  relates  to  tithes  or 
the  diurch,  Witness  Theobald  Badd  of  Haviter,  Baldwin  Black,  Walter  Archdeacon, 
William  Fitz  Richard  and  many  others  (dd). 

It  would  appear,  however,  that  at  the  time  when  the  De  Burghs  exchanged 
to  Ulster,  and  Clonmel  was  in  the  hands  of  the  king,  the  abbot  of  Dunbrody 
set  up  a  claim  to  these  benefices,  alleging  probably  a  grant  prior  to  the 
De  Burgh  settlement  in  Tipperary. 

Brother  Hubert,  Prior  of  the  House  of  St.  Edmund  of  Athissell  and  Community, 
to  all  the  faithful  in  Christ  who  shall  see  or  hear  these  letters  read,  greeting  for  ever  in 
the  Lord. 

We  make  known  to  you  all,  that  whereas  for  a  long  time  a  law  suit  has  been  carried 
on  between  us  and  the  Abbot  and  Brethren  of  the  Port  or  St.  Mary  [Dunbrody]  of  the 
Cistercian  Order  in  the  diocese  of  Ferns,  concerning  the  churches  and  benefices  of 
Clonmel,  Lysrotheran  and  Kylmoryssin  with  their  appurtenances;  which  suit  was 
pleaded  before  the  Venerable  Nicholas,  then  archdeacon  of  Ferns,  principal  judge 
delegated  by  the  Pope,  with  his  sub-delegates,  on  the  one  part  and  before  Lord  Alan 
[de  la  Zouche,  Chief  Judiciary  1255-9]  likewise,  on  the  other  part  Wherefore  the  suit 
was  settled  between  us  on  these  conditions ;  that  we  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  to  avoid 
daily  labour  and  expense,  covenant  to  pay  for  ourselves  and  successors,  to  the  said 
Abbot  and  Brethren  and  their  successors  sixty  and  eight  shillings  yearly  of  good  money 
out  of  our  chamber,  which  payment  is  to  be  made  in  their  House  by  us  or  our 
messangers,  one  moiety  at  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  next  to  come,  the  other 
moiety  at  the  Chains  of  St.  Peter  beginning  in  the  year  twelve  hundred  and  fifty 
six  (ee). 

The  prior  of  Athassel  was  therefore  rector  or  parish  priest  of  the  town, 
the  Augustinian  canon  who  actually  discharged  the  duties  of  the  parish  being 
*•  Vicar  of  Clonmel."  This  arrangement  continued  down  to  the  Reformation. 
Whether  there  were  other  priests  attached  to  St  Mary's  on  chantries  or  mass 
foundations  does  not  appear.  The  small  clergy  house  (now  the  vestry),  built 
in  the  fifteenth  century  at  the  north-east  angle  of  the  church,  would  indicate 
that  the  vicar  himself  was  equal  to  all  the  requirements  of  the  parish.  Yet 
his  stipend  was  a  very  modest  one  ;  in  the  Taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  1 306;  it 
is  set  down  at  £9  6s.  yearly.  The  other  revenue  of  the  parish,  being  two-thirds 
of  the  whole,  was  transmitted  to  the  prior  of  Athassel.  An  inquisition  held 
"on  the  next  Wednesday  after  the  feast  of  St.  Patrick  "  5  Edward  VL  (1551), 
into  the  possessions  of  Athassel,  found  that  the  "rectory  of  Clonmel  was 
worth    £18    yearly,    that   Nicholas    (Comyn)  Bishop  of  Lismore  and  his 

(dd)  This,  which  is  found  in  a  Plea  Roll  28  Ed.  I.  (1300),  is  probably  an  exemplification  of  an 
earlier  grant.  The  Burkes  had  ceased  all  connection  with  Clonmel  from  about  1250,  and  the 
"  William  de  Burc  "  is  William  fitz  Adelm,  founder  of  Athassel. 

(ee)  MS.T.C.D.,  F.  I.,  16. 


From  Dravoiitfi  by  ^Ji»»  Collins. 


History  of  Clonmel.  273 

predecessors,  in  right  of  said  see,  had  out  of  the  said  rectory  8s.  loj^d.  yearly, 
procuration  fees,  that  the  archdeacon  of  Lismore  in  right  of  said  archdeaconry 
had  4s.  25^d.  yearly,  visitation  fees  "  (ff)'  The  connection  of  Athassel  with 
Clonmel  is  still  traceable  in  the  local  topography  ;  yet  few  realize  that  with 
the  name  "  Prior  Park  "  are  associated  memories  that  go  back  many  centuries 
even  to  the  very  infancy  of  the  town  (gg). 

At  the  Reformation  though  the  possessions  of  Athassel  were  granted  in 
fee  to  Thomas,  Earl  of  Ormond^AAA  yet  that  rapacious  nobleman  did  not 
obtain  complete  control  of  Clonmel  rectory.  The  earliest  lease  was  one  made 
to  Bartholomew  Cusack  for  21  years,  i8th  April,  1551.  Similar  leases  were 
made  to  Ormond,  8th  December,  1570,  28th  August,  1 582,  and  February  nth, 
1596.  On  the  expiry  of  this  last.  King's  Letters  of  25th  January,  1605,  directed 
a  further  lease  for  61  years  to  Viscount  Tullophelim  (ii).  Finally  in  1683 
(4  Nov.  33  Chas.  ILX  the  rectory  was  granted  to  Hugh  Gore  in  trust  for  the  clergy, 
together  with  all  tithes  and  appurtenances.  The  advowson  of  the  vicarage 
seems  to  have  become  vested  in  the  corporation  probably  by  papal  grant. 
A  royal  commission  of  1588  set  down  as  patron  "Corporaco  de  Clonmel "  (jj). 
Some  church  endowments  also  remained  in  possession  of  the  corporation. 

(ff)  Inquisitions,  Tipperary  P.R.O. 

(gg)  Inquisition  taken  in  Clonmel  19  September,  1589,  found  that  Edmund  Butler,  late  Arch- 
bishop of  Cashel,  and  Commendatory  Prior  of  St,  Edmund  the  Martyr  at  Athassel,  before  the 
dissolution  of  the  said  monastery  was  seized  in  right  of  said  priory,  of  one  messuage  and  appurtenances 
in  Clonmel  where  at  present  Beale  White,  Widow,  and  Victor  White  fitz  James  are  living,  which 
messuage  extends  lengthwise  from  the  street  in  the  north  to  the  Suir  in  the  south;  of  four  gardens 
— one  lying  at  Lough  Gate,  east  of  Barior,  two  others  west  of  Lough  Gate  and  Barior,  the  fourth 
extending  from  Walter  Wall's  land  on  the  west  to  the  Royal  Road  on  the  east;  of  a  piece  of  land  in 
Richards  Park  from  the  Royal  Road  on  the  east  to  the  land  of  Henry  White  on  the  west;  of  a  piece 
of  land  called  Priors  Park  extending  from  the  land  of  Henry  White  on  the  north,  to  Richard  White's 
land  on  the  south,  and  from  the  highway  on  the  west  to  the  land  of  Henry  White  on  the  east;  of 
three  acres  lying  west  of  the  Cashel  Road  adjoining  Henry  White's  lands;  of  two  acres  and  a  stang 
in  the  north  part  of  Bwolicke  called  Bwoin;  of  a  stang  alongside  the  Pethard  Road  in  the  east;  all 
which  possessions  the  said  prior  with  the  consent  of  the  community  previous  to  the  dissolution  of 
the  priory  by  deed  under  the  monastic  seal  bearing  date  8  August,  1538,  granted  to  James  White  of 
Clonmel,  merchant,  and  his  assigns  for  the  term  of  one  hundred  years  reserving  a  certain  rent. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  much  of  this  old  church  property  could  now  be  identified. 

(Hh)  Letters  Patent,  Dublin,  16  Sept.,  5  and  6  Philip  and  Mary. 

(ii)  Plants  Edward  VI.  and  Elizabeth.  State  Papers  Jas.  I.  The  following  report  on  the  rectory 
and  vicarage  was  drawn  up  20th  June,  1805,  by  Rev.  Thomas  May,  Incumbent,  and  John  Harvey  and 
Thomas  Gorman,  Churchwardens,  "The  rectory  and  vicarage  of  Clonmel  consists  of  Incumbent 
money  levied  on  the  Houses  in  the  town  agreably  to  the  Act  of  Chas.  II.,  likewise  of  the  Tythes  of 
the  following  articles,  Wheat,  Oats,  Barley,  Potatoes,  Fleses  and  Lamb,  out  of  the  following  Town 
lands  in  said  parish  Gortmalogue,  Ardhavan,  Bawnaud,  last  of  Pontown,  Isoglaimer  all  in  the  county 
of  Tipperary,  Raheens  Shaw,  Croan,  Powlbee,  Kilgeany,  Poulnafenouge,  Glinigal,  Knocklucas, 
Bohernauske,  Glenary,  Gliniros,  Glinilough,  Linerarl,  all  in  the  county  of  Waterford.  To  above 
parish  is  annexed  portion  of  Glebe  ground  bounded  on  the  North  by  corporation  ground,  on  the 
South  by  ground  known  by  Bickets  v.  Walsh,  on  the  West  by  Clonmel,  on  the  East  by  corporation 
ground.  No.  2,  bounded  by  corporation  ground  on  the  North,  on  the  South  by  the  land  of  Clonmel, 
in  the  West  by  the  church,  in  the  East  by  Raheen.  No.  3,  bounded  by  the  Town  wall  on  the  North, 
on  the  South  by  land  called  Mr.  Howard  and  Brennock's  garden,  on  the  West  by  church  Lane,  on 
the  East  by  Johnson's  garden.  No.  4,  on  the  North  by  the  churchyard,  on  the  South  by  Long's 
garden,  on  the  West  by  the  town  wall,  on  the  East  bv  Long's  garden.  No.  3  and  4  in  the  town  of 
Clonmell." 

(ij)  M.S.,  T.C.D.— E.  3,  14. 

T 


274  History  of  Clonmel. 

An  inquisition  held  in  Cashel  in  the  County  of  the  Cross  of  Tipperary  1 1  April 
21  Elizabeth  (1578),  before  John  Crofton,  found  that  Lady  Eleanor  Butler,  relict  of  the 
late  Thomas  Butler,  lord  of  Cahir,  during  her  lifetime,  that  is  to  say  twenty  years  ago, 
was  seized  in  fee  of  a  castle  called  Ballycadam  alias  Adamstown  [Ballymacadam]  and 
of  three  acres  of  land,  great  measure,  in  the  County  of  the  Cross  of  Tipperary  and 
while  so  seized,  granted  the  said  castle  and  lands  to  the  Church  of  Blessed  Mary  of 
Clonmell  and  the  priest  serving  therein,  "  in  pure  and  perpetual  alms  "  contrary  to 
the  Statute  of  Mortmain.  That  for  the  space  of  twenty  years  past,  the  provost  and 
commonalty  of  the  said  town  of  Clonmel  have  received  the  rents  and  profits  but  by 
what  right,  deponents  know  not  (kk). 

The  Catholic  vicars  of  St.  Mary's,  were  accordingly  nominated  by  the 
corporation  until  the  Cromwellian  period.  When  the  corporation  was  no 
longer  Catholic  a  body  of  laymen  belonging  to  the  old  burgher  families,  was 
constituted  the  '*  Confraternity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  of  Clonmel."  This 
body  nominated  the  vicars  down  to  1755,  when  Rev.  William  Egan  was 
appointed  parish  priest. 

PARISH   PRIESTS. 

Sir  Nicholas  Fitz  Henry  ^W  was  born  1446,  and  was  vicar  of 
Clonmel  about  1470  onwards.  He  retired  in  extreme  old  age  and  was  still 
living  in  1526. 

Sir  Piers  White.  At  his  request  on  2nd  July,  1526,  an  enquiry  was  held 
into  the  legitimacy  of  Thomas  Levet,  canon  of  Holy  Trinity,  Dublin.  Levet 
was  a  native  of  Clonmel  and  the  evidence  was  taken  in  St.  Mary's  church 
before  four  priests,  two  clerks  and  a  notary  public  fmmj. 

Sir  Thomas  Clere.     His  name  appears  in  a  State  Paper  1565. 

William  Prendergast.  He  was  at  first,  it  would  appear.  Catholic 
vicar  of  St.  Mary's.  But  during  his  time  the  Protestants  took  possession  of 
the  church  and  he  conformed.  The  royal  visitors  of  1588,  before  whom 
he  appeared,  confirmed  him  in  the  office,  and  also  in  the  Treasurership  of 
Lismore  Cathedral  (nn).  He  lived  to  an  old  age,  and  his  end  we  learn  from 
a  letter  of  Fr.  Hollywood  to  the  general  of  the  Jesuits,  29th  January,  1605. 

(kk)  Inquisitions,  Tipperary  P.R.O.  The  later  history  of  Balljrmacadam  is  interesting.  At  the 
Restoration  the  Corporation  recovered  the  place  with  some  difficulty.  In  1707  the  Corporation 
appears  to  have  undertaken  certain  trusts  under  the  will  of  Dr.  Samuel  Ladyman,  Protestant  vicar, 
and  Ballymacadam  was  conveyed  to  his  representatives,  as  security  for  carrying  out  the  trusts.  Such 
is  the  purport  of  certain  deeds  among  the  Tipperary  Palatine  Records  (P.R.O.)  The  most  important 
is  one  dated  18  April,  1707.  Robert  Foulke  of  Clonmel,  esq.,  and  John  Ladyman  of  Bally  waiter,  gent., 
grant  to  the  Mayor,  etc.,  of  Clonmel,  Ballymacadam,  to  hold  for  9,999  years  and  for  ever  after,  at  a 
rent  of  ;^io  per  annum.  But  if  the  Mayor,  etc.  do  pay  the  sum  of  50s.  on  i  January  and  50s,  on 
I  June  every  year,  to  the  churchwardens  of  Clonmel  parish  (in  accordance  with  provisions  of  Dr. 
Ladyman's  will),  and  do  also  for  the  next  9  years,  pay  to  Mr.  John  Walkington  £$  a  year,  for 
teaching  10  poor  children,  and  at  the  end  of  said  9  years,  for  ever  after  on  29  September,  pay  said 
£S  to  said  churchwardens  for  same  purpose,  that  then  such  payments  shall  be  deemed  suflficient 
payment  of  said  rent  of  ;f  10. 

(II)  "Sir"  was  the  term  applied  before  the  Reformation  to  priests  who  were  not  university 
graduates. — Fuller  Church  History. 

(mm)  Public  Records,  24  Report,  p.  129. 

fnn)  M.S.  E.  1,  14.-T.C.D. 


History  of  Clonmel.  276 

A  priest  named  William  Prendergast  had  lived  about  sixty  years  in  apostacy  with 
a  wife  and  children,  and  held  many  ecclesiastical  benefices.  He  had  been  a  great 
persecutor  of  the  Catholics,  but  towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  held  converse  with  one  of 
our  Fathers  and  was  converted.  Having  done  public  penance  he  received  the  Holy 
Viaticum  and  passed  out  of  life  to  the  great  edification  of  everyone  (oo), 

Richard  Morris.  He  took  the  place  of  Prendergast  on  the  latter 
turning  Protestant.  A  solitary  reference  to  him  is  obtainable  from  Catholic 
sources  (pp).  But  he  can  be  traced  for  more  than  sixteen  years  in  the  reports 
of  spies  and  Government  oflficials  (qq).  The  last  notice  of  him  occurs  in  the 
Observations  of  Sir  John  Davys,  Attorney  General,  Clonmel,  May  4th,  1606. 

My  Lord  President  (Brounker) — whose  zeal  in  matters  of  religion,  tempered  with 
good  moderation,  doth  merit  very  much  consideration—was  desirous  that  a  priest,  one 
James  [sic]  Morice  who  was  lately  before  apprehended,  should  have  been  indicted  for 
publishing  a  slanderous  and  seditious  bull,  though  without  all  question  it  be  a  forged 
and  counterfeit  thing,  as  you  may  perceive  by  the  copy,  which  I  have  presumed  to  send 
to  you  herewith,  albeit  perhaps  you  have  received  it  already.  Before  we  would  conceive 
any  indictment  hereupon,  we  thought  meet  to  examine  the  evidence,  which  we  found  not 
to  be  ripe  enough  because  the  parties  that  should  make  the  direct  proof  were  not 
present,  and  therefore  we  deferred  this  business  until  another  session  (rr), 

William    Casey.      In    the    "Bibliotheca    Scriptorum    Capucinorum" 
(Geneva,   1691),   is  found  the  following  notice: — "William   O'Cahasa,  an 
Irishman,  Perpetual  Vicar  of  Clonmel,  a  learned  man,  [wrote] — 
The  Dictionary  of  Anthony  Nebrisensis,  enriched  with  suppliments  according  to  the 

Madrid  edition  of  1635. 

He  wrote  also  a  work  entitled — 

An  Apologetic  Vindication  of  the  Subtle  Doctor. 

This  was  approved  of  in  1638  for  publication,  according  to  Samaniego  in 
his  Life  of  the  Subtle  Doctor,  Bk.  4,  c.  9  (John  k  S.  Antonio)." 

Thomas  White.    A  chalice  still  in  use  at  St.  Mary's  Catholic  church, 
bears  the  inscription  : — 
Maria  Brenock  Vidua,  me  dicavit  EccLEsiiE  B.  Ma.  de  Clonmel. 
Thomas  White  Vicario,  An.  Dni.  1638. 

Probably  no  parish  priest  of  Clonmel,  not  even  Father  Morris  himself, 
had  a  more  chequered  career.  In  1641  the  Catholics  for  the  second  time  since 
they  had  been  driven  out  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  took  possession  of  the  old 
church  of  St  Mary's.    Nine  years  later  the  town  was  surrendered  to  Cromwell, 


foo)  Hibernia  Ignatiana,  p.  156. 
(^)  Triuinphalia  Sanct,  Crucis.  1602. 
(qq)  See  Chapter  III.,  passim, 
(rr)  State  Papers,  Jas.  I. 


276  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  White  had  to  flee  for  his  life.    Yet  not  far ;  for  in  l66l  we  find  him  living 

in  the  Irishtown  disguised  as  a  servant.    The  Pole  Money  returns  of  that 

year  have — 

James  Brenocke,  ...  Yeoman  ...  14s. 

Katherine    „  ...  his  wife  ...  2s. 

John  Coffee  ...  his  servt.  ...  2s. 

Juan  fitz  James  ...  servant  ...  2s. 

Thomas  White  ...  servant  ...  2s. 

He  died  in  1664,  and  his  will  which  is  dated  13th  December,  1658,  is  as 

follows : — 

To  the  honnor  of  God  and  of  his  moste  holly  Mother  Mary,  our  ever  Blessed  Lady, 
I  give  herewith  to  her  church  being  the  parish  church  of  Qonmell  the  sum  of  eighteen 
pounds  and  two  shillings  ster.  eight  pounds  two  shillings  thereof  now  in  the  hands  of 
my  much  esteemed  friends  Mr.  James  Brenock  and  his  good  and  honest  wife  Catherine 
White  fitz  Nicholas,  and  alsoe  them  both  or  either  of  them  to  reeeive  in  my  name  from 
my  good  frinds  Mr.  James  Everard  and  his  loveing  wife  Anstas  Donogho  four  pounds 
and  ten  shillings  ster.  from  Mr.  Richard  Cor.  fitz  John  four  pounds  and  Mr.  Mealmurry 
moc  swyny  four  pounds  more,  or  from  his  honest  wife  Ellen  Shea,  deduced  out  of  the 
whole  the  sum  of  thirty  shillings  for  our  Lady  is  church  of  Kilmurry,  and  twenty 
shillings  for  our  lady  Marys  church  of  grangmoclerii,  these  fifty  shillings  I  give  toward 
the  mending  and  renuing  of  the  two  Images  of  our  Blessed  Lady  in  her  said  two 
churches,  the  remainder  of  the  said  eighteen  pounds  to  buy  and  erect  a  statuaoT  Image 
in  vultu  of  the  Assumption  of  our  Ladie  in  her  aforesaid  church  of  Clonmell  and  what 
church  stuffs  or  decent  ornament  shalbe  found  most  needfuU  for  the  divine  service 
to  be  practized  in  the  said  church  to  the  glory  and  honour  of  God  and  honour  of  his  most 
holly  and  imaculat  Mother  the  Blessed  virgin  Mary  et  [Blank].  I  have  reposed  such  a 
trust  and  confidence  in  the  aforsd  frinds  of  myn  Mr.  James  Brenock  and  Catherine 
White  his  honest  wiffe  that  they  will  be  as  carefull  to  expend  the  said  money  for 
the  uses  for  which  I  leave  them  as  I  would  be  myselfe  when  the  tyme  shall  permitt 
things  to  be  done  to  the  honnor  and  glory  of  God  in  that  church  and  to  the 
honnor  of  our  most  Blessed  Lady.  I  rest  till  I  gett  better  leasure  in  the  interim 
and  always  I  comend  and  comitt  myselfe  to  the  greate  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
by  the  intercession  of  his  most  [sic]  mother  Mary,  amen.  Thomas  White  vrfss). 

Luke  White.  He  was  born  in  1637  and  was  the  son  of  John  White 
fitz  Benedict,  mayor  during  the  Cromwellian  siege.  He  was  educated  at 
Nantes  where  he  was  ordained  in  1659  by  Dr.  Robert  Barry,  Bishop  of  Cork  and 
Cloyne,  then  a  refugee  there.    He  resigned  the  vicarage  i6th  January,  1700. 

Edward  Tonnery  Bom  in  Clonmel  1654,  educated  probably  at  Paris, 
where  he  graduated  D.D.  Ordained  in  1677  at  Kilkenny  by  Dr.  James 
Phelan,  Bishop  of  Ossory.  A  few  years  later  he  co-operated  with  Dr.  Ambrose 
Madden  of  Clonfert,  in  establishing  the  Irish  College  of  Nantes.  On 
the  foundation  of  the  royal  college  at  Kilkenny  he  was  appointed  one  of  its 
professors.  He  succeeded  to  the  vicarage  of  Clonmel  1700.  He  died  in  July 
1711.    The  following  is  his  will : — 

In  the  name  of  God.  Amen.  I,  Edward  Tonnery  Parish  priest  in  Clonmel  finding 
myselfe  weake  of  body  and  of  perfect  sense  and  memory  do  make  my  last  will  and 


(ss)  Watcrford  Wills,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  277 

testament  in  manner  and  form  following.  Imprimis  I  bequeath  my  soul  into  the  hands 
of  Almighty  God  who  gave  it  me  and  my  body  to  be  decently  buryed  neare  the  body  of 
John  Meagher  in  the  Churchyarde  of  Clonmel.  Item,  2"<*'y  I  order  that  my  debts  that 
are  justly  due  of  me,  shall  be  paid  out  of  what  substance  I  now  have.  Item,  3*'**'y  I 
bequeath  to  each  Roman  Catholicke  priest  of  this  Diocese  of  Lismore  and  to  such  others 
as  my  Executors  think  fitt  three  british  crowns  to  each  of  them  in  consideration  of 
twelve  masses  to  be  celebrated  by  each  of  them  for  my  soul  besides  the  months  mind 
and  anniversary.  Item,  4**'  I  bequeath  to  Dr.  John  Day  four  pistolls.  Item,  5'y  I 
bequeath  to  Dr.  Callinan  three  pistolls.  Item,  6'y  I  bequeath  to  Dr.  Yong  one  pistoll. 
Item,  7'y  I  bequeath  to  Derby  Lonergan  one  pistoll  or  more  at  discretion.  Item,  8*y 
my  funeral  expenses  to  be  paid  out  of  my  present  substance  and  also  the  expenses  of 
the  months  mind  and  anniversary  at  discretion.  Item,  9'y  I  bequeath  my  interest  in 
my  present  house  and  garden  vnto  my  brother  Peter  Tonnery  with  all  my  household 
stuff  with  my  wearing  cloathes  and  the  bay  horse  with  my  boots,  bridle  and  saddle. 
Item,  lo'y  I  bequeath  my  watch,  books  and  what  gold  and  silver  will  remain  after  the 
aforesd  charges  and  they  shall  be  equally  divided  between  my  brothers  Thomas  and 
Pierce  Tonnery.  Item,  ll^y  I  bequeath  all  my  priestly  ornaments  and  vestments  for 
the  use  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Chappie  of  Clonmell  and  the  blew  vestment  to  Madam  Jolly 
if  she  shall  call  for  it  (tt).  Item,  I2'y  I  bequeath  to  my  servant  Catherine  fitz  Patrick 
forty  shillings  ster.  Item,  I3*y  I  bequeath  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Poor  of  the  parish 
six  pounds  sterling.  Item,  I4iy  I  doe  appoint  and  nominate  Father  Thomas  Grace, 
Mr.  Richard  Stritch,  Mr.  Nicholas  White,  Mr.  ffrancis  Morony  my  Executors  and  that 
they  shall  have  power  to  determine  all  differences  between  my  brothers  or  any  other 
persons  comprised  or  concerned  in  the  within  mentioned  will,  which  I  doe  hereby 
declare  to  be  my  last  will  and  testament.  As  witness  my  hand  and  seal  the 
14th  of  July  171 1. 

Edward  Tonnery  {uu). 

Thomas  Aloysius  Hennessy.  He  was  bom  in  Clonmel,  June  lOth, 
1677;  entered  the  Jesuits  February  13th,  1700;  professed  of  the  four  vows 
August  15th,  1706;  "came  to  Clonmel  in  1712,  and  worked  there  to  the  great 
good  of  the  flock,  and  great  satisfaction  of  the  Bishop  who  had  given  all 
faculties;  he  has  converted  some  Protestants;  is  a  learned  man  of  sound 
judgment "  (w).  A  friend  of  his  wrote  1st  January,  1713,  that  he  had  sailed 
for  Ireland  "  ready  to  undergo  every  danger."  The  anticipation  was  fulfilled, 
for  during  the  forty  years  of  his  life  in  Clonmel,  he  had  more  than  once  to  go 
into  hiding,  and  at  any  time  was  liable  to  the  penalties  of  high  treason.  The 
report  of  a  spy  who  noted  him  on  his  arrival  has  been  already  given,  but  he 
long  received  similar  attentions.  In  the  Jesuit  correspondence,  to  evade 
identiiScation,  he  passed  under  the  name  of  "Quades."  He  seems,  however, 
to  have  impressed  the  Clonmel  authorities  as  favourably  as  he  did  his  own 
superiors.  In  1727  the  lease  of  the  "  Mass  House  "  was  renewed  by  the 
Corporation,  while  two  years    later    he    became   provincial  of    the  Irish 


(tt)  Madam  Jolly  was  wife  to  Robert  Jolly  of  Kuockelly.    Her  daughter  was  married  to  Cornelius 
O'Callaghan  "  the  Counsellor,"  ancestor  of  the  Lords  Lismore. 
(nu)  Waterford  Wills,  P.R.O. 
(wj  Catalogue  of  Irish  Province  by  E.  Hogan,  S.J.,  p.  62. 


278  History  of  Clonmel. 

Jesuits  (ww).  The  Protestant  interest  being  declared  to  be  in  danger,  a 
committee  of  the  Irish  House  of  Lords  was  appointed  in  173 1  to  collect  evidence 
on  the  "  state  of  popery  in  this  kingdom."  The  mayor  of  Clonmel  sent  the 
following  return  : — 

To  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lords  Committee  appointed  to  enquire  into  the 
present  state  of  Popery  in  this  kingdpm,  and  to  prepare  such  Heads  of  Bills  as 
they  shall  think  most  proper  to  prevent  the  growth  of  Popery  and  to  secure  this 
kingdom  from  any  danger  that  may  happen  from  the  greater  number  of  Papists  in  this 
Nation. 

May  it  please  your  Lordships. 

In  obedience  to  your  Lordships  Order  of  the  sixth  November  instant,  and  to 
me  directed,  I  humbly  lay  before  your  Lordships  the  following  account  viz.  there 
is  one  large  reputed  Mass  House  in  the  West  Suburbs  of  this  Town  of  Clonmel, 
some  part  built  before  the. reign  of  King  George  the  first,  and  then  was  thatched, 
and  some  large  additional  buildings  made  thereto  since,  which  Mass  House  has 
been  since  the  said  first  year  of  His  said  Majestie  King  George  the  first,  repaired 
and  all  slated  and  very  much  improved  with  three  large  gallereys  therein.  There  is  no 
other  Mass  House  or  reputed  Mass  House  in  said  Towne,  Subburbs,  or  Liberties  thereof. 
I  find  on  the  strictest  Inquiry  that  the  five  following  persons  'officiate  in  the  said 
Mass  House  (viz.)  Thomas  Hennessy,  Patrick  Fitzgerald,  John  Leo,  Michael  Dwyer, 
and  James  Walsh,  that  the  said  Thomas  Hennessy  is  the  reputed  Popish  Parish  Priest, 
the  said  Patrick  Fitzgerald  his  assistant,  and  the  said  Leo,  Dwyer,  and  Walsh,  are 
Fryers,  or  reputed  so.  I  do  not  find  they  [51V:]  are  any  private  Popish  Chappels 
or  Nunnerys  in  this  town  or  Liberties  thereof.  But  I  do  finde  there  is  a  Popish  Fryery 
in  the  West  Subburbs  of  the  said  Towne,  wherein  the  above  Fryers  live  and 
cohabit.  There  is  but  one  Private  Popish  Schoolemaster  as  I  can  finde  in  the  said 
Towne,  whose  name  is  Cornelius  Lynch,  and  goes  from  house  to  house  to  instrdct 
Popish  children.  All  which  is  most  humbly  submitted  to  your  Lordshipps  by 
your  Lordshipps'  most  obedient  humble  servant 

James  Castell,  Mayor  of  Clonmel  (xx). 

The  old  chapel,  of  which  such  precise  glimpses  are  aflForded,  did  not 

offend  the  critical  eye  of  Smith,  the  historian  of  Waterford,  who  writes  in  1740: — 

The  Romanists  have  a  very  neat  Mass  House  pleasantly  situated  on  the  side 
of  the  Suir  and  adorned  with  a  grove  of  trees,  it  being  a  few  years  ago  splendidly 
rebuilt  with  many  others  in  Munster  by  large  contributions  raised  in  Spain  (yy). 

The  "  neat  Mass  House  "  as  it  appeared  in  its  last  stage  about  seventy 

years  ago,  is  thus  described  by  an  old  resident  :— 

It  was  separated  from  the  street  by  a  range  of  houses.  Through  these  a  steep 
narrow  lane  led  across  the  chapel  grounds  to  a  flight  of  seven  steps  which  brought  one 
down  to  the  door  in  the  north  transept.  The  chapel  was  T  shaped  and  low:  its 
dimensions  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  the  present  Church  of  St.  Mary  was 
built  and  roofed,  thus  perfectly  enclosing  it;  so  that  mass  was  celebrated  in  the  old 
building  on  one  Sunday  and  in  the  new,  the  next  Sunday.  It  ran  east  and  west 
and  unlike  the  present  Church  made  no  pretension  to  architecture.      It  contained  three 

(ww)  The  following  notices  of  the  ''Mass  House"  are  found  in  the  Corporation  Minute  Books: — 
"  23  June  1758  Ordered  that  a  lease  of  31  years  to  commence  last  March  be  made  to  Michael  Fitz 
Patrick  and  Patrick  Brenock  of  that  part  of  the  Mass  House  belonging  to  said  Corporation  at  twenty 
shillings  a  yeare.  being  the  old  rent  payd  for  the  same."  On  24th  June,  1789,  a  fine  was  paid  for  the 
renewal  (for  31  years)  of  the  land  demised  to  John  Brenock.  24th  June,  1810,  a  lease  was  ordered 
of  "  that  part  of  the  chapel  and  poor  houses  "  belonging  to  the  Corporation  to  John  Bagwell  for  ever 
at  £\  per  annum.    It  does  not  appear  that  this  lease  was  ever  executed. 

(xxj  Parliamentary  Return,  Xo.  135,  P.R.O. 

(yy)  Smith  MSS.,  R.I.A. 


History  of  Clonmel.  279 

galleries  which  were  reached  by  stone  stairs  on  the  outside  of  the  building.  It 
was  lighted  by  long,  circular-headed  windows.  As  the  floor  was  seven  or  eight  feet  below 
the  present  level,  not  unfrequently  divine  service  was  suspended  by  floods  from  the  river. 

Father  Hennessy  died  April  14th,  1752.  In  his  will  which  is  dated 
28th  November,  1751,  he  desires  his  "burial  may  be  most  frugall"  and 
bequeaths  £l0  each,  to  his  brother  William  and  his  sisters,  Mary  and  Catherine. 
"Mr."  James  Hennessy  is  named  as  executor  and  heir  to  the  residue,  while 
Nicholas  Barpn  is  one  of  the  witnesses.  These  two  were  his  fellow  Jesuits  in 
Clonmel  at  the  time  (zz). 

William  Egan.  Bom  in  Waterford,  he  was  baptized  there  14th 
January,  1726.  Educated  in  the  Irish  College,  Seville,  where  he  began  the 
study  of  philosophy  1743.  Ordained  probably  early  in  1750,  and  spent  some 
months  in  the  parish  of  Holy  Trinity,  Waterford,  that  year.  On  the  death  of 
Fr.  Hennessy,  Rev.  William  O'Donnell  obtained  a  papal  brief  collating  him 
to  the  parish  of  Clonmel.  But  Rev.  William  Egan  being  nominated,  in 
accordance  with  ancient  custom,  by  the  Society  of  St.  Mary  of  Clonmel, 
appealed  to  Rome.  The  litigation  in  the  Curia  lasted  more  than  two  years, 
until  1755,  when  Fr.  Egan  was  appointed. 

During  the  period  of  his  pastorship  he  conciliated  the  ruling  classes,  and 
was  the  first  priest  since  the  Reformation  permitted  to  attend  prisoners  at  the 
scaffold.  He  built  the  present  presbytery  of  St  Mary's,  where  he  regularly 
entertained  the  leaders  of  the  bar  on  circuit.  Dr.  Creagh,  Bishop  of  Water- 
ford, being  in  failing  health  postulated  for  a  coadjutor.  Fr.  Egan  was 
named  by  brief  dated  8th  March,  1771,  Bishop  of  Sura  in  partibus,  and  was 
consecrated  in  his  brother's  house,  Taghmon,  Co.  Wexford,  the  following 
Pentecost.  In  1792  an  effort  was  made  by  some  Munster  bishops  to  have  him 
translated  to  the  archbishopric  of  Cashel,  but  he  firmly  declined.  He  died 
22nd  July,  1796,  and  was  interred  in  the  churchyard  south  of  the  nave  of  the 
old  chapel — the  site  is  now  within  the  western  vestry  of  the  present  church. 
A  table  tomb  was  placed  over  the  remains,  containing  the  inscription  : — 

LH.S. 

Hic  SEPULTiE  Sunt 

EXUVIiC  MORTALES 

GuiLELMi  Egan 

WATERFORDIiE  ET  LiSMORENSIS 
EPISCOPI  DOCTI  ET  iLLUSTRIS 

Has  Unitas  Ecclesias  Temporibus  Tempestuosis 

SOLERTER  PRUDENTER  FIRMITERQUE 

per  Annos  25  REXIT 

Obiit  Die  22  Julii  A.D.  1796 

Aetatis  75. 

(zz)  Waterford  Wills  P.R.O.    The  will  is  in  Latin,  but  an  English  copy  was  proved. 


280  History  of  Clonmel. 

[Translation.] 
LH.S. 

Here  lie  the  mortal  remains  of 

William  Egan 

The  learned  and  distinguished 

Bishop  of  Waterford  and  Lismore. 

In  trying  times  for  25  years 

He  ruled  these  united  dioceses 

Skilfully,  prudently,  firmly. 

He  died  on  the  22  day  of  July  A.D.  1796 

In  his  75th  year. 

THOMAS  Flannery.  Born  at  Stradbally,  Co.  Waterford,  in  1756 ;  entered 
the  Irish  Pastoral  College,  Louvain,  in  1774.  Ordained  in  1783 ;  appointed 
parish  priest  of  Ardfinnan  in  1793;  administrator  of  Clonmel  1796-1810; 
parish  priest  of  Clonmel  iSio ;  erected  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  about  1814  as  a 
chapel-at-ease  to  St  Mary's.  Vicar  General  in  1817.  He  died  8th  January, 
1836,  in  the  same  room  in  St.  Mary's  presbytery  in  which  he  had  been 
ordained  priest  53  years  before.  The  white  marble  monument  has  a 
medallion  from  a  cast  of  his  face  taken  after  death  ;  the  inscription  reads  : — 

Sacred  to  the  Memory 

of  the  Very  Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  Flannery 

late  Parish  Priest  of  St.  Mary's  Clonmel, 

who  from  the  period  of  his  ordination 

in  the  year  1783,  for  the  space  of  fifty  two  years, 

devoted  his  assidious  attention  to  the  pious  and 

careful  fulfilment  of  the  various  duties  of  his  ministry. 

Placed  in  the  situation  in  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Flannery  was, 

it  required  in  the  arduous  times  in  which  he  lived, 

much  judgment  and  discretion  to  guide  him  on  his  way. 

Yet  in  him  was  so  fully  evinced  the  character  of  a 

simple,  high-minded,  charitable  tho'  unpretending 

Christian  minister,  that  not  only  his  own  congregation 

but  persons  of  all  religions  persuasions, 

joined  in  their  admiration  of  the  Piety  Worth  and  integrity 

of  this  estimable  person. 

He  died  on  the  8th  January  1836 

Aged  80  years. 

Abi  et  imitare  si  poteris. 

John  Baldwin.    Bom  in  the  parish  of  Carrickbeg,  1791 ;  educated  at 

Maynooth  College  and  ordained  1817 ;  same  year  appointed  to  curacy  of  St. 

Mary's.     Arrangements  for  dividing  the  parish  into  equal  parts  had  been 

made  by  Dr.  Abraham,  Bishop  of  Waterford,  during  the  life  of  Dr.  Flannery. 


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History  of  Clonmel.  281 

Fr.  Baldwin  appointed  parish  priest  of  the  present  parish  of  St.  Mary's, 
8th  February,  1836.  On  9th  November  following,  plans  for  the  erection  of 
the  present  church  were  adopted.  Building  completed  in  1850,  and  opened 
for  public  worship  that  year.  On  October  I2th,  1856,  the  church  was  solemnly 
blessed  by  the  Bishop  of  Waterford,  and  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  under 
the  title  of  the  Assumption.  The  entire  cost  of  the  building  was  borne  by 
the  parish,  the  money  being  raised  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Rev.  Patrick 
Meany,  curate.  The  superb  stucco  ceiling,  which  cost  £2000,  was  the  gift  of 
Mr.  Nicholas  Cott ;  Mr.  William  Hudson  and  Mary,  his  widow,  erected  the 
high  altar  at  a  similar  cost.  The  design  for  the  altar  was  furnished  by  Mr. 
George  Goldie,  of  London,  the  sculptor  being  Mr.  Ross.  The  altar  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  was  presented  by  the  representatives  of  Mr.  Patrick  Quinn, 
and  St.  Joseph's  altar  by  Mr.  James  Myers.  The  pulpit  was  erected  as  a 
memorial  to  Mr.  John  Prendergast,  solicitor.  Fr.  Baldwin  died  27th  June, 
1867  ;  his  memorial  tablet  is  inscribed  : — 

I.H.S. 

In  Memory  of  the 

Revd.  John  Baldwin 

who  for  19  years  discharged  with  assiduity  and  edification 

the  onerous  duties  of  a  curate  in  this  parish 

And  for  nearly  32  those  imposed  by  the  responsible  position  of  Pastor 

His  life  was  blameless  and  his  disposition  most  kind 

His  manners  gentle  and  unobtrusive 

They  who  knew  him  best,  loved  and  esteemed  him  most. 

Cheerfully  and  generously  aided  by  his  people 

And  with  only  little  assistance  from  others  he  built  this  church 

A  noble  and  lasting  monument  of  his  and  their  zeal  and  piety 

By  a  happy  coincidence  the  High  Altar 

attained  completion  as  his  career  reached  its  honoured  close 

And  the  Holy  Sacrifice  was  first  oflFered  at  it 

on  the  occasion  of  his  interment. 

He  died  on  the  27th  of  June  1867,  in  his  76***  year, 

and  his  remains  are  deposited  opposite  the  High  Altar 

and  mid-way  between  both  transepts. 

Eternal  Rest  give  to  him  O  Lord, 

And  Let  perpetual  light  shine  upon  him. 

Thomas  English.    Born  in  the  parish  of  Cahir,  1814 ;  administrator  of 

Trinity  Within,  Waterford,  1862-7;   appointed  parish  priest  of  St.  Mary's 

1867;  resigned  parish  I2th  June,  1874;    retired  to  Maitland,  Australia,  of 

which  diocese  he  was  Vicar  General  until  his  death  in  1894. 


282  History  of  Clonmel. 

Edmund  Walsh.  Bom  in  St  Patrick's,  Waterford,  1816 ;  educated  at 
Maynooth  College  and  ordained  1840;  curate  at  St  Patrick's  and  Trinity 
Within  1840-1869 ;  appointed  parish  priest  of  Gambonsfield  1869 ;  translated 
to  St  Mary's  I2th  July,  1874.  During  his  pastorate  the  tower  was  erected  at 
a  cost  of  £2,800,  and  at  death  he  bequeathed  funds  to  complete  the  church  by 
the  portico.  He  died  22nd  July,  1885,  and  is  interred  in  front  of  the  High 
altar,  the  tomb  covering  his  remains  bearing  the  following  inscription  : — 

Of  Your  Charity 

Pray  for  the  soul  of  the  Rev.  Edmund  P.  Walsh 

Who  was  appointed  Parish  Priest  of  St  Mary's  on  the  12  July  1874 

And  who  died  on  22"**  July  1885  in  the  69***  year  of  his  Age 

And  in  the  44***  year  of  his  sacred  ministry. 

His  adniinistration  of  the  Parish  was  distinguished  for  zeal  for  prudence 

And  devotion  to  the  interest  of  the  people 

Confided  to  his  care. 

R.I.P. 

Timothy  O'Connell.  Bom  in  Tallow,  1831 ;  educated  at  Maynooth 
and  ordained  1856;  appointed  parish  priest  of  Mothel,  1885  ;  translated  to  St 
Mary's,  Clonmel,  1886;  died  8th  May,  1891. 

Cornelius  Flavin.    Translated  from  parish  of  Ardfinnan,  May,  1891. 

Patrick  Spratt.    Translated  from  Cappoquin,  August,  1906. 

Parish  Priests,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's. 

Michael  Burke.  Bom  in  parish  of  Kilsheelan,  1789;  educated  at 
Maynooth  College  and  ordained  1817 ;  appointed  first  parish  priest  of  SS. 
Peter  and  Paul's  8th  February,  1836 ;  an  eloquent  speaker;  wrote  Observations 
on  the  Queen's  Colleges,  and  The  State  Endowment  of  the  Irish  Clergy.  Died  loth 
August,  1866.    The  memorial  in  the  church  reads : — 

Of  Your  Charity  pray  for  the  soul  of 

The  Very  Revd.  Michael  Burke,  V.G. 

Who  died  on  the  10***  day  of  August  1866  aged  77  years 

During  the  30  years  of  his  ministry  as  pastor  of  this  parish,  he  laboured 

To  promote  the  glory  of  God,  the  growth  of  religion  and  the  relief  of  the  poor. 

To  his  zeal  and  munificence  is  chiefly  due 

The  establishing  in  Clonmel  of  the  institute  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity 

He  was  the  learned  advocate  of  a  religious  education 

As  evinced  by  his  having  introduced  and  liberally  endowed  a  branch  of 

The  order  of  the  Christian  Brothers. 


History  of  Clonmel.  285 

An  ardent  lover  of  country,  he  laboured  to  advance 
Her  religious  political  and  social  progress. 

To  the  orphan  he  was  a  kind  father. 

To  the  repentant  sinner  a  consoling  friend 

And  in  all  the  relations  of  private  life  he  won  universal  esteem. 

R.LP. 

John  Power.  Born  in  Cappoquin,  1809 ;  educated  at  St  John's  College, 
Waterford,  and  ordained  1832 ;  appointed  to  parish  of  Powerstown  1852 ; 
translated  to  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  1867 ;  consecrated  bishop  of  Waterford 
and  Lismore  20th  July,  1873 ;  died  6th  December,  1887. 

Roger  Power.  Brother  of  preceding;  born  181 5;  ordained  1841 ; 
appointed  to  parish  of  Kill  1853 ;  translated  to  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  1873 ; 
translated  to  Tramore  1875 ;  died  nth  May,  1884. 

From  November  1875  to  December  1887,  the  parish  was  retained  by  the 
bishop  as  a  mensal  parish. 

Joseph  A.  Phelan.  Born  in  Waterford,  i  841 ;  educated  at  Carlow  and 
Maynooth  Colleges ;  ordained  1866 ;  president  of  St.  John's  College,  Water- 
ford, 1881-7 ;  appointed  to  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  6th  December,  I887 ;  died 
I2th  October,  1891. 

Francis  O'Brien.  Bom  in  parish  of  Ring,  1883  ;  educated  at  St  John's 
College,  Waterford,  and  ordained  1858 ;  appointed  to  parish  of  Ballyporeen, 
1881 ;  translated  to  Cappoquin,  1881 ;  translated  to  Clonmel,  February,  1892  ; 
translated  to  Dungarvan,  September,  1894;  died  13th  February,  1896. 

Thomas  McDonnell.  Born  in  Tallow,  1832  ;  educated  at  Maynooth 
College  and  ordained  1859;  appointed  to  parish  of  Tooranena,  1886;  translated 
to  Cappoquin,  1892;  translated  to  Clonmel,  1894;  died  July  1st,  1906. 

Cornelius  Flavin.  Translated  from  St.  Mary's  to  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's 
August,  1906. 

Charities. 

I.  When  during  the  reign  of  Charles.  IL  all  hope  of  recovering  the  old 
church  of  St.  Mary  vanished,  the  Catholics  built  a  thatched  chapel  on  the 
holding  of  James  Brenock  in  the  Irishtown.  Similarly  they  built  an  "  Alms 
House  "  to  replace  the  old  one  at  St  Mary's,  destroyed  during  the  Cromwellian 
occupation.  This  stood  on  the  street  in  front  of  the  present  church,  and  in 
its  ruinous  state,  is  remembered  by  persons  still  living  (a).  It  was  occupied 
principally,  if  not  exclusively,  by  aged  women,  and  was  maintained  by 

(a)  An  *' Alms  House  "  is  still  annexed  to  St.  Patrick's,  Waterford. 


284  History  of  Clonmel. 

contributions  from  those  frequenting  the  chapel.  Mention  of  the  "  Alms  " 
house  is  occasionally  made  in  old  wills.  James  Brenock,  "Apotecary,"  in 
1676 :— 

I  leave  one  of  my  boyleing  potts  which  is  of  the  largest,  to  the  poore  of  the  hospitall 
of  Clonmell. 

Ellen  Cumberfort  in  1748 : — 

I  leave  ye  poore  house  of  this  town  ffortie  shillings. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  last  century,  as  the  public  gradually  under- 
took the  care  and  support  of  the  poor,  the  "  Alms  House  "  and  other  private 
charities  disappeared. 

2.  Susanna  Keily  by  will  dated  26th  July,  1862,  named  as  executors  and 
trustees  Dominic  O'Brien,  Bishop  of  Waterford  and  Lismore,  Michael  Burke, 
parish  priest,  John  Baldwin,  parish  priest,  and  James  J.  Shea,  coroner!  The 
said  trustees  or  survivors  of  them,  their  heirs,  administrators,  etc.,  to  invest 
the  residue  of  the  estate  after  payment  of  debts ;  the  said  James  J.  Shea  to 
be  paid  £20  annually  for  life  on  account  of  his  trouble,  and  his  executors 
afterwards ;  the  sum  of  £3  yearly  on  All  Souls  Day  to  be  paid  for  masses  to 
a  clergyman  named  by  the  trustees ;  the  residue  to  be  devoted  to  "the  support 
and  maintenance  of  certain  respectable  Roman  Catholic  females,  resident  of 
or  in  Clonmel  aforesaid  and  who  should  have  suffered  reverse  of  fortune,  or 
became  reduced  in  circumstances  but  to  be  selected  and  chosen  by  her  acting 
trustees  or  the  majority  of  them,  as  fitting  objects  for  such  bounty  at  the  rate 
of  twelve  pounds  for  each  and  every  such  female,  by  equal  quarterly  payments 
to  be  continued  at  the  discretion  of  the  trustees." 

3.  Johanna  Hackett  of  Gravel  Walk,  Clonmel,  by  will  dated  I2th  April, 
1883,  bequeaths  residue  of  her  estate  to  E.  C.  Hackett,  Mayor  of  Clonmel, 
Timothy  A.  Ryan,  Merchant,  and  David  J.  Higgins,  Justice  of  Peace,  "  to 
invest  the  same  in  Government  stock  and  stand  possessed  thereof  upon  the 
trust  following,  that  is  to  say,  out  of  the  income  thereof  to  pay  the  sum  of  five 
shillings  per  week  to  as  many  deserving  poor  women  of  Clonmel  as  the  said 
income  will  permit,  each  of  said  women  to  be  chosen  by  the  trustees  at 
discretion."  The  present  trustees  are  Mr.  D.  J.  Higgins  and  Rev.  John 
Everard. 

4.  John  Morris,  merchant,  by  will  8th  August,  1876,  appointed  James  J. 
Shea  and  Mary  Hickey  trustees  to  dispose  of  the  residue  of  his  estate  for 
charitable  purposes  at  their  discretion.  The  residue  amounted  to  £178.  Most 
Rev.  Dr.  Sheehan,  bishop,  and  Rev.  John  Everard  appointed  trustees  by  deed 
13th  January,  1898. 


History  of  Clonmel.  285 

5.  James  John  Shea,  Abbeyview,  coroner,  by  will  6th  November,  1896, 
named  as  executors  and  trustees  David  J.  Higgins,  Rev.  John  Everard  and 
James  Prendergast  Mulcahy.  Bequeathed  £300,  the  interest  to  be  devoted  to 
annual  masses,  etc.,  in  St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church.  "I  bequeath  to  the 
Trustees  for  the  time  being  of  the  Keilly  charity  at  Clonmel,  which  I  have 
administered  for  many  years,  the  sum  of  one  thousand  pounds,  the  income 
thereof  to  be  applied  upon  the  same  trusts  as  said  charity  funds  are  now 
applied.*'  After  legacies,  debts,  etc.,  paid,  the  residue  of  the  estate  to  be 
invested  and  the  income  to  be  spent  similarly  to  the  Keily  charity  or 
otherwise  as  the  executors  think  fit. 

Protestant  Rectors  of  St.  Mary's. 

William  Prendergast.  He  was  vicar  of  Clonmel  in  1588,  and 
appeared  before  the  Royal  Commission  of  that  year.  His  office  of  vicar  and 
also  of  Treasurer  of  the  Chapter  of  Lismore  was  approved  of  by  them  (b). 

(See  under  Parish  Priests), 

Richard  Daniell.  Vicar  of  Clonmel  in  1607,  also  archdeacon  of 
Lismore,  but  this  latter  was  leased  in  1603  for  61  years  at  the  small  rent  of 
£6  by  the  Archbishop,  Miles  McGrath,  and  the  Dean  and  Chapter  [State 
Papers,  Jas.  L]  In  1615  the  Royal  Commission  reported  "Rectory  impropriate ; 
farmed  by  the  Earl  of  Ormond ;  the  vicar  Richard  Daniel  is  a  reading  minister 
and  resident ;  the  church  and  chancel  in  repair  and  books  provided  "  (c). 

John  ALDEN.  On  the  13th  February,  1616,  John  Alden  was  presented 
by  the  King  to  the  vicarages  of  Clonmel,  Cahir,  and  Grange  Mockler,  united 
pro  hoc  vice  on  account  of  their  poverty.  He  also  held  simultaneously  the 
archdeaconship  of  Lismore,  the  precentorship  of  Cork,  and  the  prebend  of 
St.  Munchin's,  Limerick  (d), 

Hugh  Gore.  Born  in  Dorsetshire  1613  ;  educated  at  Oxford  and  Trinity 
College,  Dublin  ;  vicar  of  Innislounaght  in  1638  and  prebendary  of  Tullaghor- 
ton  ;  instituted  vicar  of  Clonmel  2ist  April,  1638  (e).  Fled  to  England  in  1641 
and  taught  school  at  Swansea.  Returned  to  Ireland  in  1660;  appointed  vicar  of 
Cahir  1661.  Appointed  by  patent.  Dean  of  Lismore  and  vicar  of  Clonmel, 
Cahir  and  Innislounaght  1663.  Succeeded  Hugh  Baker  in  the  sees  of  Water- 
ford  and  Lismore  2lst  February,  1666,  being  consecrated  in  St.  Mary's, 
Clonmel,  25th  March  following.     During  the  troubles  of  1690-I  he  took  refuge 

(b)  MS.,T.C.D.,  E.3,  14. 

(c)  British  Museum  Addit.  MSS.  19,  836. 

(d)  Patent  Rolls,  Jas.  I. 

(e)  First  Fruits  Records  II.,  30,  P.R.O. 


286  History  of  Clonmeu 

in  Swansea  where  he  died  in  March,  1691.  In  his  will  is  the  bequest  "Item, 
I  give  and  bequeath  towards  a  ring  of  bells  for  the  church  of  Clonmel  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling  "  (f), 

Samuel  LadYMAN.  Educated  at  Corpus  Christi,  Oxford;  came  to 
Clonmel  in  1652  as  "  Minister  of  the  Word."  After  the  Restoration  accepted 
the  dominant  form  of  religion,  apparently  in  order  to  retain  the  vicarage, 
being  ordained  24th  February,  1666,  and  instituted  vicar  of  Clonmel  19th  May, 

1666  (g).    He  subsequently  obtained  also  the  rectory  of  KnockgrafFon,  and  in 

1667  was  appointed  archdeacon  of  Limerick.  He  died  in  1683  and  was 
buried  in  the  chancel  of  St.  Mary's.  The  mortuary  tablet  inserted  in  the 
wall  contains  the  following  inscription  : — 

Underfoot  w**>  five  of  their  children,  Samuel  ffrancis  and  Grace  (who  died  in  their 
Infancy)  John  at  his  20**»  yeare  X***"  9'*>  1675  and  Jane  in  her  22"**  yeare  7ber  27th  1681 
are  interred  the  bodyes  of  Doctor  Samuel  Ladyman  and  Grace  his  wife  the  daughter  of 
Doctor  William  Hutchinson  De  Exon  she  deceasing  on  y*  [  ]  day  of  March  1663  and 
her  husband  on  y«  5th  of  ffebruary  1683  who  left  this  Epitaph  to  be  fixed  over  their 
Graves. 

Sleep  dearest  heart  and  now  thy  mourner  may 

Put  off  this  flesh  to  mix  it  with  thy  clay 

Sleep  infant  dust  freed  from  Earths  Toyle  and  Strife 

By  deaths  surprise  in  th'  nonage  of  y"*  life 

Sleep  vigorous  youth  whose  keener  soul  break  through 

Its  crazy  case  and  bade  this  world  adieu. 

Sleep  virtuous  maid  Wife  mother  and  all  in  one 

Alive  beloved  by  all  bewailed  now  gonn 

Sleep  till  that  trump  w<=*>  rouseth  from  their  graves 

Both  men  and  children  princes  and  their  slaves 

Shall  call  us  thence  to  wake  with  Sts  and  sing 

Eternal  praises  to  our  heavenly  King. 

His  will  which  was  executed  I2th  December,  1683,  is  equally  curious. 
He  bequeathed  £5  to  be  distributed  in  six  penny  worths  of  bread  at  the 
church  door  on  the  day  of  his  funeral.  "  Itm,  I  doe  give  and  Bequeath  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  Sterling  sealed  up  in  one  Bagg  marked  with 
Clonmell,  whereof  fifty  pounds  and  its  interest  till  that  time  shall  come  to 
be  out,  towards  a  ringe  of  Bells  in  this  church  when  that  work  shall  be  gonn 
about ;  and  fifty  pounds  to  be  improved  for  ever,  of  which  improvement  or 
Interest  fifty  shillings  sterling  to  be  laid  out  in  six  pennies  and  distributed  on 
ye  first  day  of  June,  and  fifty  shillings  more  on  ye  first  day  of  January  in  each 
yeare,  ye  Like  having  been  done  by  me  some  yeares  past  on  that  day  ;  the 
said  bread  to  be  distributed  still  by  the  churchwardens  care  at  ye  church 
porch  in  Clonmell,  and  soe  that  every  poore  man  and  woman  without 
distinction  may  have  one  Loafe  if  ye  hundred  will  hold  out    Also  I  doe 

(f)  Life  by  Rev.  S.  Gimlette,  B.D.,  Waterford.  1888. 
Ig)  First  Fruits'  Records  III.,  63,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  287 

further  give  five  pounds  steras  ye  Interest  of  ye  remaining  above  fifty  pounds 
for  ye  yearly  teaching  of  tenn  poore  children  to  read  English  and  to  learn 
the  Church  Catechism  with  the  Perkins  six  principles  "  (h), 

JONATHAN  Bronnsworth.  He  was  instituted  and  admitted  vicar  of 
Clonmel  14th  June,  1684.  He  died  in  1688  in  which  year  his  will  was 
proved  (i), 

JOHN  Walkinton.  He  was  admitted  4th  May,  1688  (j).  During  the 
Revolution  he  fled  the  town,  and  his  name  occurs  on  a  list  of  those  attainted 
unless,  in  accordance  with  King  James'  proclamation,  they  return  before  1st 
October,  1689.  He  was  a  member  of  the  town  council,  and  as  such,  was 
elected  mayor  for  the  year  1712-3.  But  a  strong  party  in  the  council 
disapproving  of  the  election,  appealed  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  to  quash  it. 
The  name  of  Thomas  Tothall  was  sent  forward  as  a  rival  candidate. 
Walkinton  replied  in  a  petition  I2th  August,  1712,  that  he  was  minister  of 
Clonmel  parish  for  the  previous  twenty-four  years ;  that  in  his  election  he 
was  supported  by  the  great  majority  of  the  bailiffs,  free  burgesses  and 
commons  ;  that  his  office  of  vicar  was  no  disqualification,  in  fact  he  had  been 
Justice  of  Peace  for  the  County  of  Waterford  for  twenty  years  past.  As  for 
the  accusation  of  outlawry  made  by  his  enemies,  it  was  true  that  two  years 
ago,  while  in  England,  he  was  outlawed  in  a  private  suit,  but  he  had  hopes 
to  reverse  it 

He  was  approved  of  as  mayor  26th  August,  1712  (k). 

RICHARD  MOORE,  A.M.,  was,  l/th  March,  1717,  "  admitted,  collated  and 
inducted"  to  vicarage  of  Clonmel  void  by  the  natural  death  of  John 
Walkinton,  clerk  (I).  In  the  porch  of  St  Mary's  may  be  seen  a  square  tablet 
with  an  inscription  in  raised  Roman  letters. 

Here  Lieth  the  Body  of  the 
Rev.  Richard  Moore 
Treasurer  of  the  Cath. 
Church  of  Lismore  and  Rec- 
tor OF  THE  Parish  of  Clonmel 
Who  departed  this  life  the 
18***  Day  of  October  1729  Aged 
38. 


(h)  Waterford  Wills,  P.R.O. 

(i)  First  Fruits'  Returns,  Michaelmas,  1684,  Vol.  VI.,fol.  12,  P.R.O. 

(j)  Ibid  VI.,  fol.  59. 

(k)  Magistrates'  Elections,  etc.,  P.R.O. 

(I)  First  Fruits,  Michaelmas,  1718,  P.R.O. 


288  History  of  Clonmel. 

As  the  Moores  were  patrons  of  the  town,  the  patronage  was  exercised 
liberally  in  favour  of  their  own  family.  This  Richard  was  a  friend  of  Swift, 
who  appealed  to  Lord  Arran  in  his  behalf.  The  rectorial  tithes,  Swift  states, 
were  granted  to  the  church  by  patent  of  Chas.  11.  But  Lord  Arran's  present 
agent  renewed  the  claim  of  the  Ormond  family  to  these  tithes.  The  trial 
came  off  at  last  assizes  and  lasted  six  hours,  Arran  being  non-suited.  "  The 
living  of  Clonmel  is  one  of  the  largest  yet  poorest  parishes  in  the  kingdom, 
being  upon  the  whole  (including  the  valuation  of  the  houses)  scarce  worth 
one  hundred  pounds  a  year,  out  of  which  to  a  curate  assistant,  being  absolutely 
necessary  on  account  of  its  extent,  a  salary  of  forty  pounds  must  be  paid. 
The  tithes  in  and  around  Clonmel  are  very  inconsiderable,  never  being  let 
for  above  twenty-four  pounds  a  year,  made  up  of  very  small  pittances 
collected  from  a  great  number  of  the  poorest  people  so  that  the  recovery  of 
them  by  an  expensive  law  suit,  if  it  could  be  effected,  would  not  be  worth 
attempting  "  fmj. 

Joseph  Moore.  Admitted  and  instituted  3rd  April,  1730,  to  vicarage 
vacant  by  death  of  Richard  Moore  fnj.  But  probably  owing  to  the 
Corporation  disputes  the  legality  of  the  presentation  was  questioned.  For 
the  Corporate  Minute  Book  records  his  further  presentation  to  the  living  of 
Clonmel  8th  April,  1745.  His  tomb  affords  a  good  example  of  l8th  century 
mausolean  composition. 

This  Monument  near  which  are  laid  the 
Remains  of  the  Rev.  Doctor  Joseph  Moore, 
Was  erected  by  the  Parish  and  neighbour- 
hood of  Clonmel,  in  grateful  memory  of  the 
strict  pastoral  care, 
exemplary  piety, 
ample  charity 
and  universal  benevolence 
With  which  he  discharged  his  Functions  as 
Rector  of  this  Parish  for  sixty  six  years. 
His  friends  and  Acquaintance  lament  the 
irreparable  Loss  of  his 
sweet  and  warm  friendship, 
Kind  and  salutary  Counsel, 
agreeable  and  instructive  manners, 
liberal  yet  prudent  Hospitality 
And  every  social  virtue  that  sweetens  and 

Adorns  private  life. 
He  died  on  the  13'**  day  of  January  1795, 
in  the  88'*»  Year  of  his  Age. 

M.  Shanahan,  Cork. 


fmJ  Swift's  Letters  ad  anti^  1729. 

(n)  First  Fruits,  Michaelmas,  1732,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  289 

Thomas  May.  Presented  by  the  corporation  (being  a  grandson  of 
Thomas  Moore  of  Marlfield)  and  instituted  April  14th,  1795  (0),  He 
immediately  applied  for  a  revision  of  the  valuation  under  the  "  Ministers' 
Money  "  Act  (17  &  18  Chas.  11.).  William  Moore,  Thomas  Delandre  and  John 
Roberts  being  appointed  4th  January,  1796,  commissioners  for  the  purpose, 
the  whole  town  was  thrown  into  a  ferment  Petitions  were  sent  to  Lord 
Camden,  viceroy,  from  the  "  Parishioners  and  Proprietors  of  Houses,"  from 
the  "  Proprietors  and  Inhabitants,"  from  the  "  Quakers  of  Clonmel,"  objecting 
to  the  valuation  on  the  grounds  that  houses  already  valued  could  not  be  re- 
valued, that  the  Commissioners  had  subdivided  houses,  had  over- valued  them» 
had  valued  out-houses,  factories,  etc.,  that  in  fine  the  whole  valuation  had 
been  raised  from  £38  to  £178  a  year.  Neither  party  however  was  satisfied. 
May  obtained  on  4th  August,  1800,  a  new  commission,  and  this  was  met  by  a 
counter  petition  signed  by  John  Bagwell,  Richard  Jones,  Thomas  and  Samuel 
Morton,  Phineas  and  Arthur  Riall,  and  the  other  principal  inhabitants  (p). 
The  victory  eventually  was  with  the  rector,  and  a  still  higher  assessment 
levied.    May  died  in  August,  1810. 

Daniel  Wall,  M.A.  Presented  by  the  corporation  4th  January,  181 1,  in 
the  place  of  Rev.  Thomas  May ;  he  was  instituted  29th  January,  and  inducted 
2nd  February  (q). 

James  Peter  RHOADES.  He  was  M.A.  Oxon.  and  Fellow  of  Wadham 
College.  Presented  by  the  corporation  28th  December,  1832,  on  the  resignation 
of  Rev.  Daniel  Wall.  "He  was,"  said  the  Municipal  Commissioners  of  1833, 
**  recommended  by  the  patron,  and  chosen  by  the  council.  No  other  person 
was  proposed  to  the  council  on  the  occasion." 

John  Bury  Palliser,  Born  1790;  he  was  the  second  son  of  John 
Palliser  of  Derryluskan,  by  his  wife  Grace  Barton.  Educated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin;  rector  of  Kill  St.  Nicholas,  1825;  presented  by  the 
corporation  15th  October,  1842,  on  resignation  of  Rev.  James  P.  Rhoades. 
During    his    incumbency    the    advowson    of    St.  Mary's,   after   prolonged 


(0)  First  Fruits'  Admiss.  Return,  Easter,  1811,  P.R.O. 

(p)  "  Ministers'  Money  "  was  for  nearly  200  years  one  of  the  most  intolerable  burthens  laid  on 
the  inhabitants  of  Clonmel  generally.  Under  the  Act  17  &  18  Chas.  II.,  c.  7,  a  rate  of  one  shilling 
in  the  jf  was  levied  on  each  householder  (in  no  case  valuation  to  exceed  £60)  for  the  support  of  the 
Protestant  vicar.  In  case  of  default  the  churchwardens  were  to  enter  and  distrain  the  goods  of 
defaulter.  An  **  Incumbent  Book  "  for  the  year  1704  is  in  possession  of  Mr.  F.  J.  Quinn  of  Spring- 
field. The  warrant  is  signed  by  "  Mr.  Simon  Gibbons,  elk.,"  and  directed  to  "  Richard  Stritch  and 
James  Keating,  churchwardens."  The  list  of  distresses  in  the  end  is  curious :  "  15  May  1704  John 
Boughell  1  brass  pot  and  2  candle  sticks — deld.  ye  ig*!*  to  your  wife."  "  A  spade  from  Tho.  Gilly- 
patrick  8.  Suburbs  for  Teig  Dermot."  "Aug.  25  deld.  i  blanket  i  tub  and  i  can  of  Ja.  Reed  S. 
Suburbs."  "  i  old  Petty  coate  from  John  Nunan's  wife,"  etc.,  etc  As  Quakers  on  principle  would 
not  pay,  we  find  "  6  stone  6  li  fwool  |  from  Jo.  and  St.  Collet  for  £1  17s.  od." 

(q)  First  Fruits*  Returns,  Easter  Term,  181 1,  P.R.O. 

U 


290  History  of  Clonmel. 

negociations,  was  sold  by  the  corporation  20th  August,  1853,  for  the  sum  of 
£1,000.  The  purchase  was  eflfected  by  Guinness,  Mahon  and  Company  in 
trust  for  Rev.  John  Prior,  Kirklington,  Yorkshire.     Palliser  died  in  1855  (r). 

Hugh  Prior.  Presented  by  Rev.  John  Prior  in  1855.  As  the  difficulty 
of  collecting  "Ministers'  Money  *'  from  the  Catholic  inhabitants  of  the  towns 
increased  year  by  year,  Parliament  attempted  to  settle  it  by  the  method 
adopted  in  the  Tithe  Act.  In  1854  the  town  councils  of  the  eight  cities  and 
towns  concerned,  were  made  liable  for  the  tax  in  the  first  instance,  they  being 
empowered  to  raise  the  sum  as  part  of  the  borough  rates.  But  the  Clonmel 
council  would  not  levy  '*  the  Ministers'  rates,"  and  accordingly  Rev.  Hugh 
Prior  served  a  writ  on  the  mayor  for  the  amount  Clonmel,  among  other 
towns,  petitioned  parliament,  and  as  a  result  of  the  agitation  the  Act  17  &  18 
Vict.,  cm  (1857),  was  passed.  Henceforward  a  sum  of  £300  lOs.  id.  was 
paid  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  to  the  incumbent  in  lieu  of 
Ministers'  Money. 

Chares  Seymour  Langley,  D.D.  Appointed  to  the  living  January, 
1857.  During  his  period  the  church  was  practically  rebuilt  from  designs  by 
Mr.  Welland,  architect  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners.  His  incumbency 
came  to  an  end  October,  i860. 

FRANCIS  Tempest  Brady.  Born  1809 ;  he  was  son  of  Francis  T.  Brady 
of  Willow  Park,  Dublin,  by  Charlotte,  daughter  of  William  Hodgson  of  White- 
haven. Educated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin ;  rector  of  Kilshannig,  Cork, 
1847-49;  appointed  rector  of  Clonmel,  i860.  He  died  8th  March,  1874.  The 
pulpit  which  was  erected  as  a  memorial  to  him,  contains  the  following 
inscription : — 

I  Cor.  XV.  20 — In  Memory  of  Rev  Francis  Tempest  Brady 
A.M.  Rector  of  St.  Mary's;   called  to  his  rest  March 
1874  aged  65.    He  sleeps  in  Jesus — Heb.  iv.  9. 
William  SandfoRD,  M.A.      Born  1814 ;  educated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin;  curate  of  Templemore  1849;  rector  of  Kilvemnon' 1864;  translated  to 
Clonmel  1874 ;  died  1882.    His  tomb,  which  occupies  a  recess  in  the  old  town 
wall  adjoining  the  western  entrance  to  the  churchyard,  reads — 


(r)  The  valuation  of  the  advowson  for  the  purpose  of  sale  was: — 

Tithe  composition  under  Goulburn's  Act,  jf  300  ;  of  which  one 

fourth  off,  for  Stanley's  Act 
Ministers'  money  for  1843 
Glebe  land,  South  suburbs 
Rectory  and  land  attached  (Poor  Law  Valuation) 


£    s. 

d. 

225   0 

0 

295  13 

2i 

20   0 

0 

90   0 

0 

;f630  13     2j 


History  of  Clonmel.  291 

In  Loving  Memory  of 
The  Reverend  William  Sandford,  M.A. 
Rector  of  Clonmel,  Chancellor  of  Lismore  Cathedral 
And  Prebendary  of  RosdufF,  Diocese  of  Waterford, 
Who  entered  into  his  rest  December  I,  1882. 
God  called  him  from  His  service  on  earth 
In  the  68  year  of  his  age  and  the  44  of  his  Ministry. 

Steadfast  immoveable,  always  abounding  in 
the  work  of  the  Lord. — I  Cor.  xv.  38. 

His  servants  shall  serve  him 
and  they  shall  see  his  face. — Rev.  xxii.  3,  4. 

Archdeacon  Warren  succeeded  1883. 


CHARITIES. 

1.  Edward  Batty  of  Clonmel,  gent,  by  will  dated  1st  November,  1669, 
named  John  Drew  of  Kilurneen,  Co.  Waterford,  Richard  Moore  of  Clonmel, 
and  Thomas  Batty  of  Abyslonaght  "  overseers."  "  I  bequeath  to  the  English 
poore  of  this  parish  of  Clonmel  £20  to  be  and  enure  [sic]  to  their  use  for  ever 
as  to  the  Mayor,  Churchwardens  and  Vicar  for  time  being  shall  seem 
meet,  and  taking  such  security  as  in  such  cases  usual." 

2.  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Ladyman,  by  will  I2th  December,  1683,  bequeathed 
£10  per  annum  for  ever,  of  which  £5  to  purchase  bread  to  be  distributed 
among  the  poor  on  1st  January  and  1st  June,  each  year,  and  £5  to  be  expended 
in  educating  ten  children  chosen  by  the  minister  and  churchwardens  for  the 
time  being.    (See  will  infra). 

3.  Mrs.  Mary  Pomeroy  paid  to  the  Corporation  of  Clonmel  £l00  sterling, 
for  which  they  on  2nd  August,  1707,  made  over  a  rent  charge  of  £lO  for 
ever  on  the  lands  of  Moonecullagh,  with  the  tuck  mill  and  holdings  then 
leased  and  in  possession  of  Mr.  Richard  Whitehand,  sen.,  and  his  under 
tenants  situated  in  the  County  of  Waterford,  within  the  Liberties  of  the  said 
Corporation,  part  of  the  Commons  thereof,  unto  Mary  Pomeroy,  Thomas 
Batty,  John  Carleton  and  Richard  Hutchinson,  their  heirs  and  assigns 
for  ever,  to  be  paid  quarterly  at  the  Feasts  of  Saints  Philip  and  Jacob 
[sic\  Lammas  Day,  All  Saints'  Day  and  Candlemas,  at  the  dwelling  house  of 
said  Thomas  Batty  in  Lough  Street,  between  the  hours  of  10  and  12  in 
the  morning,  and  on  failure  of  payment  as  aforesaid,  or  within  21  days,  a 
power  of  distress  and  re-entry  to  be  given  to  said  Trustees.    The  rent  charge 


History  of  Clonmel. 

was  held  upon  trust  to  lay  out  £2  yearly  towards  the  support  of  two  widows 
of  the  Protestant  religion  born  and  living  in  Clonmel  parish,  £2  to  the  poor 
and  £6  in  apprenticing  to  trades  3  Protestant  boys  educated  on  the  foundation. 

4.  Hercules  Beere,  by  will  in  1741,  bequeathed  40s.  yearly,  to  be  paid  by 
his  executors  out  of  his  mountain  farm  at  Clonmel  to  such  poor  thereof 
as  they  shall  think  proper. 

5.  Robert  Lowe  of  Knokelly,  Esq.,  by  will  in  1742  bequeathed  his  interest 
in  house  in  Mary  Street,  Clonmel,  to  his  trustees  Michael  Cox,  Archbishop  of 
Cashel  and  Richard  Chenevix,  Bishop  of  Waterford,  to  pay  the  rent  in  equal 
shares  to  such  poor  of  Clonmel  and  Cashel  as '  cannot  live  otherwise 
than  on  alms. 

6.  Peter  Cheshire,  by  will  dated  2ist  November,  1749,  left  £lOO  for  which 
he  had  a  mortgage  from  the  Corporation  of  Clonmel  on  lands  of  Ballymacadam, 
dated  13th  and  14th  July,  loth  George  11.  (1736),  at  6  p.c,  and  assigned 
to  him  by  the  late  Mrs.  Mary  Moore,  the  widow  of  Guy  Moore,  late  of  Abbey, 
Esq.,  wife  to  the  Rev.  Dean  Gore,  now  Lord  Bishop  of  Limerick.  The  interest 
to  be  distributed  among  the  poor  in  such  proportions  as  the  trustees  should 
think  fit  (s). 

7.  Mrs.  Mary  Page,  by  will  6th  December,  1758,  bequeathed  £377  6s.  ij^d., 
the  interest  of  which  is  to  be  paid  yearly  as  a  fee  for  apprenticing  one  poor 
boy  to  some  useful  trade  at  the  discretion  of  the  minister  of  the  parish. 

8.  Richard  Moore  of  Barne,  Esq.,  by  will  1771,  left  £200,  the  interest 
thereof  to  be  distributed,  yearly,  among  the  poor  of  Clonmel  by  the  minister 
of  the  parish ;  secured  and  payable  by  Stephen  Moore  of  Barne,  Esq. 

9.  Thomas  Moore  of  Barne,  Esq.,  by  will  in  1781  bequeathed  £50  to  the 
poor  of  Clonmel. 

10.  Thomas  Chidley  Moore  of  Abbey,  Esq.,  by  will  1781,  bequeathed  £30 
to  each  of  the  two  poorhouses  of  Clonmel,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  £30  to  the 
poor  housekeepers  of  Clonmel,  £10  to  debtors  in  Clonmel  Jail,  and  £iCX)  to 
bind  out  and  apprentice  children  of  Protestant  parents,  together  with  all  his 
carriages,  harness  and  four  horses :  the  whole  was  sold  by  public  auction  to 
Guy  Moore  Coote,  Esq.,  for  £99  2s.  for  which  that  gentleman  passed  his  note 
to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moore  who  put  out  the  money  at  interest  for  the  benefit  of  the 
trust. 

11.  Mrs.  Anne  Cooke  by  will  dated  27th  June,  1788,  bequeathed  £300, 
always  to  remain  at  interest,  to  be  applied  yearly  in  sums  not  less  than  a 
crown,  to  poor  roomkeepers  indiscriminately  as  the  Vestry  held  in  the 


(s)  In    November,    1898,  the  Corporation  discharged  this  ancient  mortgage  for  the  sum  of 
£^  6s.  2d. 


History  of  Clonmel.  293 

church  of  Clonmel  shall  think  most  wanting  of  it  £5;  and  £6  to  the 
Protestant  and  Catholic  poorhouses  respectively,  £50  "to  support  the  school 
lately  established  in  Clonmel  for  the  tuition  of  poor  children  as  long  as  same 
school  shall  continue,  and  whenever  it  shall  be  dissolved  the  £50  to  be  added 
to  the  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  roomkeepers." 

12.  Rev.  Dr.  William  Downes  late  of  the  city  of  Waterford,  by  will 
27th  June,  1790,  left  £25  yearly,  to  be  paid  after  the  death  of  his  wife  to  Dr. 
Moore,  vicar  of  Clonmel,  Rev.  James  Denny,  vicar  of  Ardfinnan  and  their 
successors,  and  to  Phineas  Riall  of  Clonmel,  for  apprenticing  to  Protestant 
masters  and  mistresses,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  poor  Protestants  of  the 
Church  of  Ireland  living  and  residing  in  the  town  of  Clonmel,  to  be  by  them 
instructed  in  useful  trades  and  occupations.  Two-thirds  to  be  applied 
to  Clonmel,  one-third  to  Ardfinnan. 

13.  Rev.  James  Denny  by  will  in  1805,  bequeathed  £200  to  the  Protestant 
poor  of  Clonmel. 

14.  Mrs.  Carrigan  bequeathed  to  the  rector  of  Clonmel  and  his  successors 
£81,  the  interest  on  which  to  be  equally  divided  among  five  poor  widows  of 
the  Established  Church  within  the  town  of  Clonmel. 

15.  There  are  several  recent  bequests  by  Edmond  Woods,  Morgan  Jones, 
Robert  Lester,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  fabric  of  St.  Mary's,  etc.  The  last 
mentioned,  bequeathed  £l,000  to  his  trustees,  Messrs.  A.  L.  Doran  and 
D.  J.  Higgins;  the  interest  to  support  the  Cottage  Hospital  and  should 
that  cease  to  exist,  then  for  the  benefit  of  the  Protestant  poor  of  Clonmel. 


Clonmel  Dissenters. 

During  the  Cromwellian  period.  Dissent  was  established  in  Clonmel. 

The  ancient  church  of  St.  Mary  was  the  "Public  Meeting  House"  and  the 

accounts  of  Thomas  Batty,  Treasurer  of  the  Precinct,  show  the  yearly  salaries 

paid  to  the  preachers : — 

£  s.  d. 

Mr.  Samuell  Ladyman  Preacher  of  Clonmel  ...               ...  130  0  0 

Mr.  Robert  Carr  Preacher  at  Clonmel  and  the  Guarrisons 

adjacent                 ...               ...               ...               ...  100  0  0 

Mr.  Anthony  Ward  Preacher  of  Cashell        ...                ...  100  0  0 

Mr.  Andrew  Chaplin  Preacher  of  Dongarvan                  ...  80  0  0 
Mr.  Richard  ffitz  Gerald  for  preaching  the  Gospell  in  Irish 

at  Dongarvan  and  in  the  Barrony  of  DesisiesftJ.      ...  52  0  0 

The  quarrels  of  Episcopalianism  and  Dissent  in  the  town,  consequent  on 
the  Act  of  Uniformity  of  1662,  have  been  already  narrated  in  Chapter  VII.    It 

ft)  A  List  of  the  yearly  Salaries  of  Such  Civil  officers  as  were  imployed  in  this  Precinct  until 
the  25th  of  September,  1654.— P.R.O. 


294  History  of  Clonmel. 

is  probable  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  new  settlers  followed  the  example  of  the 
preacher,  Ladyman,  and  attached  themselves  to  the  Church  by  Law  Estab- 
lished. Among  these  were  Charles  Blount,  Richard  and  Edward  Hutchinson, 
Charles  Alcock,  Samuel  Foley,  Richard  Moore  and  others  less  prominent.  But 
sturdy  Cromwellians  such  as  Thomas  Batty,  William  Vaughan,  Phineas  Riall 
and  Richard  Perry,  refused  to  accept  the  new  order  of  things,  and  formed 
themselves  into  a  dissenting  congregation  with  Mr.  Wood  for  preacher.  A 
lease  of  the  old  Franciscan  church  was  obtained  by  Batty,  and  Dissent  thereby, 
some  years  later,  obtained  a  local  habitation.  The  preachers  for  the  second 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  were  Messrs.  Wood,  Palmer,  Ford  and  Carr. 
Phineas  Riall  was  treasurer  to  the  congregation  in  the  opening  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  from  his  accounts  we  glean  some  particulars.  John 
Shaw  was  minister  in  1706,  and  was  paid  £lOO  a  year,  made  up  by  a  personal 
levy.  Offerings  for  the  poor  were  taken  on  Sundays  and  averaged  2s.  6d., 
but  on  the  l&rst  Sunday  of  the  month  they  rose  to  £l  5s.  The  trustees  of  the 
congregation  in  1725,  were  John  Perry,  John  Bagwell  and  Joseph  Barret, 
as  appears  by  a  loan  of  £lOO  to  Jeremiah  Vickars  of  Dublin,  for  which 
he  paid  7  per  cent.  The  following  year  a  momentous  decision  was  come 
to  by  the  Munster  Presbytery  which  met  in  Clonmel,  2ist  July.  This  was 
a  resolution  adopting  the  Unitarian  creed,  and  supporting  the  Presbytery  of 
Antrim  against  the  Synod  of  Ulster  which  had  endeavoured  to  impose  the 
Scotch  Confession  of  Faith. 

We  do  think  ourselves  in  duty  bound  in  compliance  with  the  request  and  application 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Antrim  to  hold  ministerial  and  Christian  unionism  with  them — 
being  persuaded  we  shall  thereby  be  enabled  to  contribute  to  maintaining  the  truth  and 
interests  of  the  Protestant  cause,  and  rights  and  liberties  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  minister  at  this  period  was  Rev.  William  Jackson  who  died  before 
1734,  as  his  will  was  proved  that  year.  He  was  followed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Mears 
who  as  minister  of  Newtownards  rejected  the  Westminister  Confession,  and 
in  a  catechism  for  children  unequivocally  put  forth  Unitarian  views.  On  the 
removal  of  Mears  to  Strand  Street  Chapel,  Dublin  in  1747,  Rev.  James  Mackay 
succeeded.  John  Perry,  15th  October,  1747,  leased  for  999  years  at  a  pepper 
corn  rent,  to  Mathew  Jacob  of  Mobarnane,  and  John  Bagwell  of  Clonmel, 
"  a  parcel  of  ground  being  part  of  the  Fort  containing  in  front  to  Kilsheelan 
Street  fifty  feet  from  the  new  wall  of  the  late  John  Hosken's  garden  by  forty 
eight  feet  and  a  half  in  depth  towards  the  old  Abbey."  A  manse  was 
erected  upon  this,  towards  which  John  Bagwell  contributed  £140,  John  Darner 
(of  Shronell)  £61  7s.  6d.,  and  Jeremiah  Vickars  £50.  John  Bagwell,  Richard 
Hutchison  and  John  Perry,  by  deed  27th  November,  1747,  agreed  to 
secure  Mackay  during  his  residence  £15  each  a  year. 


History  of  Clonmel.  295 

Rev.  John  Patten  succeeded  Mackay  in  1756,  and  the  trustees  renewed 
the  agreement  for  his  maintenance  "  as  long  as  his  deportment  and  behaviour 
as  their  stated  minister  and  preacher  of  the  Gospel  shall  be  agreeable  to  the 
majority  of  said  congregation  and  no  longer."  During  this  period  the 
congregation  continued  to  dwindle,  for  in  September  1770,  a  prominent 
member,  William  Perry  describes  it  as  "  sinking  *VwA  Patten  lived  in 
later  years  at  Annerville,  which  he  built,  dying  there  in  1787. 

About  1789,  Dr.  William  Campbell  came  to  Clonmel  fresh  from  his 
conflict  with  Woodward,  Protestant  bishop  of  Cloyne  (v).  He  had  previously 
been  minister  at  Armagh,  and  in  earlier  life  a  tutor  with  the  Bagwells. 
To  this,  his  introduction  to  Clonmel  is  probably  traceable.  Though  writing 
in  defence  of  the  Irish  Presbyterians,  it  is  clear  from  his  description  of  the 
teaching  of  St.  Athanasius  as  "vain  questions  of  a  vain  philosophy,"  that 
his  real  principles  were  Unitarian.  His  first  pamphlet  was  "A  Vindication 
of  the  Principles  and  Character  of  the  Presbyterians  of  Ireland,"  (74pp. 
Dublin,  1787).  He  subsequently  wrote  a  reply  to  the  bishop's  "Apologists" 
extending  to  2 16  pages.  A  friendly  carricaturist  of  the  day  published  a 
woodcut  representing  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne  sitting  in  an  arm  chair,  Campbell 
busy  shaving  him,  with  Father  O'Leary  holding  the  basin.  During  his 
incumbency,  the  Unitarian  congregation  (as  it  had  now  become),  removed 
from  the  old  Abbey  to  the  present  meeting  house  in  Nelson  Street, 
which  was  built  on  a  site  given  free  of  rent  by  John  Bagwell.  Dr.  Campbell 
died  in  advanced  old  age  in  1805. 

Rev.  James  Worrall  succeeded  in  1807.  He  was  a  native  of  Limerick,  a 
graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  for  some  years  "minister  of  the  first 
congregation  "  Lame.  After  Gilbertian  fashion  he,  for  a  considerable  period, 
held  the  position  of  post  master  of  Clonmel  simultaneously  with  his 
religious  office. 

Rev.  William  Crozier  followed  about  1824.  During  his  period,  the 
establishing  of  the  distillery  at  Marlfield,  and  the  opening  of  the  Provincial 
Bank,  considerably  enlarged  the  congregation.  The  new-comers,  mainly 
Scotch  or  Scoto-Irish,  characteristically  took  an  active  part  in  the  controversy 
which  broke  out  again  in  1827  as  to  Unitarian  or  Trinitarian  doctrine.  Event- 
ually the  great  mass  seceded  and  formed  the  Scots'  Chtu-ch  in  Anglesea  Street. 

(u)  W.  Perry  to  G.  Maquay,  12th  September,  1770 — Perry  Papers.  Patten  married  Margaret 
Colville,  and  their  daughter  Jane  became  wife  to  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  brother  of  the*  celebrated 
Robert  Emmet.  William  Colville,  brother  of  Margaret,  was  founder  of  the  Dublin  mercantile  house, 
corn  merchants,  bank  and  railway  directors.  Their  association  with  Clonmel  is  still  recorded  by  the 
"  Colville  Road." 

(v)  This  was  a  pamphlet  war  on  tithes  carried  on  by  Woodward,  Rev.  Robert  Burrowes,  Rev. 
Dr.  Stock,  Dominick  Trant,  B.L.,  A  Layman,  etc.,  on  the  one  side,  Rev,  Arthur  O'Leary,  Rev.  Dr. 
Campbell,  Rev.  Samuel  Barber,  on  the  other. 


296  History  of  Clonmel. 

Rev.  James  Orr  succeeded  in  1833.  With  his  death  in  1882  passed  away 
the  oldest  Protestant  body  in  the  town.  Founded  by  the  Cromwellian  settlers 
on  puritanical  principles,  it  followed  these  principles  consistently  to  their 
issue  in  Unitarianism. 


The  Society  of  Friends  date  their  origin  in  Clonmel  to  the  Restoration 
period.  The  earliest  member  was  George  Collett,  a  glover  from  Highworth, 
Wiltshire,  who  took  a  house  in  West  Gate  Street.  He  was  followed  by  John 
Jolly  of  Lancashire,  Robert  Bird,  Charles  Howell,  Samuel  Cherry  and  others. 
As  they  refused  to  pay  tithes,  they  afford  the  earliest  example  of  "  passive 
resistance." 

1675.  John  Fennel  for  tithes  claimed  for  the  Bishop  of  Waterford,  had  taken  from 
him  by  John  MacKeogh,  David  Hussey,  and  William  Kelly,  by  order  of  Richard 
Dennison,  48  fleeces  of  wool,  40  lambs,  6  loads  of  Bear,  16  loads  of  Peas,  8  loads  of  Wheat 
and  16  loads  of  Barley,  all  worth  £9  19s. 

George  Collett  for  One  pound  two  shillings  eight  pence  demanded  for  the 
maintenance  of  Samuel  Ladyman,  Priest  of  Clonmel,  had  taken  from  him  by  John  West, 
Warden,  pewter  worth  one  pound  ten  shillings. 

Joshua  Fennel  had  taken  from  him  by  John  Farrel  of  Clonmel,  Tithemonger, 
15  truckle  loads  of  Hay  worth  about  one  pound. 

1681.  George  Collet  of  Clonmel,  for  £i  2s.  6d.  demanded  by  Samuel  Ladyman, 
Priest,  had  taken  from  him  by  Edward  Kippin,  Warden,  I  warming  pan,  I  kettle, 
I  copper  tankard,  I  pewter  beaker,  I  spit,  worth  £i  17s.  9d.  (w), 

Bv  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Quakers  had  grown  sufficiently 
numerous  to  have  a  meeting  house.  Stephen  and  Joseph  Collet  granted,  in 
1699,  a  site  for  the  purpose  in  Mary  Street,  and  contributed  £30  to  the  building 
fund.  Education  was  also  provided  for.  At  Knockgraffon  meeting  I2th 
August,  1701,  it  was  ordered  that  Samuel  Cooke — 

Write  to  William  Dower  an  English  young  man,  being  a  scullm aster  and  hier  him 
for  one  year  to  teache  friends  children  belonging  unto  this  and  our  six  weeks  meeting. 
Clonmel  is  the  place  opinted  too  settle  said  scull  in  the  meeting  house  for  the  present 
untill  Remuft  by  concent  and  order  of  this  meeting. 

Ordered  by  this  meeting  that  all  such  friends  that  have  sons  abroad  at  scull  do 
bring  them  home  and  send  them  to  our  Schull  at  Clonmel  (x). 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  century  the  body  was  largely  increased  by 
new-comers  from  Waterford  and  elsewhere.  Among  them  were  Richard 
Sparrow  from  Wexford,  Solomon  Watson  from  Carlow,  John  Malcomson, 
Robert  Dudley,  Thomas  Rigg  and  several  others.  Unlike  the  English  and 
American  Quakers,  they  devoted  themselves  almost  exclusively  to  trade  and 

(w)  *'  The  Great  Cry  of  Oppression,  or  .1  Brief  Relation  of  some  part  of  the  Suli'erings  of  the 
People  of  God,  in  scorn  called  Quakers,  in  Ireland  1671-1681.     Printed  in  ye  year  1683." 
(x)  Information  fenes  J.  E.  Grubb,  Esq. 


History  of  Clonmel.  297 

manufactures.  They  monopolized  the  corn  trade  at  the  period  of  its  greatest 
prosperity ;  they  founded  the  provision  trade  in  Clonmel ;  they  engaged  in 
brewing,  in  farming,  and  in  general  shopkeeping.  Indeed,  during  the  early 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Clonmel  was  known  as  one  of  the  "  Quaker 
Towns  "  of  the  south.  And  they  used  their  wealth  sanely.  Music  apart,  they 
reached  a  high  level  of  culture.  It  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the  exquisite 
judgment  with  which  they  selected  for  their  houses,  the  beautiful  sites  of  the 
neighbourhood.  They  took  a  leading  part  in  all  charitable  and  social 
movements :  the  sick,  the  prisoners  in  iail,  the  destitute,  all  occupied  their 
attention.  They  made  the  first  effort,  on  a  large  scale,  to  relieve  suffering — the 
House  of  Industry — "a  building,"  to  use  the  language  of  a  contemporary, 
"  that  redounds  immortal  honour  on  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  especially  on 
Robert  Grubb,  whose  unremitted  labours  and  charitable  exertions  towards 
meliorating  the  situation  of  the  poor  inhabitants  of  Clonmel,  will  never  be 
forgotten  "  (y). 

John  Wesley  visited  Clonmel  three  times,  June  1750,  May  1756,  and  May 
1787.  On  the  occasion  of  his  second  visit  he  recorded  in  his  Journal  the 
following  description  of  the  town : — 

It  is  the  pleasantest  town  beyond  all  comparison,  which  I  have  seen  in  Ireland.  It 
has  four  broad,  straight  streets  of  well-built  houses,  which  cross  each  other  in  the  centre 
of  the  town.  Close  to  the  walls  on  the  south  side,  runs  a  broad  clear  river.  Beyond 
this  rises  a  green  and  fruitful  mountain  which  hangs  over  the  town.  The  vale  runs 
many  miles,  both  east  and  west,  and  is  well  cultivated  throughout 

(y)  Monk  Mason  Survey,  1813. — P.K.O.  Mention  must  here  be  made  of  a  religious  development 
to  find  a  parallel  to  which,  one  must  go  back  to  the  early  years  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany. 
This  was  "White  Quakerism."  About  1830,  Joshua  Jacob,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
in  Clonmel,  began  to  have  revelations.  He  was  at  the  time  a  young  man  of  twenty-five  and  possessing 
a  great  power  of  Scriptural  phraseology,  soon  obtained  an  ascendancy  over  the  younger  members 
of  the  body.  Clad  in  white,  he  began  a  public  mission,  exhorting  all  persons  to  simplicity  and  purity  of 
life,  and  on  one  occasion  filled  the  town  with  sightseers  to  witness  his  walking  on  the  wafers  of  the  Suir. 
Being  disowned  by  the  Friends  in  1838,  he  retired  to  Mountmellick,  where  in  the  years  1843-4  he 
published  "  Some  Account  of  the  Progress  of  the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  This  is  in  four  volumes, 
over  2000  pages,  and  is  made  up  of  narratives,  ejaculations,  hymns  and  letters  by  Jacob  himself  and  some 
of  his  followers,  especially  Abigail  Beale  and  Mary  Pym,  no  small  portion  t)eing  devoted  to  abuse  of 
members  of  the  Jacob  family  and  the  Friends  in  general.  From  Mountmellick  he  removed  to  Dublin 
where  he  rented  a  disused  hotel  on  Arran  Quay,  now  known  as  Ganly's  wool  mart.  Here  the  sect 
took  definite  shape;  they  dressed  in  white,  destroyed  ornaments  in  houses  and  interpreted  the  Bible 
in  a  sort  of  spiritual  sense.  Being  summoned  before  the  Chancellor,  Lord  St.  Leonards,  and  Master 
Litton  in  connection  with  some  trust  property,  Jacob  anathematized  '*  Edward  Sugden  and  thy  man 
Litton,"  and  was  committed  to  prison  for  contempt  of  court.  While  in  the  Marshalsea  he  addressed 
to  Mullins,  the  governor,  a  series  of  letters  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  to  the  Governor  of  the  prison 
called  of  men  the  Four  Courts."  Indeed  throughout  this  period,  Jacob  divided  public  attention 
equally  with  O'Connell.  In  1849  he  established  a  community  at  Newlands,  near  Dublin,  who  used 
no  meat,  lived  on  bruised  corn  and  afforded  hospitality  to  all  comers.  The  police  had  more  than 
once  to  put  the  house  in  order.  Some  years  later  he  re-entered  business  at  Celbridge,  and  marrying 
secondly  a  Catholic,  brought  up  a  large  family  all  Catholics.  Kis  closing  years  were  spent  in  Wales, 
and  when  he  died,  15th  February,  1877,  Joshua  Jacob  and  the  "White  Quiers"  were  only  a  memory. 
He  is  buried  in  Glasnevin. 


298  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  Methodist  community  in  Clonmel,  probably  dates  its  origin  to  the 
third  visit.  The  earliest  chapel  was  built  in  Gordon  Street  about  that  period. 
In  1817  a  schism  occurred  among  the  Irish  Methodists  upon  the  question  of 
"  the  administration  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  by  the  preachers." 
Those  who  adhered  in  Clonmel  to  the  older  practice,  seceded  and  formed  a 
Conference  of  the  "  Primitive  Methodist  Society."  They  built  a  chapel  for 
themselves  in  Mary  Street,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Protestant 
Parochial  Hall.  The  old  chapel  in  Gordon  Street,  was  replaced  in  1843,  by 
an  imposing  structure  with  a  good  classic  fagade.  The  schism  of  1817  was 
closed,  and  a  re-union  of  the  Methodist  churches  effected  in  1878.  Finally  in 
1900,  Rev.  Thomas  Moran,  superintendent  minister,  and  Mr.  J.  R.  Hadden, 
circuit  steward,  encouraged  by  a  grant  from  the  Methodist  Twentieth  Century 
Fund,  secured  a  site  in  Anglesea  Street.  Funds  were  collected  by  Mr.  Moran 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  as  well  as  throughout  the  United  Kingdom, 
for  a  new  church  and  manse.  The  buildings  were  completed  and  the  church 
opened  for  worship,  December  1st,  1905  (z). 


(z)  For  many  years  Clonmel  formed  part  ol  Waterford  circuit.  Since  then  the  Superintendent 
Ministers  have  been  James  Murdock,  Robert  Hazelton,  John  Higgins,  Thomas  Cooke,  John  C.  Storey, 
Martin  Hynes,  Mortlock  Long,  William  B.  Monohan,  Thomas  Rothwell,  John  Carson,  James  C. 
Waugh,  W.  K.  Carson,  W.  J.  Clayton,  Thomas  Moran,  Xalh.  R.  Haskins,  Harry  N.  Kevin  and 
Thomas  Forde. 

The  authorities  for  foregoing  account  of  Dissent  in  Clonmel,  are  mainly  papers  of  late  Rev. 
James  Orr;  information  supplied  by  J.  E.  Grubb,  Esq.,  Carrick-on-Suir,  Rev.  Thomas  Forde,  Clonmel. 


Ohapxer  XIV. 


THE  FRANCISCAN  HOUSE. 

CHE  great  Franciscan  movement  of  the  thirteenth  century  was  some- 
what late  in  reaching  Clonmel.  Though  the  Friars  were  established 
in  Waterford  previous  to  1240,  and  in  Cashel  about  1250,  they  did 
not  obtain  a  permanent  settlement  in  Clonmel  until  1269  (^^)-  That 
year,  according  to  the  contemporary  annals  of  the  Friars'  Minors  of 
Multif ernan,  "  there  was  a  location  at  Clonmel  "  (bb).  In  the  early  freshness 
of  the  Franciscan  spirit,  there  could  be  no  question  of  taking  possession  of  a 
house ;  St  Francis'  threat  of  pulling  down  "  the  Friars'  House  "  at  Bologna 
was  not  yet  forgotten,  and  their  first  "  location  "  was  probably  a  simple  hut 
close  to  the  river  in  the  most  obscure  corner  of  the  town. 

The  introduction  of  the  Friars  is  variously  assigned  to  the  Earl  of 
Desmond,  to  the  townsmen,  or  to  Otho  De  Grandison  (cc).  The  truth  appears 
to  be  that  the  actual  founder  was  Henry  III.  For  throughout  the  period 
1244-81  the  town  was  in  the  hands  of  the  king.  De  Grandison's  connection 
with  Clonmel  did  not  date  for  twelve  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Friars,  nor 
Desmond's  for  seventy.  And  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  spread  of 
the  Franciscan  Order  in  Ireland  was  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
}s\ng(dd).  But  that  Otho  De  Grandison  and  the  Desmonds  enlarged  the 
original  foundation  is  certain;  the  tradition  of  their  association  with  the 
house  was  still  fresh  in  the  seventeenth  century,  if  not  actually  recorded  in 
the  Friars'  obituary. 


(aa)  Ward's  account  of  the  Irish  Franciscan  Houses,  written  in  Louvain  in  1630,  states  that  they 
were  in  Clonmel  earlier,  but  he  gives  no  authority. 

(hh)  Locus  captus  est  apud  Clonmele. — Archceol.  Socy.  Tracts.  II.,  p.  15. 

(cc)  Wadding,  Ware,  Allemande,  etc. 

(dd)  For  instance,  Henry  gave  building  grants  to  Dublin  and  Waterford,  and  yearly  grants  to 
purchase  100  tunics  for  the  Irish  Friars,  etc. 


300  History  of  Clonmel. 

As  the  years  lapsed  and  the  gifts  of  the  people  increased,  the  original 
"  location  "  gave  way  to  a  stately  church  and  convent.  Luke  Wadding 
who  in  the  early  seventeenth  century  saw  the  church  in  its  last  phase, 
enthusiastically  describes  it  as  "a  temple  lofty  and  spacious,  its  great 
windows  filled  with  representations  in  stained  glass  "  (ee).  It  was  built  in  that 
noblest  of  Gothic  styles,  the  Early  English,  the  probable  dimensions  being 
100  feet  long  by  24  feet  2  inches  wide  ;  a  transept  at  the  south  side  forming 
the  Lady  Chapel  gave  additional  space  (JSO-  The  finest  feature  in  the  church 
was  the  choir;  the  east  window  had  a  triplet  of  lancets,  the  inner  jambs  of  which 
were  ornamented  with  nook-shafts  having  elaborate  Early  English  capitals. 
The  moulded  bases  and  annulets  closely  resembled  some  in  Christ  Church, 
Dublin,  and  were  suggestive  of  the  "  Glastonbury  School  " ;  the  wall  space  in 
each  side  was  filled  by  a  row  of  seven  tall  lancets  whose  interior  splays  meeting, 
gave  lightness  to  the  whole,  while  the  great  depth  of  the  walls  gave  strength. 
In  the  fifteenth  century  the  changing  spirit  of  the  Franciscan  Order  led  to 
corresponding  alterations  in  the  fabric  itself.  The  Friars  had  approximated 
to  the  rule  of  the  older  Cisterciansand  Benedictines,  a  choir  being  formed  and 
the  divine  offices  regularly  recited  in  church.  The  present  tower  was  there- 
fore erected  in  the  centre  of  the  building,  dividing  it  almost  into  equal  parts. 
The  east  end  formed  the  conventual  choir;  the  west  end  was  the  public 
church.  The  narrow  arch  (ll  feet  6  inches)  in  the  tower  communicating 
between  the  two  parts  of  the  church,  afforded  space  in  front  of  its  piers  in  the 
lay  church  for  two  altars.  The  original  pitch  of  the  roof  can  be  seen  in  the 
line  of  the  dripstones  in  the  tower. 

Round  the  old  Friary  naturally  clustered  many  a  tradition.  Wadding 
has  recorded  a  few. 

Edmund  Butler,  Baron  of  Cahir,  according  to  his  custom,  was  one  day  hearing 
mass  in  this  church  when  word  was  brought  that  the  Earl  of  Ormond  and  the  Baron 
of  Dunboyne,  with  their  followers  in  great  force,  were  invading  his  territory.  Without 
the  least  sign  of  being  disconcerted,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  remain  to  the  end  of  mass. 
For  he  thought  it  unworthy  for  any  human  consideration,  to  lose  mass  by  which, 
through  the  power  of  prayer,  the  enemy  might  be  more  easily  overcome  than  by  military 
force.  Moreover,  one  could  suffer  no  great  loss  who  neglected  everything  rather  than 
leave  the  divine,  propitiatory  sacrifice,  uncompleted.  Nor  was  he  disappointed  For 
when  mass  was  over,  he  with  a  few  relatives  and  fighting  men,  delivered  an  attack, 
recovered  spoils  and  prey,  upset  the  design  of  a  powerful  enemy,  and  put  them  to 
disgraceful  flight  (gg). 

(cc)  Templum  altuiii  et  amplum,  fenestris  magnis  vari- colore  vitro  depictis  emblematibus 
specionem. — Annals  ad  an,  1269. 

(ff)  These  particulars  of  the  ancient  church  were  obtained  in  1883  at  the  rebuilding.  The  total 
length  is  conjectured  from  the  position  of  the  tower. 

(i^)  This  is  an  echo  of  the  incident  related  by  Fordun  (Scotichronicon  p.  722,  Ed.  1722),  of  Robin 
Hood  who — 

Every  day  or  [before]  he  woulde  dyne 
Tiire  messes  wolde  he  here. 


History  of  Clonmel.  soi 

God  manifested  the  power  of  St.  Francis  by  one  or  two  miracles  in  this  convent. 
A  certain  man  treated  the  Friars  with  contumely.  Being  told  to  beware  of  the  knotty 
cord  or  cincture  of  St.  Francis,  he  said  he  cared  little  about  St.  Francis  or  his  cord. 
That  night  in  bed,  he  received  such  a  scourging  that  he  actually  died  in  the 
arms  of  his  friends,  crying  out  St.  Francis  was  killing  him  and  the  cord 
torturing  him. 

For  many  years  the  statue  of  St.  Francis  was  kept  in  the  sacristy.  By  it  more 
than  once,  perjurers  were  confounded.  A  woman  on  one  occasion  denial  on  oath  she 
had  stolen  certain  clothing.  But  no  sooner  had  she  sworn,  than  the  clothing  hidden 
away  in  some  corner,  at  once  appeared  at  her  very  feet.  In  terror  she  confessed  her 
sin  and  did  penance. 

The  "  Gray  Friars  of  Clonmel  "  was  the  Campo  Santo  not  only  of  the  town 
but  of  the  district.  "  Many  tombs  of  the  old  families  "  says  Wadding  "  made 
of  black  marble,  may  be  seen  in  the  church — Prendergasts,  Mandevilles, 
Walls,  Whites,  Brays,  Moronys  and  other  notables."  The  wills  also  give 
evidence  of  this.  Thomas  Prendergast  fitz  Geffery  of  Newcastle  in  1626. 
"In  Nomine  Dei,  Amen.  I  comit  my  soule  to  the  Holye  Trinitye,  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Marye,  and  to  all  the  Saints  in  Heaven,  and  doe  appoint 
my  body  to  bee  buryed  in  Saint  Francis  at  Clonmelle  with  my  ancestors." 
John  White  fitz  GefFery  in  1614  commends  "my  sole  to  God  Almyghtie 
my  Creator  and  Redeemer  and  my  body  to  be  buryed  in  S.  ffrancis 
abbay  in  myne  ancestors  buriall."  Catherine  White  fitz  Thomas  in  1625 
"  ffirst  I  comitt  my  soule  to  the  holy  Trinitie  to  our  blessed  Lady,  the  virgin 
Mary  and  to  all  the  saintes  in  heaven.  I  doe  constitut  that  my  boddie  be 
buried  in  y*  abbie  of  St.  fFrauncis  in  Clonmel."  John  Bray  in  1632  "  calling  to 
mynde  how  certayne  is  death  to  every  creature  living  in  this  world  and  how 
uncertaine  is  the  tyme  of  the  same"  bequeaths  "my  sowle  to  the  father, 
son  and  holly  Ghoste,  three  persons  in  one  deitie,  and  to  the  blessed  and 
imaculat  virgin  Marie,  and  all  the  holly  company  of  heaven,  and  my  boddy 
to  be  buried  with  my  auncestors,  in  the  holly  confessor  St.  ffrancis  his 
monastery  in  Clonmell."  Of  the  black  marble  tombs  described  by  Wadding 
but  two  remain.  These  however,  are  of  the  highest  interest.  "In  the  middle  of 
the  choir  "  he  writes  "  lies  the  distinguished  Baron  of  Cahir,  in  an  elevated 
marble  monument  adorned  with  effigies  and  statues."  The  monument  has 
been  partly  reconstructed  in  a  recess  beneath  the  tower,  and  from  the  existing 
remains  one  may  realize  its  original  appearance.  It  was  a  table-tomb  of  the 
fifteenth  century  type.  Round  the  sides,  under  canopies  supported  by 
pillarettes,  were  figures  of  the  apostles  carved  in  high  relief.  These  though 
exceedingly  rude,  are  touching  from  their  sincerity  and  earnestness. 
Simnounting  the  whole  were  the  recumbent  figures  of  the  baron  and  his  lady, 
carved  "in  the  solid"  on  a  huge  block  of  Kilkenny  marble,  eight  feet  in 
length  by  four  feet  four  inches  wide. 


302  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  figures  of  the  baron  and  his  lady  still  exist,  together  with  five  of  the 
apostles.  The  former  is  clad  in  plate-armour  with  a  hauberk  or  cowl  of 
chain  mail.  The  figure  as  usual,  has  sword  and  belt,  but  the  hands  lie  loosely 
on  the  body  instead  of  being  joined  in  the  customary  way.  The  lady  exhibits 
the  costume  of  the  early  fifteenth  century,  stiff-plaited  skirt  and  tight-fitting 
boddice,  with  huge,  horned  head-gear.  At  the  feet  of  the  baron  is  the  lion 
emblematic  of  strength,  while  beneath  the  wife  is  the  dog,  to  typify  her 
fidelity.  The  shield,  which  is  placed  between  the  heads  of  the  figures, 
is  charged  with  the  arms  of  the  Cahir  branch  of  the  Butlers ;  in  dexter  chief 
three  covered  cups,  in  base  a  fesse  indented  on  which  is  a  cross.  The 
inscription  begins  at  the  left  corner  and  is  carried  along  the  length  and  so 
round  the  edge  to  the  starting  point  when  it  takes  the  inner  line.  Except 
where  broken  it  is  quite  legible. 

6ic  3acet  )acobii$  oaidp  niius  cotnitis  ormonie 

anno  dotnini  1431*  Obiit  petrtis  buttikr  « 

[mcCC]  C£XIIII  tDomas  pctii  buttpllcr  anno  « 

domini  mCCCCCXVIIIL   Obiit  €dnittndii$  tDomc  niii 

pctii  bttttpllcr  anno  domini  1533  [CatDciina]  poer  uxor  cdmundi « 

bttttpllcr  anno  domini  1512  Orate  pro  animabus  tDomc  buttpllcr  ct  * 

€lenc  bttttpllcr  uxoris  c)ii$  aui  Doc  opii$  fieri 

rcccnint  anno  domini  153   .  .  .  . 

[Translation.] 

Here  lies  James  Galdy, 
Son  of  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1431. 

Peter  Buttiller  died  1464. 

Thomas  fitz  Peter  Buttyller  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1468. 

Edmund  the  son  of  Thomas  fitz  Peter  Buttyller,  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1533. 

[Catherine]  Poer  wife  of  Edmund  Butler,  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  1512. 

Pray  for  the  Souls  of  Thomas  Buttyller  and  Ellen  Buttyller  his  wife 

Who  had  this  work  made  in  the  year  of  the  Lord  153 — 

James  Galdy,  the  founder  of  the  Cahir  house,  was  an  illegitimate  son  of 
James,  third  Earl  of  Ormond,  by  Catherine,  daughter  of  Lord  Desmond.  He 
was  called  5^^^*^^  or  the  foreigner,  possibly  from  expeditions  as  a  soldier  of 
fortune  abroad.  He  obtained  the  Cahir  estate  from  his  father  who  had  been 
granted  it  1375.  Peter  Butler  named  was  grandson  of  James  Galdy ;  the 
others,  Thomas,  Edmund  and  Thomas  are  the  successive  generations,  the 
last-named  being  created  first  baron  of  Cahir,  loth  November,  1543. 

Perhaps  of  even  greater  interest,  though  not  so  old,  was  the  tomb  of  John 
White  fitz  Geoffrey,  first  mayor  of  Clonmel.  This  was  removed  from  the 
church  very  many  years  ago  to  St  Mary's  Catholic  church,  where  it  may  still 
be  seen.    It  consists  of  a  deeply  sunk  panel,  well  moulded.    In  the  centre  are 


History  of  Clonmel.  303 

the  White  arms.  For  distinction  there  are  two  angels  as  supporters.  These 
are  very  crude,  though  their  drapery  shows  Renaissance  influence.  An 
esquire's  helmet,  surrounded  by  pipey  foliage,  is  placed  over  the  shield,  the 
crest  being  an  archer  demy.    The  inscription  is — 

Itisiatiia  joamits  WDitc  armlaciis 

Quondam  cotnit  palatini  Cipperariae  $ene$c^al 

Comttati  Watcrrordiac  olcKomifis  Clonmel  piiml  majoris 

Sic  transit  mundi  aloria 

ikncdictiis  Vitus  Dacrcs  dicti  Joannis 

et  Jllsona  Daec  fieri  rcccmnt  1615* 

[  Translation.] 

The  arms  of  John  White  Esquire, 

Sometime  Seneschal  of  the  County  Palatine  of  Tipperary, 

Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Waterford,  First  Mayor  of  Clonmel. 

So  the  glory  of  the  world  passes  away. 

Benedict  White  heir  of  the  said  John,  and  Ellice 

Got  this  made  1615. 

The  subtle  parade  of  family  honours  is  pardonable,  since  no  less  a 
personage  than  Richard  Boyle  (afterwards  the  great  Earl  of  Cork)  was  proud 
to  count  these  people  his  cousins  fhh). 

Thus  for  centuries  stood  the  old  Friary,  a  light  to  the  living  and  a  shelter 
to  the  dead.  And  when  the  Reformation  came  the  friars  were  not  unprepared. 
Some  years  earlier  they  had  gone  back  to  the  primitive  rule  with  its  fearful 
austerities  fit).  Men  who  had  sacrificed  everything  else  could  easily  give  up 
life  itself,  and  therefore  they  off'ered  Henry  a  strenuous  resistance.  Those 
who  surrendered  their  monasteries  peaceably  to  the  king  received  life 
pensions ;  but  we  read  the  pension  lists  in  vain  for  the  names  of  the  Friars 
Minors.    The  fate  of  Clonmel  house  we  learn  from  the  following  : — 

Monastery  of  St  ffrancis. 

An  inquisition  was  held  in  Clonmel,  in  the  Co.  Tipperary,  on  the  Monday  after 
Dominica  in  albis,  in  the  thirty  first  regnal  year  of  Henry  VIII.  (1540),  in  presence  of 
John  Alen,  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  by  the  undersigned  etc.  who  state  upon  oath 

That  the  monastery  of  St.  ffrancis  in  Clonemell  otherwise  called  "The  graye 
ffreyres  of  Clonemell "  was  founded  at  a  time  of  which  the  memory  of  man  does  not 
exist  to  the  contrary,  and  that  the  said  monastery  contains  within  its  precincts  a  church, 
a  bell-tower,  a  dormitory,  three  chambers,  a  kitchen,  a  stable,  etc,  two  gardens,  an  acre 
and  four  messuages,  four  gardens,  six  acres  of  arable  land,  a  stang  and  a  weir  with  its 
belongings,  all  in  Clonmell  aforesaid,  and  two  acres  of  arable  land  in  "  le  Newton  de  la 
Annor "  with  their  appurtenances,  as  also  two  acres  with  their  appurtenances  in  le 
[blank.] 

fhh)  Jnn.  1615,  my  Cozen  John  White  ffitz  Geffrey  of  Clonmell  owes  me  that  1  lent  himself  ;f  31  los. 

ster.  and  to  his  son  Bennett  in  England  other  £S my  cozen  Alsen  White  and  her  son 

Bennett  Whyte  ow  me  by  their  bill  ;f  20. — Boyle's  Diary. 

(it)  The  House  of  Clonmel  adopted  the  Strict  Observance  in  1536. 


304  HISTORY   OF  CLONMEL. 

That  Robert  Travers,  late  guardian  or  custodian  of  the  said  monastery,  was  seized 
in  fee  and  by  right  of  the  said  monastery,  and  being  so  seized  and  so  forth,  the 
said  monastery  and  so  forth  on  the  28  day  of  March  in  the  thirty  first  of  the  said  King, 
was  taken  in  virtue  of  a  Commission  dated,  and  so  forth.  And  also  that  the  said 
Robert  late  guardian  and  the  friars  then  left,  so  that  the  said  monastery  was  totally 
dissolved  and  continues  so. 

That  the  provost  of  the  town  of  Clonemell  and  all  his  predecessors,  enjoyed  a  chief 
rent  of  6s.  8d.  yearly,  derivable  from  the  foresaid  monastery,  and  that  Robert  Travers 
late  guardian  by  his  deed  indented  bearing  date  20  March,  1 536,  convey^  to  James 
White  of  Clonmel,  merchant,  a  haggard  for  a  term  of  years  at  the  yearly  rent  of  6s.  8d. 

That  the  said  late  guardian  by  his  deed  indented,  bearing  date  the  Vigil  of  the 
Annunciation  1 530,  conveyed  to  Nicholas  Mulroney,  his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever, 
a  piece  of  ground  within  the  said  town  with  its  appurtenances,  paying  2s.  rent  yearly  at 
the  Feasts  etc. 

That  the  said  guardian  by  his  deed  indented  bearing  date  12  February,  A.D.  1537, 
conveyed  to  John  O'Homan,  cleric,  a  messuage  with  its  appurtenances  within  the 
said  town,  for  the  term  of  27  years  paying  a  yearly  rent  of  6s :  that  the  said  Robert 
by  his  deed  etc  on  the  Vigil  of  the  Annunciation  1530,  conveyed  to  Nicholas  Mulrony 
his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever,  a  piece  of  ground  ten  feet  long,  paying  yearly  2s.  rent ; 
that  the  foresaid  Robert  on  the  said  28**^  of  March  was  seized  in  fee  of  the  foresaid 
rents  of  said  premises  with  their  reservations  and  reversions. 

But  of  what  person  or  persons,  the  said  monastery  and  its  possessions,  are  held, 
and  by  what  services,  who  was  or  were  the  founders  of  the  said  monastery,  the  jurors 
are  altogether  ignorant  (jj). 

Two  years  later,  1st  September,  1542,  a  commission  was  directed  to  the 
Lord  Deputy,  the  Chancellor,  Gerald  Aylmer  and  William  Brabazon,  to 
sell  and  dispose  of  all  the  sites  and  possessions  of  friars'  houses  in  Ireland, 
reserving  a  reasonable  rent  to  the  Crown  (kk).  In  pursuance  of  this 
commission  the  Friary  was  sold  May  9th,  1543,  the  price  paid  being 
apparently  £48. 

1542.  The  halfindell  of  the  Friary  Clonemell  to  the  Sovereign  and  Commonalty 
there,  24//. 

The  other  half  to  the  Lord  of  Ormond,  24//. 

The  following  are  abstracts  of  the  conveyances. 

Grant  to  John  Stridche,  Sovereign  of  the  town  of  Clonmell  and  the  commonalty,  of 
a  moiety  of  the  hous^  or  monastery  of  Friars  Minors  of  Clonmell,  and  the  church, 
belfry,  dormitory,  hall  and  cemetery,  and  all  lands  and  messuages  within  the  site  and 
precinct  of  the  monastery ;  and  of  a  moiety  of  all  messuages  in  Clonmell,  Newton  de 
Annour  and  near  to  Annours-bridge,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  which  were  lately 
reputed  parcel  of  the  possessions  of  the  monastery.  To  be  held  by  the  sovereign  and 
commonalty,  their  heirs,  successors  or  assigns  forever,  by  Knight's  service,  viz,,  by  the 
eighth  part  of  a  Knight's  fee— May  9,  1543. 

Grant  to  James  Butler,  Earl  of  Ormond  and  Ossory,  of  a  moiety  of  the  monastery 
of  the  Friars  Minors  of  Clonmel,  and  of  the  church  and  its  possessions ;  To  hold  for 
ever  by  Knights'  service,  viz.,  by  the  one-eight  part  of  a  Knight's  fee.  Rent  by  the 
name  of  a  twentieth  part— I2d.— May  15,  1643  (//). 

(jj)  Chief  Remembrancer,  Inquis.  Tipperary,  Hen.  VIII.  No.  5. 
(kk)  Pat.  Rot.  Hen.  VIII.,  Morrin  p.  90. 
(II)  Morrin,  p.  88. 


History  of  Clonmel.  306 

During  three  quarters  of  a  century  following  the  dissolution,  the  friars 
for  obvious  reasons,  disappeared  from  observation.  They  are  discovered 
occasionally  in  the  reports  of  spies.    On  28th  July,  1592,  for  instance — 

There  is  one  Sir  Teig  O'Swillivan  an  earnest  Precher  of  Popery  still  preaching 
from  house  to  house  in  Waterford,  Clonmel  and  Fethard  (mm). 

When,  however,  the  storm  had  partly  spent  itself,  they  returned  again  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  their  old  houses.  In  161 5  Donough  Mooney,  superior 
of  the  Irish  Franciscans,  visited  Clonmel  and  to  his  visit  we  owe  the  following 
graphic  account : — 

The  convent  of  Clonmel  in  the  diocese  of  Waterford  and  Lismore,  occupies  a 
delightful  position  on  the  bank  of  the  Suir,  in  an  angle  formed  by  the  walls.  The  Earl 
of  Desmond  is  said  to  have  been  the  founder,  but  the  citizens  claim  that  honour  for 
themselves.  At  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  the  Earl  of  Ormond  obtained 
possession  of  the  convent  and  buildings  belonging  to  it,  while  the  church,  cemetery  and 
sacristy  were  granted  to  the  citizens.  The  church  is  still  in  good  repair  and  contains 
the  burial  places  of  many  distinguished  persons.  Among  others  that  of  the  Baron  of 
Cahir,  whose  monument  made  of  marble  and  embellished  with  images  and  statues,  is 
raised  in  the  centre  of  the  choir.  In  my  time  a  heretic  who  held  the  position  of 
magistrate  in  the  town,  and  who  was  a  notorious  priest  hunter,  selected  a  burial  place 
for  himself  within  the  church,  and  was  actually  interred  beside  the  seat  of  the  priest 
and  sacred  ministers,  near  the  High  Altar.  Certain  Jesuits  and  other  ecclesiastics, 
living  in  the  town,  were  consenting  parties  to  this  and  connived  at  the  sacrilege.  Even 
the  friars  made  no  protest,  being  prevented,  it  is  said,  by  the  machinations  of  the  others. 
Thus  through  their  carelessness  the  sacred  place,  which  had  hitherto  escaped  pollution, 
was  desecrated  For  they  permitted  this  burial  to  take  place  fearing  a  greater  evil, 
they  said,  whereas  a  single  word  would  have  prevented  it  When  on  visitation  of  the 
Province  in  1615,  I  had  the  body  exhumed  by  night  and  removed  to  unconsecrated 
ground,  and  having  got  permission  from  the  Archbishop,  I  purified  the  place  by 
Asperges  (nn). 

The  church  is  much  frequented  by  the  townspeople  who  there  meet  in  prayer.  On 
Sundays  and  Holidays,  the  magistrates  as  well  as  the  people  assemble  with  great 
devotion  and  make  the  Station  as  they  call  it,  when  offerings  or  alms  are  contributed  for 
the  souls  of  the  dead.  These  are  received  by  persons  appointed  for  the  purpose,  who 
afterwards  expend  them  on  the  repair  of  the  church  buildings  and  in  support  of  the 
priests  and  the  poor.  This  custom  has  existed  from  time  immemorial,  but  a  distribution 
of  a  portion  of  the  offerings  among  the  priests  and  the  poor  is  believed  to  have  commenced 
with  the  introduction  of  the  Heresy,  for  before  that  time  the  clerjgy  had  property  of 
their  own,  and  even  now  offerings  are  made  to  them  privately.  It  is  easy  therefore  to 
believe  that  this  pious  custom  was  originally  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 
convent  buildings  in  repair,  or  for  the  benefit  of  the  friars  themselves.  This  is  the 
reason  why  the  other  ecclesiastics  are  unwilling  to  have  the  Franciscans  take  up  again 
their  residence  in  the  town.  For  twice,  in  my  recollection,  members  of  the  Order  were 
appointed  to  Clonmel  and  were  refused  admittance  by  the  townsfolk,  acting,  it  is 
thought,  under  their  influence.  The  Jesuits  have  even  alleged  that  they  have  obtained 
a  grant  of  the  convent  from  the  Pope,  but  their  efforts  to  obtain  such,  have  been 
frustrated,  and  will  be  frustrated  again  if  renewed. 

It  is  thought,  and  with  good  grounds,  that  all  the  buildings  from  Kilsheelan  Street, 
as  it  is  called,  to  the  thoroughfare  known  by  the  name  Suir  Quay-Gate  Street,  belonged 

(mm)  Rawlinson  MS.,  Bodleian. 

fnn)  Dr.  Kearney  was  Archbishop  of  Cashel;  there  was  no  Bishop  of  Waterford  from  1578  to 
1629. 

V 


306  History  of  Clonmel. 

to  the  convent,  and  that  the  houses  occupied  by  the  townspeople  along  these  streets 
were  built  by  permission  of  the  friars.  This  is  very  probable;  judging  from  the 
situation  of  the  houses  round  the  convent,  as  also  from  the  fact  that  the  domestic  offices 
of  the  monastery,  such  as  the  bakehouse  and  the  like,  lie  among  these  buildings.  Again, 
the  building  lease  of  one  of  the  houses  which  overlook  the  cemetery,  contains  a  covenant 
securing  free  access  from  the  street  to  the  monastery  and  cemetery.  Besides  these  houses 
have  neither  gardens  nor  back  yards,  but  simply  stand  between  the  streets  on  the  one 
side  and  the  convent  grounds  on  the  other.  The  mill  at  the  Gate  and  the  fishery  close 
by,  also  formed  part  of  the  possessions  of  the  friars.  These  are  called  "  The  Earl's 
Mill,"  "  The  Earl's  Fishery."  The  large  house  near  the  convent,  known  by  the  name 
of  "The  Earl's  Court,"  is  also  supposed  to  have  been  their  property.  For  it  was 
customary  among  Irish  noblemen  to  erect  edifices  of  this  sort  as  places  of  retreat, 
within  the  bounds  of  the  monasteries  they  founded,  and  hand  them  over  to  the  friars 
that  they  might  be  always  kept  in  readiness  for  their  reception.  Others  however,  say 
that  this  house  never  belonged  to  the  monastery. 

All  the  buildings  (except  those  mentioned  above  as  being  in  possession  of  the 
citizens,  and  except  the  cloister),  have  fallen  into  ruin.  The  Earl  of  Ormond  has  put  into 
repair  some  parts  of  what  was  formerly  the  infirmary.  This  he  has  for  a  residence  with 
the  adjoining  garden.  Helen  de  Barry  has  by  dower,  these  premises — she  was  widow 
of  the  late  Earl  of  Ormond  and  is  now  married  to  Sir  Thomas  Somerset.  I  went  to  her 
with  the  request  that  she  would  bestow  the  place  on  the  friars,  but  she  refused  to  hear 
me,  acting  it  may  be  on  some  such  advice  as  I  have  alluded  to  when  treating  of  Cashel  (oo). 
Mass  is  sometimes  celebrated  and  sermons  preached  in  the  church.  A  citizen  notwith- 
standing my  opposition,  has  constructed  a  burial  place  for  himself  in  one  of  the  chapels  in 
the  very  spot  where  stood  a  wooden  Altar,  on  which  I  have  often  seen  the  holy  sacrifice 
offered.  I  promised  to  keep  this  in  mind,  that  in  happier  times  the  brethren  may  know 
what  to  do. 

I  have  no  information  regarding  the  friars  of  Clonmel  except  that  I  read  in  an 
ancient  manuscript  that  they  took  possession  of  the  convent  in  1269.  A  priest  named 
Maurice,  who  was  put  to  death  for  the  faith  by  the  heretics  in  Clonmel  about  1589,  was 
interred  here.    His  relics  were  placed  at  the  back  of  the  High  Altar  (pp). 

Mooney's  account  may  be  supplemented  by  some  details  obtained  from 
a  seventeenth  century  map  of  the  town. 

Where  the  Main  Guard  now  stands  was  a  row  of  small  holdings,  extending 
halfway  down  Duncan,  or  as  it  was  then  styled  "  Boat "  Street,  as  far  as  Bank 
lane  which  appears  from  the  map  to  have  been  a  passage  enclosed  by  a  gateway, 
leading  into  ''The  Abbey  Grounds" — a  great  open  space,  thinly  planted  with 
trees.  In  the  centre  of  these  grounds  stood  the  Franciscan  Friary,  a  large  building 
in  the  olden  time  and  one  of  the  most  splendid  houses  of  the  Order  in  Ireland  as  regards 
its  internal  decoration.  The  town  wall,  which  formed  the  boundary,  extended  from 
the  end  of  Dublin  or  as  it  was  then  called  "Sheelane"  Street,  where  the  eastern  gate 
stood,  down  to  the  verge  of  the  river.  Two  circular  embattled  towers  stood  side  by 
side,  nearly  opposite  Abbey  Street ;  while  a  heavy  quadrangular  structure  called  "  The 
Bastion"  at  the  end  of  Boate  Street  protected  "The  Water  Sate."  Some  two  or 
three  large  com  stores  now  occupy  the  site  of  "  The  Bastion."  About  midway  between 
"  The  Bastion  "  and  the  eastern  wall  of  the  town  stood  "  His  Grace's  Mansion."  It 
was  a  long  building  stretching  across  the  present  Abbey  Street,  which  at  that  time  had 
no  existence.  Immediately  to  the  rere  of  the  mansion  was  "  His  Grace's  Kitchen," 
while  in  front  was  "His  Grace's  Orcharde"  occupying  an  angle  of  the  Abbey 
grounds  (qq). 

(oo)  This  advice  was  that  she  could  retain  the  property  salva  conscientia  on  condition  of 
distributing  ahns  each  year,  the  amount  to  be  determined  by  her  confessor. 

(pp)  Original  in  Latin. — Archives  O.M.,  Merchants'  Quay,  Dublin. 

(qq)  Abridged  from  some  papers  by  Mr.  William  Clarke  in  Clonmel  Chronicle  September,  1877. 
The  map  which  belonged  to  Mr.  Joseph  White  of  Irishtown,  is  now  lost. 


History  of  Clonmel.  307 

A  papal  brief  being  obtained  for  the  purpose,  the  friars  in  l6l6  again 
took  up  residence  in  the  town.  "  Father  Thomas  Bray,  a  theologian  and  an 
eloquent  preacher,  was  appointed  superior.  He  was  most  remarkable  for 
reconciling  parties  in  dispute,  and  by  his  own,  and  the  preaching  of  his 
fellow  labourers,  did  good  without  measure,  and  brought  a  great  increase  to 
religion  "(rr).  Henceforward  the  connection  of  the  friars  with  Clonmel  was 
unbroken.  Though  their  discovery  meant  death  during  the  Commonwealth, 
and  transportation  during  the  penal  times  of  William  III.  and  Anne,  we  know 
that  at  each  of  these  periods,  one  at  least  remained  in  the  locality.  In  the 
comparatively  tolerant  reign  of  Charles  II.  they  established  themselves  in  the 
Irishtown,  where  they  built  a  thatched  chapel.  This  stood  nearly  opposite 
the  present  St.  Mary's,  a  little  to  the  rere  of  the  street  (ss).  From  there  James 
White,  the  guardian,  wrote  to  his  superiors  in  1669  :— 

Praised  be  to  God  the  persecution  has  not  reached  me  yet.  In  all  the  towns 
throughout  Munster  every  chapel  is  closed,  and  mass  can  be  offered  up  nowhere  unless 
with  the  greatest  secrecy.  This  place  is  the  only  exception.  Up  to  now  we  have  had 
ample  freedom  even  in  public.  There  are  two  chapels  with  three  altars  for  sacrifice, 
large  congregations,  sermons  on  Sundays  and  Holidays.  But  I  fear  we  shall  soon  lose 
these  privileges.  There  are  with  me  five  novices,  promising  young  men,  well  advanced 
in  the  Humanities,  in  fact  they  write  Latin  verse  and  composition  very  well.  God  give 
them  the  grace  of  perseverance,  and  quiet  times  (tt). 

This  state  of  things,  with  a  few  interruptions,  lasted  until  the  Revolution. 
The  friars  had  then  to  go  into  hiding ;  if  taken  they  were  transported,  and 
should  they  return,  they  were  liable  to  the  penalties  of  high  treason.  Through- 
out the  penal  days,  though  their  presence  in  the  town  was  often  connived  at, 
there  could  be  no  question  of  opening  a  public  chapel  again.  They  lived  in 
a  house  in  the  Irishtown,  and  officiated  at  the  parish  chapel.  Occasionally 
they  occupied  the  attention  of  the  authorities.  The  mayor  in  1731,  upon  an 
inquiry  made  by  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  reported  that  "  John 
Leo,  Michael  Dwyer  and  James  Walsh  are  Fryars  or  reputed  so.  I  do  finde 
there  is  a  Popish  Fryery  in  the  West  Subburbs  of  the  said  Towne  wherein  the 
above  Fryers  live  and  cohabit"  Rev.  Joseph  Moore,  Protestant  vicar,  on 
23rd  April,  1766,  certified  to  Parliament  inter  alia  that  in  Clonmel  there  were 
"  two  reputed  fryars,"  and  in  Innislounaght  "  one  f ryar  "  (uu). 

The  old  Franciscan  church  had  as  chequered  history  as  the  friars  them- 
selves. When  in  1650  Clonmel  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Cromwellians, 
they  proceeded  at  once  to  convert  the  whole  precinct  of  the  friary  into  a  huge 

(rr)  A  Synopsis  of  the  Province  of  Ireland,  1630.— Ward. 

(ss)  In  an  old  Corporation  rental  the  holding  is  described  as  the  **  Old  Friary." 

(tt)  Latin  original,  Archives  O.M.,  Dublin. 

(uu)  Parliamentary  Returns,  P.R.O. 


308  History  of  Clonmel. 

fortress,  so  that  in  future  the  Irish  population  should  not  surprise  the  town  as 
they  had  done  in  1641.  The  popular  tradition  therefore,  that  Cromwell 
stabled  his  horses  in  the  church,  rests  on  a  historical  basis.  At  the  Restoration 
the  "  Ffort  of  Clonmell,"  with  the  great  part  of  the  town,  was  granted  to  the 
Duke  of  Ormond.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  corporation  of  the  period 
raised  any  question  as  to  the  moiety  of  the  Franciscan  house  which  had  once 
belonged  to  them.  The  burgesses  were  Cromwellians  ;  they  were  tenants  of 
the  Duke,  and  were  probably  unwilling  to  incur  his  all-powerful  enmity. 
Ormond's  disposition  of  the  friary  may  be  gathered  from  the  map  before 
described.  On  4th  September,  1702,  a  fee-farm  grant  of  the  "  Fort  "  (except 
the  abbey  and  courthouse)  was  made  by  the  second  Duke  of  Ormond  to 
Phineas  Ryall  of  Clonmel,  merchant  (w).  Five  years  later  Captain  Thomas 
Batty  who  acted  as  Ormond's  agent,  and  probably  occupied  "  His  Grace's 
Mansion,"  mortgaged  to  Ryall  the  abbey  itself  for  the  sum  of  £1,440  fww).  It 
would  appear  that  some  time  previously,  the  Protestant  Dissenters  of  Clonmel 
had  obtained  the  choir  of  the  church  for  a  place  of  worship,  as  Ryall,  their 
treasurer,  on  23rd  March,  1705,  made  payments  to  "John  Foster  y*  Slater,  for  all 
Abby  work  "  fxxj.  On  the  removal  of  the  Dissenting  congregation  to  Nelson 
Street  about  the  year  1789,  one  John  Coman,  an  apothecary,  obtained  from 
Samuel  Perry  a  lease  of  "the  old  meeting  house  and  steeple  or  castle 
belonging  thereto."  The  nave  of  the  church  was  long  incorporated  with  other 
holdings,  and  its  last  vestiges  were  removed  when  the  present  Abbey  Street 
was  opened  directly  through  the  centre  of  it  in  1760  fyyjr  Portion  of  the 
ground  was  leased  for  building  by  Rev.  Joseph  Moore,  Protestant  rector,  and 
while  the  work  was  proceeding,  tradition  tells  us,  a  strange  discovery  was 
made: — 

In  a  vault  was  discovered  a  priest  in  his  robes,  sitting  in  a  chair,  having  a  chalice 
and  mass-book  on  his  knee.  But  on  being  touched  by  the  workmen  he  fell  into  dust. 
St.  Mary's  Parish  was  engraved  on  the  cup,  and  Dr.  Egan,  the  then  titular  Bishop  of 
the  diocese,  demanded  it,  but  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moore  replied  that  it  should  remain  in  the 
church  to  which  it  belonged.  In  the  same  vault  was  also  found  a  large  chest  of 
vestments  and  religious  books,  which  were  sent  to  the  Clonmel  friary,  among  which  was 
the  life  of  St.  Patrick,  Bridget  and  Columba  in  Latin,  now  in  the  possession  of  a  friend 
of  mine  (zz), 

(w)  Palatinate  of  Tipperary  Records,  P.R.O.  It  would  appear  from  Ryall's  ledger  that  John 
Perry  was  joined  with  him  in  the  grant,  though  there  is  no  mention  of  the  fact  in  the  document 
itself.  The  fine  paid  to  Ormond  was  £\g6  13s.  4d.,  of  which  half  was  charged  to  Perry  ;  the  rent 
reserved  being  £27  lis.  lod. 

(ww)  "  By  a  mortgage  on  your  lease  of  the  Abbey  dated  this  ist  of  June  1707." — Ryall  Ledger. 

(xx)  They  paid  a  yearly  rent  of  £$  to  Ryall. 

(yy)  Abbey  Street  was  originally  Warren  Street,  the  custom  being  to  name  the  streets  after 
British  admirals — Duncan,  Hawke,  Nelson. 

(zz)  Monk  Mason  Survey  18 13,  P.R.O.  The  Latin  life  of  St.  Patrick  etc.,  was  probably  Messing- 
ham's  (Paris  1625).  This  circumstance  and  the  mention  of  Rev.  Dr.  Moore  lend  some  probability  to 
the  atory  which  otherwise  would  appear  a  rechauffe  of  the  celebrated  discovery  of  Charlemagne. 


History  of  Clonmel.  309 

The  friars,  doubtless,  were  not  impassive  spectators  of  the  destruction  of 
their  old  church,  but  nothing  was  more  improbable  than  that  they  should  ever 
again  possess  a  stone  of  it.  When  on  1st  June,  1799,  a  Catholic  brewer, 
Richard  FitzPatrick,  obtained  a  lease  of  the  ruined  choir  for  31  years  from 
John  Coman,  it  was  only  on  the  following  condition  ; — 

Provided  that  if  the  Parish  Priest  of  Clonmel  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Inhabitants 
thereof,  or  a  Committee  thereof  of  which  the  said  Priest  shall  be  one,  shall  at  any  time 
hereafter  be  disposed  to  convert  the  said  Premises  into  a  Chappel,  that  in  that  case  it 
shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  the  said  John  Coman  to  resume  the  possession  of 
the  said  premises  (a). 

Yet  six  years  before  this  lease  had  expired,  the  Franciscans  were  once 
more  established  in  their  old  habitat.  On  23rd  May,  1825,  Rev.  Charles 
Dalton  purchased  "the  castle  and  store  in  Warren  Street"  from  Patrick 
Rivers  as  representative  of  Richard  FitzPatrick,  covenanting  to  pay  all  arrears 
of  rent  due  to  Samuel  Perry  and  the  representatives  of  John  Coman.  The 
ancient  choir  now  formed  the  body  of  the  church,  a  wing  was  added  at  the 
east  end,  and  in  this  L  shaped  structure  two  galleries  were  placed  to  increase 
the  accommodation.  Such  was  the  church  of  the  friars  as  it  was  re-opened 
in  1827 — 177  years  after  they  had  been  driven  out  by  Cromwell,  and  558  since 
their  first  coming  to  the  town. 

For  two  generations  this  church  served  the  needs  of  the  congregation. 
But  in  1883  Rev.  J.  B.  Cooney,  encouraged  by  the  princely  munificence  of 
Father  Cuddihy,  a  former  member  of  the  Franciscan  community  in  Clonmel, 
determined  upon  building  a  church  that  might  replace,  if  it  could  not  rival, 
the  old  13th  century  structure.  Some  considerable  difficulties  had  to  be  over- 
come. On  the  one  hand  space  was  limited ;  on  the  other,  Father  Cooney 
wished  to  preserve  intact  the  parts  that  remained  of  the  ancient  building.  In 
the  result,  room  was  provided  for  the  congregation  by  giving  an  unusual 
width  in  proportion  to  the  length,  68  feet  to  87.  The  roofs  of  the  nave 
and  aisles  were  made  of  equal  height  so  that  the  fifteenth  century  tower 
should  not  be  dwarfed  by  a  clear-storey.  Finally  the  row  of  noble  lancets 
in  the  north  wall  of  the  original  13th  century  choir,  now  light  the  north 
aisle  of  the  new  church.  In  the  details  also,  the  old  remains  were  followed 
as  closely  as  possible ;  the  jamb  shafts  in  the  chancel  windows  with  their 
bases,  annulets  and  capitals,  are  exactly  reproduced  from  those  of  the 
former  east  window,  while  fragments  of  early  tombs  discovered,  were  inserted 
in  the  wall  spaces  of  the  tower  (b).    A  better  example  of  judicious  restoration 

(a)  Original  lease  penes  Kev.  J.  B.  Cooney,  O.M. 

(bj  A  beautiful  cross  which  doubtless  crowned  one  of  the  13th  century  gables,  is  still  preserved 
in  the  church.  It  measures  with  its  socket  30  inches  by  22,  the  centre  is  pierced  and  the  arms 
terminate  in  scrolls. 


310  History  of  Clonmel. 

could  hardly  be  found.  On  1st  August,  1886,  Mass  was  offered  up  for  the 
first  time  in  the  new  church;  the  27th  October  following,  the  solemn 
dedication  by  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce  Power,  took  place  (c). 


Altar  Plate. 

The  old  altar  plate  in  possession  of  the  Clonmel  Franciscans  consists  of 
two  sixteenth  century  chalices  with  their  patens,  two  seventeenth  century 
chalices,  and  a  monstrance  of  the  same  period.  There  is  not  on  any  article 
a  solitary  mark  to  indicate  its  fabric  or  maker.  The  seventeenth  century 
chalices  and  monstrance,  are  unquestionably  of  Irish  manufacture;  one  of 
the  earlier  chalices,  from  its  superior  design  and  finish,  seems  to  be  of  foreign 
origin.    The  following  is  a  description  of  the  several  pieces : — 

No.  I.  This  chalice  is  8  inches  high;  the  cup  is  3  inches  in  diameter  and 
2^  inches  deep;  the  base  is  4H  inches  in  extreme  width.  The  cup  is  bell- 
shaped,  the  lip  being  very  slight;  fixed  to  the  bottom  are  six  foils.  The  cup  rests 
on  a  six-sided  stem,  divided  by  a  spherical  knob.  The  knob  is  ornamented  by  bold 
leaf-like  loops  on  the  faces  of  which  is  cross  hatching  with  points  between  the  hatches. 
The  stem  at  each  end  of  which  is  a  collar,  rests  on  a  base  which  spreads  itself  into  six 
panels.  The  panels,  convex  at  their  extremities,  are  supported  by  a  milled  bandlet 
firmly  set  on  a  flat  plate. 

The  inscription  which  was  cut  on  the  under  side  of  the  flat  plate  of  the  base,  is  now 
almost  worn  away.  The  date  however  "  1570"  is  still  legible.  The  incised  ornament 
on  the  chalice  consisting  of  a  rude  representation  of  the  Crucifixion  on  one  of  the 
panels,  together  with  the  cross  hatching  already  described,  is  unworthy  of  the  general 
design.  It  probably  therefore  may  be  referred  to  the  period  indicated  by  a  second 
inscription  carved  round  the  foot  of  the  panels. 

Hung  Calicem  procuravit  Fr.  Edmundus  de  Burgo 
Conventui  frat.  Minorum  de  Clonmel,  1664. 

[Translation],    Friar  Edmund  Burke  obtained  this  chalice 
for  the  convent  of  the  Friars  Minors  of  Clonmel. 

No.  2.  This  is  probably  the  most  beautiful  chalice  of  its  period  existing  in  Ireland 
It  is  not  however  a  Franciscan  chalice.  The  Protestant  Ecclesiastical  Commission 
report  of  the  diocese  of  Lismore,  dated  November  2,  1 588,  has  "Vicarage  of  Kylcassy 
[Kilcash]--Mr.  Thomas  Goffrey,  cleric,  is  vicar.  The  Bishop  [has  the  advowson]." 
But  Goffrey  firmly  adhered  to  the  Catholic  faith  for  in  a  subsequent  report  we  find : — 

"Vicarage  of  Kilcassy— Thomas  Goffrey  absent  from  our  inquiry,  a  papist, 
extremely  contumacious.  The  fruits  of  the  living  sequestered :  He  is  suspended 
from  his  benefice  and  deprived  of  his  office  "  (</). 

And  again — 

"Thomas  Goffrey  vicar  of  Kilcasy  received  sentence  of  deprivation  for  his 
manifest  contumacy  and  notorious  irregularity  "  (e). 

During  the  episcopate  of  Dr.  Lloyd  1736-1747,  a  Franciscan  named  Richard  Hogan 
was  appointed  to  the  parish  of  Kilcash  and  through  him  doubtless,  the  chalice  came 
into  possession  of  the  Order. 

(c)  The  total  cost  of  the  re-construction  was  ;^6,ooo.  Mr.  Walter  Doolin  was  architect,  and 
Mr.  J.  Delany  of  Cork,  builder. 

(d)  MS.  E.  3,  14.     T.C.D. 

(e)  Ibid. 


History  of  Clonmel.  311 

The  chalice  stands  9^  inces  high ;  the  diameter  of  the  cup  is  4  inches  and  its  depth 
3  inches  (f).  The  cup  which  is  pear-shaped  rests  on  a  hexagonal  stem.  The  knob  is 
a  flattened  sphere,  a  bead  being  carried  round  the  centre ;  approaching  the  bead  on 
each  side  is  serrated  fluting.  The  stem  being  slightly  longer  than  usual,  the  base  is 
flatter  so  that  the  whole  membering  is  distinctly  Gothic  The  six  panels  of  the  base 
rest  on  a  band  which  is  chased  with  a  minute  Maltese-cross  pattern.  At  the  angles 
formed  by  the  concave  segments  of  the  foot-plate,  are  placed  projecting  flowerets  like 
anthemions.  The  graceful  design,  and  the  character  of  the  ornament,  suggest  that  this 
chalice  is  of  foreign  design,  probably  French.    The  inscription  runs : — 

Tom  AS  GoFFRiE  Presbyter  me  fieri  fecft  1599. 
[Translation],    Thomas  Goff'rie,  the  Priest,  got  me  made  1599. 

No.  3.  This  chalice  though  of  the  usual  Irish  17th  century  pattern,  is  exquisitely 
proportioned.  Indeed  it  would  be  diflicult  to  conceive  a  more  harmonious  arrangement 
of  cup,  knob  and  base.  A  line  drawn  through  the  lip  of  the  cup  and  the  centre  of  the 
knob,  flows  directly  into  the  curve  of  the  base.  The  dimensions  are,  height  7H  inches, 
width  of  base  S^A  inches,  diameter  of  cup  3H  inches,  depth  2H  inches.  The  cup  is 
bell-shaped,  and  has  an  incised  ornament  of  conventional  flowers  on  its  lower  side.  The 
flattened  knob  is  divided  into  facettes  by  deep  incisions  of  the  figure  8  shape,  the 
interstices  being  filled  with  star  designs.  The  base  is  like  the  stem,  six-sided,  the 
extremities  being  concave  segments.  On  one  of  the  panels  a  curved  tendril  bears  the 
thistle  flower,  above  it  the  Tudor  rose,  and  on  top  the  shamrock  {g).  The  inscription 
is: — 

Jacobus  Daniel  Clonmelien«  me  fieri  fecit.  Anno  1614. 
Orate  pro  ejus  anima. 

[  Translation],    James  Daniel  of  Clonmel  got  me  made  in  the  year  1614. 
Pray  for  his  soul. 

This  James  is  doubtless  the  person  named  as  a  burgess  in  the  Charter  of  James  I. 
being  one  of  "  the  best  and  discreetest  men  of  and  in  the  said  town  and  borough  of 
Clonmel." 

No.  4.  This  chalice  is  altogether  inferior  to  the  others  in  design  and  workmanship. 
Its  height  is  8%  inches ;  width  of  base  5  inches ;  diameter  of  cup  3^  inches,  depth 
3  inches.  The  cup  is  tulip  shaped ;  stem  and  base  hexagonal.  The  ornament  is 
characteristically  rude, — mere  lines  and  points.  A  panel  of  the  base  exhibits  the  figure 
of  Our  Saviour  crucified,  but  no  cross.  This  is  not  a  mere  oversight  of  the  engraver, 
for  I  have  met  the  like  on  contemporary  chalices.  The  purpose  seems  to  be  that  the 
chalice  itself  is  the  cross,  as  Christ  is  offered  up  in  it  just  as  He  was  on  the  cross.  The 
inscription  is  as  follows : — 

Orate  pro  animabus  Edmundi  Everardi  et  Joannae 
Naish  uxoris  ejus,  1645. 

[Translation],    Pray  for  the  souls  of  Edmund  Everard  and 
Joan  Naish  his  wife,  1645. 

This  Edmund  was  a  son  of  Nicholas  Everard,  of  Fethard,  who  was  proprietor  of 
some  land  in  the  Burgagery  {h). 

No.  5.  This  is  a  monstrance,  the  ostensory  being  modern  while  the  base,  with  the 
stem,  is  17th  century  work.    The  style  and  proportions  of  the  latter  indicate  that  the 


(/)  The  cup  is  modern,  being  made  when  the  chalice  was  restored  in  1871,  but  it  was  presumably 
copied  from  the  older  one. 

fgj  This  is  the  earliest  example  of  this  combination,  known  to  the  writer. 

fh)  On  7th  July,  1634,  John  Everard  son  of  Nicholas  of  Fethard,  and  grandson  of  Sir  John,  devised 
to  Johanna  Everard  alias  Nash  a  piece  of  land  in  Kiltully,  and  a  stone  house  in  Fethard,  for  the  tenn 
of  47  years. — Inquis.  Tipp.,  P.R.O. 


312 


History  of  Clonmel. 


article  is  a  converted  chalice.  For  on  one  of  the  panels  the  usual  representation  of  the 
crucifixion,  ladder,  spear,  etc  is  engraved ;  the  knob  also  is  lower  on  the  stem  than  it 
would  be  in  a  monstrance.  The  base  is  as  usual,  hexagonal  but  the  foils  are  convex. 
The  inscription  is : — 

Jacobus  Everard  et  Anastasia  DoNOGHovyr  me  fieri  fecerunt 
AD  usuM  Fratrum  Minorum  Clonmeliensium  Anno  1667. 

[Translation],    James  Everard  and  Anastasia  Donoghow  had  me  made  for 
the  use  of  the  Friars  Minors  of  Clonmel  in  the  year  1667. 

These  are  evidently  "  the  good  frinds  "  mentioned  by  Thomas  White,  parish  priest 
of  Clonmel  in  his  will  supra.  As  there  was  no  hope  that  the  Catholics  should  ever 
possess  old  St.  Mary's  again  and  that  his  purpose  of  erecting  a  statue  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  therein,  should  be  realized,  "  Mr.  James  Everard  and  his  loveing  wife  Anstas 
Donogho,"  probably  devoted  £4  in  their  hands  to  the  making  of  the  chalice  (i). 


1536  Robert  Travers. 
1590  Timothy  O'Sullivan. 
1616  Thomas  Bray,  S.T.L. 
1645  Thomas  De  Vin. 
1647  Edmund  Bray,  jun. 
1650  Edmund  Bray,  S.T.L. 
1659  Thomas  De  Vin. 
1661  James  De  Vin. 
1666  James  White. 
1669  Thomas  De  Vin. 
1676  Francis  Fleming. 
1672  Francis  Fleming. 

1675  James  White. 

1676  James  White. 

1678  Francis  Fleming. 

1679  Benedict  Sail. 

1680  Benedict  Sail. 

1681  Bonaventure  Magrath. 

1683  Francis  Fleming. 

1684  Francis  Fleming. 


FRANCISCAN  Guardians  fjj. 

1685  Bonaventure  FitzGerald. 
1687  Bonaventure  FitzGerald. 

1689  Bonaventure  McGrath. 

1690  Francis  Fleming. 
1693  Owen  Callenan. 
1697  Benedict  Sail. 
1700  Francis  Doyle. 
1703  Francis  Doyle. 

1705  Francis  Doyle. 

1706  Michael  Dwyer. 

1708  Michael  Dwyer. 

1709  Benedict  Sail. 
1711  Anthony  Mandeville. 
1714  Patrick  Flood. 

1716  Bonaventure  Mandeville. 

1717  Bonaventure  Mandeville. 
1720  John  Baptist  Sweeny. 
1729  Michael  Dwyer. 
1731  Michael  Dwyer. 
1744  Thomas  White. 


(i)  At  the  Franciscan  house  hi  Waterford  is  a  chalice  which  once  belonged  to  the  Clonmel 
convent.  It  is  of  the  ordinary  hexagonal-bas^d  style,  with  tulip  cup,  the  knob  being  disproportionately 
large.  The  inscription  is  "  Joannes  English  Burgensis  de  Clonmel  et  Margarita  Power  uxor  ejus, 
me  sibi  posterisque  fieri  fecerunt  quibus  propitius  sit  Deus  An.  Domini  1645."  Trattslation — John 
English,  Burgess  of  Clonmel  and  his  wife  Margaret  Power  got  me  made  for  themselves  and  their 
posterity.    May  God  be  good  to  them.     In  the  year  of  the  Lord  1645. 

(j)  The  foregoing  list  is  taken  from  the  '*  Chapter  Bills  "  of  the  several  years,  preserved  in  the 
Franciscan  Archives,  Dublin. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


313 


175 1  Joseph  Ormond,  S.T.L. 
1759  Patrick  Purcell. 
1761  John  Davis. 
1770  Laurence  O'Donnell. 

1772  Patrick  McNamara. 

1773  Laurence  O'Donnell. 
1776  Francis  Lynch. 

1778  Francis  Lynch. 

1779  Bonaventure  O'Connor. 

1781  Bonaventure  O'Connor. 

1782  Anthony  FitzGibbon. 

1784  Anthony  FitzGibbon. 

1785  Bonaventure  O'Connor. 
1788  John  Power. 

1791  John  Power. 

1793  John  Power. 

1794  John  Shea. 
1796  John  Power. 

1800  Anthony  Prendergast. 

1803  Anthony  Prendergast. 

1804  James  Quinn. 
1806  James  Quinn. 

181 5  Anthony  Prendergast 
1819  Anthony  Prendergast. 
1822  Anthony  Prendergast. 


1824  Charles  Dalton. 
1827  Charles  Dalton. 

1830  Charles  Dalton. 

1831  Michael  Lonergan. 
1834  James  Prendergast. 

1836  James  Prendergast. 

1837  Patrick  Cuddihy. 
1839  James  Prendergast. 
1842  James  Prendergast. 
1848  John  Magner. 

1852  John  Magner. 

1853  Michael  Burke. 
1858  John  H.  Bergin. 
i860  Joseph  Power. 
1864  Aloysius  O'Regan. 

1866  Anthony  Slattery. 

1867  Bonaventure  Prendergast. 
1873  Joseph  A.  Power. 

1876  Anthony  Walsh. 
1882  Bernard  Cooney. 
1885  Bernard  Cooney. 
1895  Bonaventure  Bradley. 
1899  Bernard  Cooney. 
1906  Anthony  Slattery. 


c 


MEMBERS  OF  PARLIAMENT  FOR  CLONMEL. 

HE  earliest  notice  of  a  parliamentary  summons  to  Clonmel,  is  in 
the  Patent  Rolls,  33  Edward  III.  (1359).  The  following  is  a 
translation  of  the  writ : — 


The  King  to  the  provost  and  bailiffs  of  his  town  of  Clonmel,  greeting.  Whereas 
we,  with  the  help  of  God,  purpose  holding  a  council  at  Waterford,  on  the  Monday 
before  the  next  feast  of  St.  Ambrose,  to  treat  about  arduous  affairs  intimately  connected 
with  us,  which  council  is  to  be  held  with  you,  the  prelates,  magnates,  and  other 
distinguished  men  of  our  land  of  Ireland.  In  virtue  of  the  fidelity  and  allegiance  by 
which  you  are  firmly  bound  to  us,  we  command  that  you  have  sent,  said  day  and  place, 
two  of  the  more  discreet  men  of  your  town,  who  shall  have  full  power  on  behalf  of  the 
commonalty,  to  deal  with  the  matters  above  mentioned,  and  together  with  our  justiciar, 
the  rest  of  our  council,  prelates,  etc.,  to  consent  to  the  things  which  with  God's 
permission,  may  be  there  ordained  for  our  honour  and  convenience.  Witness  James 
le  Botiller,  Earl  of  Ormond,  Justiciar,  Dublin  18  March  (k). 


For  a  period  of  two  centuries  subsequent,  there  is  no  evidence  that 
Clonmel  was  represented  in  parliament.  Down  to  the  middle  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  that  assembly  in  Ireland  was  a  rather  shadowy  one,  and  it  is  yet  a 
question  how  far  the  summons  lists,  even  of  Tudor  times,  represent  the  actual 
attendance.  The  parliament  of  1 541  enacted  that  members  should  be  resident 
in  the  counties  or  boroughs  for  which  they  had  been  elected.  Hence  the  first 
representatives  of  Clonmel  were  all  natives  of  the  town. 


1559,  January 


rjohn  Stritche,  Clonmell. 
I  Henry  White,  Clonmell. 


(k)  Pat.  Rot.,  Ed.  III. 


History  of  Clonmel.  315 

The  Stritches  gave  their  name  to  the  island  in  the  river  which  lies  north  of  Suir 
Island.  John  Stritch  here  mentioned,  was  sovereign  of  the  borough,  I539-I543-  In  a 
list  of  the  freeholders  of  the  Cantred  of  Clonmel,  he  is  set  down  as  holding  an  estate  of 
£20  a  year. 

Henry  White  was  head  of  the  senior  branch  of  the  family  at  this  period.  He 
resided  in  Lough  Street,  where  he  died  5  August,  1577.  An  inquisition  held  13  Nov., 
19  Elizabeth,  found  that  he  was  seized  of  sixty  messuages  in  the  town  and  suburbs  of 
Clonmel ;  of  a  water  mill  on  the  Suir ;  of  three  hundred  acres  "  in  the  plains  near 
Clonmel ";  of  six  acres  great  measure  in  the  land  of  Fethard  called  Robages  land. 

/Geffry  White,  Clonmell. 
^5^5'  April Ij^j^^  g^^y^  Clonmell. 

Geoffry  White  was  sovereign  of  Clonmel  1581-2,  86-7,  89-90.  His  name  occurs  in 
a  protest  made  in  parliament  against  the  attainder  of  Desmond,  until  Ormond's  right 
to  lands  escheated  in  the  liberty  of  Tipperary,  should  be  secured.  By  his  wife  Anastasia 
Comerford,  he  was  father  of  John  White,  first  mayor  of  Clonmel. 

The  name  De  Bray  occurs  in  the  Anglo-Irish  records  from  the  first  invasion.  But 
in  due  course  the  Brays  became  Hibemicised,  for  in  1552  a  "  grant  of  English  liberty  " 
was  made  to  "  Edmond  O'Brohe "  of  Clonmel  with  his  children  Michael,  John  and 
Anne  and  their  issue  (/).    The  John  named  was  member  of  parliament. 

f  Nicholas  White,  Gent,  Clonmell. 
'"  I  John  Bray,  Gent,  Clonmell. 

As  this  parliament  was  to  determine  the  great  issue  not  only  of  the  confiscation  of 
Ulster,  but  of  the  enactment  of  penal  laws  against  the  Catholics,  the  representatives 
chosen  by  the  Clonmel  freeholders,  were  evidently  picked  men.  During  the  two  previous 
years,  the  English  authorities  were  carefully  manufacturing  the  constituencies.  But 
Sir  Richard  Moryson,  Vice-President  of  Munster,  in  October  1611,  had  to  report  of 
Clonmel  "  No  hope  of  any  conformable  "  (m). 

Nicholas  White  was  second  son  of  Henry  White,  member  in  1559.  He  was  the 
wealthiest  burgher  of  the  period,  and  throughout  the  reign  of  James  I.  suffered  most 
from  religious  persecution.  The  epithet  "  constant "  applied  to  him  therefore  by  his 
widow,  was  not  an  empty  one  («).    He  died  30  August,  1622. 

John  Bray  wafe  son  of  John,  member  in  1585.  He  was,  it  would  appear,  cousin  to 
Nicholas  White ;  and  his  will  was  proved  in  1632. 

,  r  Henry  White,  Gent,  Clonmel. 

I  Geffrey  Barron,  Gent,  Clonmel. 

Henry  White  was  son  of  Nicholas  White  supra.  He  was  mayor  of  Clonmel  1639, 
and  died  about  1642,  leaving  a  son  Nicholas  who  was  transplanted  to  Connaught  in 

1654. 

Geoffry  Barron ;  he  was  expelled  from  parliament  3  December,  1634,  by  direction 
of  Lord  Straflford.    (For  his  biography,  see  Chapter  XVII). 

«,  ,  r  William  Smith,  Gent 

1639,  February    ...  {^.^^^^  ^^^^.^^^^  ^^^^_ 


(0  Kiants,  Edward  VI. 

(mj  State  Papers,  Jas.  I.,  p.  165. 

(ft)  See  his  tomb  at  St.  Patrick's  Well,  and  also  Chapter  XIII. 


316  History  of  clonmel. 

As  the  burghers  proved  intractable,  these  members  who  had  no  connection  what- 
ever with  Clonmeli  were  nominated  by  the  Dublin  officials. 

William  Smith  or  Smyth,  was  born  at  Long  Ashen,  near  Bristol,  1 590.  Through 
the  influence  of  Lady  Thurles,  he  became  secretary  of  James,  Earl  and  after  Duke  of 
Ormond.  His  name  is  signed  to  the  marriage  articles  of  the  Earl  with  Lady  Preston  in 
1629.  He  died  in  1655,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  family  of  Damma  and  Carrick- 
on-Suir,  all  Catholics  like  himself. 

Richard  Gething  came  to  Ireland  as  captain  in  the  army ;  subsequently  became 
secretary  to  Sir  William  St.  Leger,  president  of  Munster ;  on  the  death  of  St.  Leger  in 
1642,  he  obtained  a  similar  office  under  Lord  Inchiquin.  When  in  1647  certain  whispers 
were  made  against  Inchiquin  in  the  London  Parliament,  Gething  was  sent  over  to 
represent  his  case.  He  appears  to  have  subsequently  joined  the  Parliament  party  and 
during  the  Commonwealth  acted  as  agent  for  the  Percivall  estate  in  Co.  Cork.  At  the 
Restoration  he  became  member  for  Limavady,  obtained  a  grant  of  land  in  Cork,  and 
I  August,  1665,  was  created  baronet.  He  was  ancestor  to  the  Gethins  of  Sligo  and 
Cork. 

1654,  July  27th  \ 

1656,  September  17th  ^Captain  William  Halsey. 

1658,  January  27th      j 

During  the  Commonwealth  a  legislative  union  was  eflected  between  England  and 
Ireland.  In  the  parliament  of  "Praise  Gkxi  Barebones,"  a  group  of  six  officers 
represented  Ireland;  in  the  first  and  second  parliaments  of  Cromwell,  and  in  the 
parliament  of  Richard  Cromwell,  some  constitutional  pretence  was  made  and  certain 
districts  were  supposed  to  send  representatives.  Clonmel  and  Waterford  formed  one 
constituency,  but  it  is  more  than  doubtful  that  the  member  named,  ever  crossed  the 
channel  to  take  bis  seat. 

William  Halsey  was  captain  in  the  Cromwellian  army.  In  the  Mallow  Court  for  hear- 
ing the  claims  for  dispensation  from  transplanting  of  the  old  natives  of  Cork,  Youghal 
and  Kinsale,  he  was  constituted  assistant  judge  with  John  Cooke.  The  following  year, 
1656,  he  sat  at  Athlone  to  discriminate  the  guilt  of  the  Irish  transplanted  to  Connaught. 
He  made  in  1657  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  wrest  the  clerkship  of  the  Hanaper  from 
Carleton,  on  the  grounds  the  latter  had  lived  some  time  within  royalist  quarters  in 
England.  At  the  Restoration,  he  obtained  on  December  17,  1660,  the  office  of  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Munster  Presidency  Court. 

^^      .      ..       ,  rSir  Thomas  Stanley,  Knt,  Tickincorr. 

'  I  Sir  Francis  Fowke. 

Sir  Thomas  Stanley.  Some  particulars  of  his  earlier  career  have  been  already 
given  in  Chapter  VI.  In  1656  he  was  one  of  the  agents  for  the  regiments  whose  lots 
fell  in  Munster ;  sheriff  of  Co.  Waterford  in  1658 ;  towards  the  close  of  1659  he  threw 
in  his  lot  with  Broghill  and  others  in  promoting  the  King's  restoration,  and  went  to 
besiege  Colonel  Phair  in  Cork.  But  he  subsequently  fell  under  the  suspicion  of  Ormond 
and  made  his  way  to  England.  He  returned  with  the  King's  Letter  dated  February  20, 
1661,  that  as  he  was  coming  to  Ireland  to  plant,  he  should  be  duly  encouraged.  In  the 
discussions  in  parliament  over  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation  he  took  an 
active  part.  By  patent  enrolled  27  July,  1666,  he  was  granted  9,155  plantation  acres  in 
MuAster  and  392  in  Leinster.  He  established  himself  in  the  old  Tudor  house  of  Tickin- 
corr, built  by  Alexander  Power,  and  among  the  lands  granted  him  were  Kilganey, 
Kilganeybeg,  Tickincorr,  Ballymacarbery,  Ballymackee,  Ardpadden,  etc.  He  died 
August,  1694,  ^nd  was  buried  at  St.  Michan's,  Dublin.    He  is  ancestor  of  Lord  Monck. 

Sir  Francis  Fowke.  On  17  September,  1646,  the  committee  of  the  Long  Parliament 
for  Irish  affairs,  issued  a  commission  to  Colonel  Richard  Townsend  for  a  regiment  of 
1000  foot.  At  the  recommendation  of  Sir  Hardress  Waller,  Foulke  was  appointed 
major.    The  regiment  being  sent  over  to  the  assistance  of  Inchiquin,  occupied  Cork  and 


History  of  Clonmel.  sit 

Youghal.  When  Inchiquin  in  1648  changed  sides,  though  the  Parliament  auxiliaries 
followed  him,  he  was  not  quite  assured  of  their  loyalty.  Cromwell  in  the  beginning 
of  his  campaign  opened  private  communications  with  Townsend.  Robert  Foulke 
was  despatched  from  Dublin  to  Camphire  where  his  brother  Francis  was  in  command, 
and  it  was  resolved  that  Francis  Foulke,  Townsend,  and  others  should  surprise  Youghal. 
Though  unsuccessful  at  first,  Youghal  was  secured  for  Cromwell  shortly  after.  At  the 
Restoration,  Foulkes  abandoning  the  republican  cause  was  rewarded  by  an  appointment 
as  a  captain  of  foot  13  December,  1660 ;  was  granted  the  wardship  of  the  Earl  of 
Clanbrassil;  and  by  King's  Letter  12  I>ecember,  1660,  was  made  "  Governor  of  the  town 
and  citadel  of  Clonmel." 

1661,  June  14th — Sir  James  Shaen,  Knt.,  vice  Stanley  for  Co.  Louth. 

Sir  James  was  son  of  Sir  Francis  Shaen,  Knt,  one  of  the  planters  on  the  lands  of 
the  Farrells  of  Longford.  Like  most  of  the  Puritans  of  the  time  Sir  James'  principles 
were  of  a  variable  character.  From  a  petition  which  he  presented  to  the  Lord  Protector 
Cromwell  in  1656,  we  learn  that  he  was  a  loyal  servant  to  the  Commonwealth — one  of 
his  greatest  "  crosses  "  being  that  he  was  a  comet  of  horse  in  Ulster  when  there  was  a 
great  defection  from  the  Parliament.  But  he  afterwards,  he  said,  declared  for  the 
Parliament  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  On  the  representation  of  Colonel  Venables,  Cromwell 
gave  him  a  commission  in  a  troop  of  horse.  But  when  adherence  to  Cromwell 
meant  risk  of  life,  Sir  James  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the  king.  In  1661  as 
the  hopes  of  the  Irish  rose  and  the  possessions  of  the  Cromwellians  were  threatened. 
Sir  James  went  to  London  with  a  fund  of  more  than  £20,000  with  which  to  purchase 
the  patronage  and  influence  of  the  English  Privy  Council  in  behalf  of  the  adventurers. 
He  was  now  loaded  with  honours ;  made  registrar  to  the  Commissioners  for  Settle- 
ment ;  granted  Malahide  Castle  and  estate ;  created  a  baronet.  But  the  honours 
were  short  lived.  "  He  has  no  reputation  to  lose,"  wrote  Ormond,  "  and  to  patronise 
him  can  be  no  addition  to  that  of  any  man,  either  in  point  of  probity  or  intellectuals." 
He  died  13  December,  1695,  and  the  baronetcy  became  extinct  in  1725  with  his  son. 

fifin  M        f»i  f  Nicholas  White,  alderman. 

'  '  I  John  Bray,  alderman. 

In  this,  the  parliament  of  James  II.  the  Anglo-Irish  burghers  of  Clonmel  make  their 
last  appearance  in  history.  Nicholas  White  is  the  first  name  on  the  list  of  aldermen 
contained  in  the  new  charter  granted  to  the  town  1687.  He  may  be  identified  with 
"  Nicholas  White,  Stritch,"  living  in  1676  in  Lough  Street,  east  side  (oj.  If  so  he  was 
son  of  Solomon  White,  and  grandson  of  Thomas  Stritch,  mayor  of  Limerick,  hanged 
by  Ireton  on  the  surrender  of  that  city  27th  October,  165 1. 

After  the  Restoration  the  Brays  made  a  vain  attempt  to  recover  their  property  in 
Kilsheelan  Street  and  elsewhere  in  the  town.  They  subsequently  obtained  from  Captain 
Mathew  a  farm  at  Galbertstown,  near  Thurles.  On  II  May,  1691,  at  the  Tholsel  of  the 
City  of  Dublin,  John  Bray  ex-alderman  of  Clonmel  and  "  member  of  the  pretended 
parliament,"  was  declared  attainted  (p). 

^     ^      ,         ^.(  Robert  Blenerhassett,  Esq. 
1692,  September  26th  <„.  ^     ^  ^^  ^      \^., 

I  Richard  Moore,  Esq.,  Kilworth. 

Robert  Blenerhassett  was  second  son  of  Arthur  Blenerhassett,  of  Tralee,  by  Mary 
Fitzgerald,  of  Ballynard.  His  connection  with  Clonmel  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he 
married  Aiice,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Osborne,  4th  baronet.  Appointed  seneschal  of 
the  Co.  Palatine  of  Tipperary,  22  June,  1705,  and  Master  of  the  Rolls  of  the  Palatine 
same  year.  By  patent  ii  August,  171 1,  he  was  named  Prime-Sergeant;  dial  the 
following  year. 


(oj  Ministers'  Money  Returns.  (pj  Jacobite  Attainders. — P.R.O. 


318  History  of  Clonmel. 

Richard  Moore  was  son  of  Stephen  Moore  who  purchased  Kilworth  in  1684, 
and  grandson  of  Richard  Moore  who  came  from  Barnstaple  to  Clonmel  in  1654. 
He  married  in  1692  Elizabeth  Ponsonby,  daughter  of  William  Ponsonby,  afterwards 
created  Baron  of  Bessborough.    Moore  died  in  1701. 

,  ^    .  ,0,,  f  Robert  Blenerhassett,  Esq. 

1695,  August  8th  •••1t>.    u      J  iv;r  17  ir-i  *u 

I  Richard  Moore,  Esq.,  Kilworth. 
Same  as  preceding. 

.  r Thomas  Medlicott,  Esq.,  Dublin. 

1703,  August  27       ...  I  Robert  Hamerton,  Esq.,  Ballyneale. 

Thomas  Medlicott  born  in  Berkshire,  settled  in  Dublin;  purchased  lands  in 
Tipperary  and  Waterford  in  1698,  from  James  second  Duke  of  Ormond ;  member  of 
parliament  for  Westmeath  1708-10 ;  appointed  chief  Commissioner  of  Revenue  1713. 
His  will  was  proved  in  1743 ;  he  is  ancestor  to  the  Medlycotts  of  Portlaw. 

Robert  Hamerton  was  grandson  of  Richard  Hamerton  who  settled  in  Clonmel 
in  1654^^7.  He  is  an  ancestor  of  the  Hamertons  of  Orchardstown,  and  sat  for  the 
borough  until  his  death  in  1733. 

^      ,  f  Robert  Hamerton,  Esq.,  Newtown. 

^      •••  (Stephen  Moore,  Esq.,  Barne. 

Stephen  Moore  was  grandson  of  Richard  (who  established  the  family  in  Clonmel) 
and  son  of  Thomas  of  Chancellorstown  by  his  wife  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Alderman 
Lovett  of  Cork.  He  was  mayor  1724,  and  to  his  efforts  was  mainly  due  the  conversion 
of  Clonmel  into  a  pocket  borough.    He  died  in  1750. 

^  ^  ,  .         ( Robert  Hamerton,  Esq.,  Newtown. 

171 5,  October  29th  ••  i  c^     u      an  t7       o 

I  Stephen  Moore,  Esq.,  Barne. 

27  O  t  h       2th       f^^y  Moore,  Esq.,  Abbey. 
'  '"  I  Stephen  Moore,  Esq.,  Barne. 

Guy  Moore  was  brother  of  Stephen.  Born  1691 ;  married  in  17 17  Mary  daughter 
of  Chidley  Coote  of  Ardmaile ;  High  Sheriff  Tipperary,  1722 ;  died  21  June,  1735. 

^      ,  ,         f  Robert  Hamerton,  Esq.,  Newtown. 

1727,  October  13th  ...  {^^^^^  j^^^j^^j,^  g^^_^  j^^j^j.^_ 


(q)  Some  notice  of  this  Richard  has  already  been  given.  **  Edmund  Prendergast  made  faith 
that  in  the  month  of  March  last  he  shewed  the  Proclamation  of  the  9th  January,  1660  prohibiting  the 
destruction  of  woods,  to  Richard  Hamerton,  who  doth  from  time  to  time  employ  carpenters  and 

others  in  cutting  the  woods  of  Curraghnemoney  and  Glenbreedy And  they  and  the 

other  persons  have  made  more  destruction  thereon  since  the  said  proclamacion  than  hath  been  done 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Rebellion.  9  Novr.,  1661." — Affidavits,  etc.,  P.R.O.  On  i  May,  1663, 
Hugh  Radcliff  leased  to  Hamerton  for  21  years  the  west  part  of  the  lands  of  Clonmel,  Carr's  Island, 
Lawlestownbeg,  Cahir  Clough,  Rathronane,  etc.,  in  all  2,300  plantation  acres,  "  Bray  to  be  left  to 
law  on  his  claim." — Decrees*  Court  of  Claims,  P.R.O.  On  i8th  October,  1712,  John  Marshall  of 
Clonmel  purchased  from  Robert  Hamerton  and  Sarah  his  wife,  their  interest  in  part  of  the  burgagery 
lands  for  jf  1,200. — Palatinate  Fines,  199.  At  this  period  the  burgagery  lands  were  the  subject  of 
intricate  chancery  proceedings,  14th  July,  171 3,  etc. — Calendar  of  Chancery  Decrees,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  319 

At  the  election  in  1727,  the  voting  was  Guy  Moore  169,  Stephen  Moore  161,  Robert 
Hamerton  136,  Robert  Marshall  133.  But  the  two  latter  petitioned  the  House  of 
Commons  against  the  return  on  the  grounds  that  Stephen  Moore  "  the  Colonel "  when 
mayor,  had  created  two  groups  of  freemen  43  and  49  in  number,  only  two  persons  in 
each  group  being  resident  in  the  borough.  Out  of  these,  73  had  voted  for  the  Moores. 
The  Committee  therefore  declared  that  the  92  freemen  were  not  properly  qualified,  and 
returned  Hamerton  and  Marshall. 

I733»    October   25th — Guy    Moore,    Esq.,    Abbey,    vice   Hamerton 
deceased. 

•  At  this  election  the  candidates  were  Guy  Moore  and  Sir  Thomas  Prendergast. 
Moore  polled  140,  Prendergast  81.  Of  Moore's  majority  53  were  "faggot"  freemen 
created  by  Stephen  Moore.  Prendergast  being  still  in  a  minority  of  7,  petitioned 
parliament  on  the  grounds  of  bribery  and  intimidation.    Moore  was  unseated. 

I733»  November  3rd — Sir  Thomas  Prendergast. 

Sir  Thomas  Prendergast  was  son  of  Sir  Thomas  Prendergast  of  Gort,  by  Penelope, 
daughter  of  the  first  Earl  Cadogan  (r).  He  married  Anne,  daughter  of  Sir  Griffith 
Williams,  but  dying  without  offspring,  his  estates  passed  to  his  sister  Elizabeth,  ancestor 
to  the  Lords  Gort.  Besides  Clonmel,  he  also  represented  Chichester  in  the  English 
Parliament.  While  he  was  dying  in  1760  a  patent  was  in  actual  preparation  creating 
him  Vicount  Clonmel. 

I755>  October  20th — Guy  Moore,  Esq.,  Abbey  vice  Marshall  appointed 
Justice  of  Common  Pleas. 

Guy  Moore  Coote  was  son  of  Guy  Moore  who  unsuccessfully  contested  the  borough 
against  Hamerton  and  Prendergast.  He  was  placed  on  the  Irish  Pension  List  in  1758, 
receiving  an  annuity  of  £200  a  year.  On  23  November.  1769,  he  received  an  additional 
pension  of  £200. 

1755,  October  20th — William  Bagwell,   Esq.,  Clonmel  vice  Moore 
miselected. 

This  the  most  notable  election  in  the  history  of  the  borough,  has  been  already 
referred  to.  Bagwell  had  the  united  support  of  the  bourgeoisie.  He  was  a  dissenter, 
and  the  dissenting  bodies  then  included  the  most  influential  traders  in  the  place.  He 
also  stood  for  the  resident  freemen  against  the  country  party  who  made  up  two-thirds 
of  Moore's  supporters. 

William  Bagwell  was  the  second  son  of  John  Bagwell  of  Clonmel,  draper,  merchant 
and  banker.  He  married  in  1749  Jane  Harper,  daughter  of  John  Harper  of  Cork,  head 
of  the  private  banking  firm  of  Harper  and  Armstead  (5).    He  died  in  1756. 


(r)  This  Sir  Thomas  was  son  of  Thomas  Prendergast  of  Newcastle  (born  1614,  died  1725).  He 
held  the  position  of  Captain  in  the  army,  and  betrayed  the  Jacobite  plot  to  seize  King  William, 
15th  February,  1695.  As  a  reward  he  was  granted  the  estate  of  Roger  O'Shaughnessy  at  Gort, 
7,082  acres,  besides  the  Spittle  lands,  Ardfinnan  and  the  estate  of  Reechestown.  As  brigadier  general 
he  was  killed  at  Malplacquet  in  1709.     He  is  now  best  remembered  by  Swift's  biting  satire. 

(s)  Marriage  Settlement,  8th  &  9th  April,  1749,  by  which  part  of  the  Burgagery  called  Cooleens 
was  entailed  on  William  and  his  male  issue,  but  charged  to  secure  the  portions  for  daughters. 


320  History  of  Clonmel. 

I757i  October  24th — Guy  Moore  (Coote),  Esq.,  Abbey,  vice  William 
Bagwell,  deceased. 

..  r  Richard  Moore,  Esq.,  Moore  Park. 

*"  iGuy  Moore  (Coote),  Esq.,  Abbey. 

Richard  Moore  was  the  eldest  son  of  Stephen  Moore,  first  Vicount  Mountcashel. 
Bom  1725  ;  he  died  29  September,  1761.  JefFry  Walsh  was  nominated  a  candidate  in 
opposition  to  the  Moores.  He  claimed  the  second  seat  in  a  petition  to  the  House  of 
Commons.  Some  extraordinary  allegations  were  made  in  the  petition.  The  mayor, 
Theobald  Lewis,  would  not,  said  Walsh,  permit  the  town  clerk  to  read  the  freemens 
roll,  but  with  the  bailiffs  read  a  roll  of  his  own.  Eventually  the  mayor  as  returning 
officer  closed  the  poll  and  declared  Richard  Moore  and  Jeffry  Walsh  elected.  Some 
hours  after  Walsh  and  his  supporters  had  left  the  Court  House,  the  mayor  signed  a 
document  purporting  to  return  the  two  Moores,  Walsh  who  was  impecunious,  with- 
drew the  petition  26  November,  1761,  probably  for  a  consideration. 

1761,   December  23rd — Colvill    Moore,   Esq.,  vice  Richard    Moore, 
deceased. 

Colvill  Moore  was  third  son  of  Stephen,  Vicount  Mountcashel,  and  brother  of 
preceding. 

J.       .  r  Hon.  Colvill  Moore,  Esq. 

1768,  July  7th  ...  1^^^  j^^^^^  (Coote),  Esq.,  Abbey. 

/Stephen  Moore,  Esq.,  Marlfield. 
"   I  Guy  Moore  (Coote),  Esq.,  New  Abbey. 

Stephen  Moore  was  son  of  Thomas,  of  Marlfield,  and  nephew  of  his  namesake  of 
Barne,  "  the  colonel " ;  married  Alice,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Maude  of  Dundrum  ; 
High  Sheriff  of  Tipperary  1757 ;  built  the  Marlfield  Mills,  described  by  Arthur  Young, 
subsequently  got  into  financial  difficulties,  his  fee-farm  grants  of  Abbey  being  sold  for 
the  benefit  of  the  creditors. 

o    i^  .  L         .1.       (Stephen  Moore,  Esq.,  Barne. 
1783.  October  14th  ...[^^^  ^.jj.^^  j^  J^ 

Stephen  Moore  was  son  of  Richard,  of  Barne,  and  grandson  of  "  the  colonel."  He 
was  High  Sheriff  of  Tipperary  1786 ;  obtained  the  office  of  Controller-General  of  Ireland, 
a  comfortable  sinecure. 

Hon.  William  Moore,  fourth  son  of  Stephen,  first  Vicount  Mountcashel ;  married 
Anne,  daughter  of  Dudley  Fowkes,  and  founded  the  Moores  of  Saperton.  He  died 
in  1810. 

rHon.  William  Moore. 
1790,  May  20th        ...{„       ^^     ,       .^ 

IHon.  Stephen  Moore. 

Hon.  Stephen  Moore  was  nephew  of  his  fellow  member,  Hon.  William  Moore. 
Bom  1770 ;  married  Margaret,  eldest  daughter  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Kingston ;  died  1822. 

1790,  July  24th — Hon.  John  Moore,  vice  Hon.  Stephen  Moore,  succeeded 
to  Earldom  of  Mountcashel. 

Hon.  John  Moore,  brother  of  preceding.  Bom  1772,  so  that  he  became  member  for 
the  borough  in  his  l8th  year. 


History  of  Clonmel.  321 

r  Stephen  Moore,  Esq.,  Sapperton,  Tallow. 
'^  "         i  Thomas  Newenham,  Esq. 

Stephen  Moore  was  eldest  son  of  Hon.  William  Moore,  member  in  1783.  He  was 
absent  from  the  first  division  on  the  Union  25  January,  1799,  but  in  the  division  of 
6  February,  1800,  voted  for  that  measure.  He  was  rewarded  with  a  postmastership, 
a  valuable  sinecure.    He  died  1838. 

Thomas  Newenham.  Bom  1763  of  a  family  related  by  marriage  to  the  Mountcashels. 
In  the  division  25  January,  1799,  he  voted  against  the  Union ;  he  was  absent  from  the 
final  division,  having  accepted  the  escheatorship  of  Munster.    He  died  in  1831. 

1800,  February  lOth— John  Dennis,  Esq. 

John  Dennis,  called  to  the  bar  1785 ;  was  a  nephew  to  Lord  Tracton  to  whose 
estates  he  succeeded. 

BRITISH  Parliament. 

1801,  February— William  Bagwell,  Esq. 

In  accordance  with  a  provision  in  the  Act  of  Union,  Stephen  Moore  and  John 
Dennis  resigned.  William  Bagwell  was  eldest  son  of  John  Bagwell  who  purchased 
Marlfield.  Bom  in  1776 ;  educated  partly  in  Germany ;  held  the  lieut.-colonelcy  of  the 
Tipperary  militia ;  member  for  Rathcormack  in  the  Irish  parliament  1797-1800;  mayor 
of  Clonmel  1804-5 ;  member  for  Tipperary  1819-26 ;  a  privy  councillor  and  Must^r- 
Master-General  for  Ireland.    Died  unmarried  in  1826. 

1801,  December  9th — John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  Marlfield. 

John  Bagwell  was  brother  of  preceding.  He  was  member  for  Tipperary  in  the 
Irish  parliament  1797-1800,  voted  for  the  Union,  and  made  a  speech  in  favour  of  it, 
"  rather  eloquent,"  Comwallis  says,  "  in  point  of  composition."  Mayor  of  Clonmel 
1806-7-8-9.     Died  unmarried. 

1802,  July  19th— William  Bagwell,  Esq. 

1806,  February  27th— William  Wickham,  Esq. 

Wickham  was  a  member  of  an  old  Yorkshire  family  claiming  relationship  with 
Bishop  William  of  Wykeham.    Subsequently  appointed  a  Lord  of  the  Treasury. 

1806,  November  20th — William  Bagwell,  Esq. 

1807,  June  5th— William  Bagwell,  Esq. 
1812,  October  23rd— William  Bagwell,  Esq. 
1818,  July  3rd— William  Bagwell,  Esq. 

1820,  March  l8th-^James  Hewitt  Massy-Dawson,  Esq. 

He  was  bom  at  Ballynacourte,  Tipperary,  1782,  and  was  grandfather  of  the  present 
representative  of  that  family  there.    He  died  in  1834. 

1826,  June  19th — ^James  Hewitt  Massy-Dawson,  Esq. 

1830,  February  22nd — Eyre  Coote,  Esq.,  vice  Massy-Dawson  resigned. 

During  this  period  the  "  patron "  of  the  borough  was  a  minor,  and  it  does  not 
appear  upon  what  principle  the  tmstees  of  the  Bagwell  estate  selected  the  member  of 
parliament.  Eyre  Coote  was  son-in-law  to  Massy-Dawson.  He  resided  at  West  Park, 
Southampton,  and  died  1834. 

W 


S22  History  of  Clonmel. 

1830,  August  6th — Eyre  Coote,  Esq. 

1831,  May  9th— Eyre  Coote,  Esq. 

The  Parliamentary  Commissioners  in  December  of  this  year,  visited  Clonmel.  The 
constituency,  they  reported,  consisted  of  the  mayor,  two  sheriffs  and  seventeen  burgesses, 
who  formed  the  Corporation,  and  seventy-four  freemen— in  all  ninety-four.  Eight 
burgesses  and  twenty-one  freemen  were  not  resident  within  seven  miles  of  the  place  of 
election. 

1832,  December  15th — Dominick  Ronayne,  Esq.,  Ardsallagh. 

On  this  occasion  the  first  contested  election  since  the  Union  took  place.  The  votes 
on  the  register  numbered  521 ;  of  these  262  were  recorded  for  Ronayne  and  252  for  John 
Bagwell,  the  former  "  patron  "  of  the  borough. 

1835,  January  l6th — Dominick  Ronayne,  Esq. 

Dominick  Ronayne  was  by  profession  a  barrister.  In  the  tithe  war,  the  agitation 
against  tolls  at  fairs,  and  against  the  payment  of  ministers'  money,  he  took  a  leading 
part.  The  opposition  to  the  old  corporation  at  the  Irish  Municipal  Commission  of  1833 
was  also  conducted  by  him.  He  obtained  a  reputation  as  a  minor  wit  in  the  House  of 
Commons. 

1836,  February  20th— Nicholas  Ball,  Esq. 

In  this  election  which  was  contested,  Ball  obtained  284  votes  against  141  recorded 
for  his  opponent  Hutchinson.  Ball  was  a  judge  on  the  make,  and  being  a  Catholic 
received  the  Catholic  support  in  its  first  fervour  after  Emancipation.  He  was  bom  in 
Dublin  1791 ;  educated  at  Stonyhurst  and  Trinity  College,  Dublin ;  called  to  the  bar 
181 1 ;  he  was  appointed  in  rapid  succession  Sergeant-at-Law  November  10,  1836, 
Attorney-General  for  Ireland  II  July,  1838,  and  Justice  of  Common  Pleas  23  February, 
1839  (t).    Ball  died  15  January,  1865. 

1837,  August  8th— Nicholas  Ball,  Esq. 

1838,  July  l6th— Nicholas  Ball,  Esq. 

1839,  February  1 8th— David  Richard  Pigot,  Esq. 

David  Richard  Pigot  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Pigot,  of  Kilworth.  Educated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin;  called  to  the  bar  in  1826;  Solicitor-General  ii  February,  1839; 
Attorney-General  July,  1841 ;  one  of  the  leading  counsel  for  O'Connell  and  others  in 
State  Trial,  1844 ;  appointed  Chief  Baron  September  I,  1846 ;  died  1873.  Like  his 
predecessor  Ball,  he  owed  his  election  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Liberal  and  a  Catholic. 

1840,  August  2lst— David  Richard  Pigot,  Esq. 

1841,  July— David  Richard  Pigot,  Esq. 

1846,  September  12th— John  Cecil  Lawless,  Esq. 

Hon.  John  Cecil  Lawless,  born  1820.  He  was  the  second  son  of  the  second  Lord 
Cloncurry.  His  credentials  to  the  Clonmel  electors  appear  to  have  been  that  his  father 
gave  a  general  support  to  the  popular  movements.  Though  he  attended  a  Tenant 
Right  meeting  in  1852  at  Cashel,  in  parliament  he  voted  consistently  against  the 
measures  introduced  by  Crawford,  Duffy  and  the  tenant-leaguers.    He  died  in  1853. 

(t)  He  was  known  in  the  House  for  his  convivial  qualities  "  Ball  and  Supper." 


History  of  Clonmel.  323 

1847,  August  lOth — ^John  Cecil  Lawless,  Esq.,  Maritime,  Dublin. 

1852,  July  17th — John  Cecil  Lawless,  Esq. 

1853,  December  2ist — ^John  O'Connell,  Esq. 

John  O'Connell  was  third  and  favourite  son  of  Daniel  O'Connell.  Through  this 
circumstance  he  filled  a  part  in  the  politics  of  the  time  out  of  all  proportion  to  his 
capacity.  Ironically  termed  the  "Young  Liberator,"  his  election  in  Clonmel,  like 
Lawless,  was  on  his  father's  account.  A  witty  priest  of  the  day  described  the 
situation : — 

His  brother's  brother  (we'll  ax  no  other), 
'Tis  he'll  go  bail  for  his  father's  son. 
Some  three  years  later  O'Connell  hit  his  mark,  becoming  a  clerk  in  the  Hanaper  (u). 
He  died  in  1858. 

1857;  March  30th— John  Bagwell,  Esq..  Marlfield. 

John  Bagwell  was  son  of  Rev.  Richard  Bagwell,  Dean  of  Clogher,  and  nephew  of 
William  Bagwell,  member  for  Clonmel  1806-1819.  He  was  born  1811 ;  educated  at 
Winchester ;  succeeded  to  the  estates  of  his  uncle  William  in  1826 ;  High  Sheriff  of 
Tipperary  1834 ;  Lord  of  the  Treasury  1859-61.  In  politics  he  was  a  Liberal  of  the  old 
school ;  an  Irishman  who  in  the  strife  of  party  and  creed,  never  defamed  his  country 
by  voice  or  pen  (v).  And  it  is  probable  that  had  he,  like  others,  given  a  nominal 
adhesion  to  Butt's  Home  Rule  proposals,  he  would  have  represented  Clonmel  to  his 
death.    He  died  in  1879. 

1859,  May  2nd — John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  Marlfield. 
1859.  July  1st— John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  Marlfield. 
1865,  July  14th— John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  Marlfield. 
1868,  Kovember  17th — John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  Marlfield. 
1874,  February  llth — Arthur  Moore,  Esq.,  Mooresfort. 

Arthur  John  Moore,  born  1849 ;  was  second  son  of  Charles  Moore  of  Mooresfort,  to 
whose  estates  he  succeeded  in  1870 ;  Count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire ;  interested  in 
educational,  social  and  religious  questions;  co-operated  with  Horace  Plunket,  Esq.,  M.P., 
in  industrial  movement ;  member  of  parliament  for  Deny  1898-1900 ;  died  1903. 

1880 — March — Arthur  Moore,  Esq.,  Mooresfort. 

In  June  1885,  consequent  on  the  Redistribution  Act,  Clonmel  ceased  to  be  a  separate 
constituency,  and  now  forms  part  of  the  East  Division  of  Tipperary. 


(n)  In  Sir  Charles  Duffy's  League  of  the  North  and  South,  pp.  280-3,  will  be  found  an  account 
of  the  Clonmel  Election  of  1853.    It  is  saddening  reading,  and  probably  true  in  every  line. 

(v)  In  the  House  of  Commons  he  was  long  known  by  the  sobriquet  "  Umbrella  Bagwell."  On 
one  occasion,  during  a  debate  on  the  renewal  of  the  Insurrection  Act,  a  northern  member  declared 
that  the  life  of  any  man  of  property,  or  even  of  any  man  with  a  good  coat,  was  not  safe  in  Ireland. 
Bagwell  replied  that  he  lived  in  Ireland,  had  considerable  property  there,  and  would  go  at  any  time 
through  the  most  disturbed  district,  fortified  with  no  other  weapon  than  his. umbrella. 


Oh  AFTER  XVI. 


CLONMEL  WILLS. 

mANY  important  details  concerning  the  past  of  the  town  have  been 
obtained  from  wills.    Besides  the  insight  which  they  afford  into 
the  religion,  social  status,  and  civilization  of  the  former  inhabitants 
they  are  valuable  as  a  directory  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 
each  generation.    The  following  list,  therefore,  contains  the  names  of  the  men 
who  in  the  last  three  centuries  have  made  Clonmel  what  it  is. 

The  wills  are  "  Prerogative "  and  "  Diocesan."  When  a  testator  had 
property  to  the  value  of  £5  (bona  notabilia)  in  two  or  more  dioceses,  his  will 
was  proved  in  the  Prerogative  Court  of  the  Archbishop  (Protestant)  of  Armagh. 
Otherwise  his  will  was  proved  in  the  Consistorial  Court  of  the  diocese 
(Protestant)  in  which  he  lived.  Obviously  the  Prerogative  wills,  as  a  rule, 
represent  the  more  important  members  of  the  community.  In  the  following 
list  they  are  distinguished  by  heavier  type. 

The  earliest  Clonmel  will  extant  is  characteristically  one  of  Henry  Whit, 
burgess.    It  is  dated  6th  August,  1577,  but  was  not  proved  until  1589. 

1806  Acheson,  Robert.  1654  Arnold,  Clement  (Col.  Sankey's 

1782  Airay,  William.  regiment). 

1721  Alcocke,  Charles,  esq.  *  1761  Atkins,  Charles. 

*  In  1643  according  to  the  "Adventurers  Act,"  Thomas  Alcocke  of  London, 
haberdasher,  subscribed  £300  for  the  land  forces,  and  £l00  for  the  sea  forces,  to  carry  on 
the  war  against  the  Irish.  William  Alcocke  junior,  "merchant  taylor  in  Cannon 
street,"  subscribed  £l00  for  the  same  purpose.  According  to  the  scale  fixed  by  the 
Act,  the  united  subscription  would  entitle  them  to  an  estate  of  nearly  1700  acres  in 
Munster,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  But  the  war  proved  much  longer  than  was 
anticipated,  and  only  ten  years  later  the  Alcockes  came  in  sight  of  the  promised  land. 
In  July  1653,  however,  at  Grocers'  Hall,  London,  the  drawing  of  the  lots— province, 
county,  barony — began,  "  Alcocke  and  Co."  drew  lands  in  Tipperary,  September  1, 1653. 
Within  the  next  six  months  the  firm  was  reduced  to  Charles  Alcocke,  on  whose  behalf, 
John  Lane  drew  the  allotment  in  the  barony  of  Iffa  and  Offa,  23  February,  1654.    To 


History  of  Clonmel.  325 

prevent  the  saints  from  quarrelling,  the  baronies  were  quartered  geometrically  and  each 
adventurer  had  to  set  down  in  sequence  according  to  his  number.  The  lot  therefore  of 
Charles  Alcocke  was  No.  2,  East  Middle  Division,  Subdivision  2,  No.  4,  the  acreage 
being  I799ac.  3r.  9p.  By  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation  (1662-5)  the  Duke  of 
Ormond  and  John  Walsh  former  proprietors  recovered  nearly  500  acres. 

Like  many  of  the  adventurers,  Alcocke  preferred  to  live  within  the  shelter  of 
Clonmel  walls,  rather  than  encounter  the  dispossessed  "Tories,"  by  occupying 
Rathronan  or  Milerstown  castles.  Accordingly  he  made  his  abode  in  the  house  of 
Edmond  Bray  of  Lough  street.  It  was  the  best  house  on  the  east  side,  having 
according  to  the  Hearth  Money  Returns  for  1666  "seven  smoaks,"  i.e.  fire  places. 
Here  he  brought  his  wife  Catherine,  and  his  son  Charles  was  born.  This  is  the  Charles 
whose  will  was  proved  in  1721. 

The  only  child  of  Charles  Alcocke  junior,  Catherine,  married  in  1707  Sir  Emanuel 
Moore  of  Ross  Carbery.  He  dying  in  1733  left  a  son,  Sir  Charles  Moore,  who  lived  at 
Powerstown,  and  enclosed  the  park  there.  Sir  Charles  Moore  dying  unmarried  in  1754, 
the  estates  reverted  in  equal  shares  to  his  aunts,  Catherine  and  Anne,  daughters  of  Sir 
Emanuel  Moore.  These  married  John  Putland  of  Dublin,  and  Lieut.  General  John 
Gore,  in  whose  families  the  estates  still  continue. 

1732  Attwood,  John.  1828  Baggott,  John. 

1791  Bacon,  Rev.  Edward.  1739  Bagwell,  Ann.  ^ 

1693  Bacon,  Hanna.  1754  Bagwell,  John.  ^ 

2  Will  dated  31  January,  1738,  Anne  Bagwell,  widow  of  John  Bagwell  junior, 
late  of  Kilmore,  bequeaths  diamond  ring  "that  was  his  fathers"  to  her  son  John 
and  five  guineas ;  four  guineas  each  to  her  brother  William  Colwell,  Rev.  David  Tweed, 
Rev.  Thomas  Cuthbert :  rings  to  her  sister-in-law  Grace  Bagwell,  Mary  Goddard, 
Elizabeth  Wrasall :  residue  to  her  father  James  Colwell  who  is  guardian  of  her  son  John 
until  he  is  21  years. 

3  This  will  (or  wills  for  there  are  two  separately  executed  on  same  day)  is  dated 
7th  December,  1750.  It  sets  forth  the  various  purchases  of  land  in  fee  and  leasehold, 
effected  by  John  Bagwell  draper,  and  general  merchant,  during  his  life.  The  pedigree 
of  the  family  which  he  founded,  may  here  be  set  down. 

John  Bagwell  =  Miss  Shaw 


Jn.  Bagwell=Ann  Colwell  Wiliiam=Jane  Harper  Grace=Jn.  Davis  Mary=Wm.  Riall 
(of  Kilmore,  m,  (w.  1749,  M.P.  (infra) 

1736,  oh.  1738)    i  1756,  Ob,  1758) 


John= 
ob,  1785 


John=Mary  Hare,  sister  of  1st  Earl  of  Listowel 


— I  II  I    -    I     I      I 

^  I  „r.i,'  William     Richard=MargaretCrokerBenjaminJohnMargt.  Mary 

John=    William  ob.unmar,  I 

ob,  1821 


John  Bagwell  I       _  t.  .    .      •  i.  t      ,  t^       „ 

(left  Kilmore,  John=Fanny  Pnttie,  sister  of  Lord  Dunally. 

c.  1827)  I 


Edward  Bagwell-Purefoy  Margaret  Mary  Jane 


I —  I         I   I   I  I 

Richani=HenriettaJocelyn  Newton        William        four  daughters 


326  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  history  of  the  family  previous  to  1730,  is  like  the  origin  of  the  Amazon, 
obscure.  John  Bagwell,  merchant  in  Clonmel,  had  two  brothers — William,  merchant 
in  Dublin,  and  Phineas.  He  had  one  sister,  a  Mrs.  Airy.  The  earlier  ancestors  given 
in  Burke's  Landed  Gentry,  are  imaginary. 

The  senior  branch  settled  in  Kilmore,  had  a  short  career  but  a  notable  one.  The 
place  was  previously  occupied  by  Charles  Meagher,  "  Counsellor-at-law,"  whose  tenure 
was  even  shorter.  At  the  marriage  of  John  Bagwell  to  Ann,  daughter  of  James  Colwell, 
in  May  1736,  his  father  settled  on  him  the  lands  of  Ballydoyle,  Ballyduff,  Loughkent 
Upper  and  Lower,  which  he  had  purchased  shortly  before  from  "  Edmund  Butler 
commonly  called  Lord  Dunboyne."  But  in  less  than  thirty  years,  the  son  of  John 
Bagwell  and  Anne  Colwell,  John  Bagwell,  had  mortgaged  these  estates  to  William 
Barton  a  prosperous  claret  importer  of  Bordeaux,  and  finally  in  1778,  they  were  sold 
to  Phineas  Riall,  the  banker,  for  £11,809.  This  however  did  not  liquidate  the  whole 
of  Bagwall's  debts,  for  Cahirclough  soon  followed  the  other  lands.  The  Bagwells  how- 
ever dragged  out  an  existence  for  another  generation  in  Kilmore.  In  August,  1821,  we 
read  the  death  "  at  lodgings  in  Main  Street  the  relict  of  the  late  John  Bagwell  of 
Kilmore  "  (w). 

1772  Bagwell,  William.  1690  Bainbrigge,  Richard  (chandler). 

1756  Bagwell,  William.  1674  Barron,  Geoff ry.  * 

*  For  the  will  of  Geoflfry  Barron  written  on  the  eve  of  his  execution  by  Ireton, 
see  Chapter  XVII. 

1688  Barron,  Nicholas.  1622  Barron,  Laurence.  * 

*  The  following  is  the  pedigree  of  the  Barrons  of  Clonmel  during  the  seventeenth 
century  :— 

Geoffry  Barron  =  Beale  White. 
ob.  1601.         I      ob.  1610. 


I 


"1 


Laurence  Richard  Robert  Beale  Alson  Anastasia 

i 
Thomas 


ob,  1622  , 


(l)=Mary  Wadding 


I  I 

Geoffry  Bartholomew  Luke  Michael 

(1601-1650)  (1608-1696)  (1612-1625)  {bn.  1615) 

(2)=Catherine  White  Nicholas=Mary  Sail 

Bess  (bn,  1619)  (ob.  1688) 

Richard. 

1670  Batty,  Edward.  ^  1741  Beere,  Hercules. 

^  Will  dated  I  November,  1669,  Batty  names  Ellin  his  wife,  executrix;  bequeaths 
to  Stephen  Thomas,  Ann,  Jeremy  and  John,  the  children  of  his  brother  Thomas 
Batty,  £100,  £100,  £50  and  £50  respectively,  30s.  to  his  "sheapherd  Henry  White," 
and  50s.  each  to  Stephen  and  Thomas  the  sons  of  Richard  Moore. 

(w)  \Viitetfi>r<i  Mirror. 


History  of  Clonmel.  327 

The  Battys  appear  to  have  been  soldiers  in  the  army  of  Cromwell  Thomas  was 
appointed  Treasurer  of  Revenue  for  Clonmel  Precinct  14th  May,  1652,  Edward  farmed 
the  lands  of  Darlinghill.  At  the  Restoration  the  former  settled  in  Innislounaght  A 
tomb  in  St.  Maiy's  is  the  only  record  of  them  existing  in  the  district  The  inscription 
runs : — "  Here  lieth  the  Body  of  John  Slaughter  Born  in  Gloucester  Shere  who  died  on 
the  First  of  August  1687.  Here  also  lies  the  Body  of  Comet  John  Batty  Grandson  to 
the  above  named  Sloughter  who  Dyed  the  17^**  of  January  171 1  son  to  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  Batty  of  Clonmel.  Also  the  Body  of  Elizabeth  the  wife  of  Thomas  Batty 
who  Dyed  on  the  20»»»  of  May  17 14.  Also  the  Body  of  Comet  Thomas  Batty  of  Clonmel 
who  Departed  this  life  at  Killoughter  the  7'**  Febmary  1722  and  in  the  62"**  year  of 
His  age.  Here  lies  the  Body  of  Lieut.  William  Kennet  as  also  The  Body  of  Elizabeth 
Kennet  who  died  September  7^**  1736." 

1719  Bertles,  Judith.  1829  Blake,  Michael. 

1752  Bigg,  Boleyn.  1663  Blount,  Charles. ' 

1786  Blake,  Michael.  1779  Boardman,  Robert 

'  Will  dated  18  April,  1663,  wife  Valentine  sole  executrix;  the  annuity  charged 
on  his  elder  brother's  land  in  England,  many  years  in  arrears,  is  bequeathed  to  eldest 
son  Samuel ;  "  arrears  due  unto  me  for  services  done  and  performed  in  the  kingdom  of 
Ireland  stated  and  audited  to  the  sum  of  £2,200  I  give  said  sum  or  houses  and  lands 
that  by  authority  may  be  sett  out  in  satisfaction  of  said  sum  to  my  eldest  son  Samuel 
if  he  lives  to  age  of  17."  If  not,  to  his  wife  for  maintenance  and  education  of  the 
other  children. 

The  Long  Parliament  8  October  1646,  commissioned  Charles  Blount  to  raise 
a  regiment  of  lOOO  men  in  Gloucestershire  for  service  in  Ireland.  Blount  went 
over  and  served  under  Inchiquin,  but  deserted  him  on  Cromwell's  landing.  Became  a 
Commissioner  of  Survey  in  1654.  As  at  the  Restoration,  the  great  part  of  Clonmel  was 
granted  to  Ormond,  the  Blounts  with  other  representatives  of  the  "1649  Officers" 
received  their  allotment  of  house  property  elsewhere. 

1783  Boughely,  Nicholas.  1742  Boughely,  William. 

1795  Boughely,  Patrick.  1668  Booker,  Colonel. « 

*  On  21  August  1645,  Colonels  Jephson,  William  Parsons,  Francis  Roe  and 
John  Booker  were  appointed  by  the  Committee  of  the  Long  Parliament  to  go  into 
Munster.  The  following  May  having  given  an  undertaking  to  raise  and  transport  lOOO 
men  thither,  £1,250  were  paid  them. 

Will  dated  3  July  1665,  "  I  John  Booker  of  Clonmel  Esq.  sometime  of  London, 
Salter,  now  upon  a  voyage  for  Ireland  from  Bristoll  do  make  etc.  To  my  onely  son  and 
child  Thomas  Booker  ten  shillings  to  buy  him  a  Bible  which  I  desire  him  diligently  to 
read,  he  having  hitherto  been  a  stubborn  prodigall  sonn  (already  having  had  from 
me  over  £1000  and  signed  a  generall  acquittance  from  me  or  his  late  deceased  mother). 
I  desire  my  executrix  to  pay  him  every  week  dureing  his  life  lOs.  If  he  contract  or 
sell  it,  said  lOs.  to  cease;  executrix  to  provide  and  buy  him  deceant  apparell  and 
clothes  as  need  requires  not  exceeding  £iO  a  yeare."  Bequeaths  £lO  to  his  brother 
Edward,  to  his  cousin  Henry  Perrey  and  his  children  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Perrey 
£50  between  them.  "  To  John  Parsons  sonn  to  William  late  cittizen  and  saltar  of 
London,  my  late  master  who  I  have  heard  liveth  in  fleete  Lane  £5.  To  the  Saltars 
Company  £10  to  buy  a  peece  of  plate  (my  executrix  to  see  it  bought  and  my  coat  of 
arms  ingraven)  for  them  to  keepe.  I  bequeath  all  arreares  due  for  service  in  his 
majesties  army  under  comand  of  his  now  Grace  the  Duke  of  Ormond  and  the  Earle  of 


i2s  History  of  Clonmel. 

Inchiqueene  to  my  sister  Mrs.  Mary  Wightwiclf  my  executrix ;  to  her  my  house  in 
St.  Nicholas  Lane  knowne  by  the  signe  of  the  Sugar  Loafe  where  Mr..  Barton 
Blacksmith  liveth  on  her  decease  to  my  brother  Edward." 

There  is  a  previous  will  dated  20  May,  1664,  made  in  Clonmel  in  which  Booker 
bequeaths  "to  the  poore  English  inhabiteing  in  Clonmell  £5:  to  the  poor  Irish 
inhabitauntes  £io  lOs  :  to  Richard  Denison  40s.  to  buye  a  ring  to  weare  for  mysake ; 
to  my  freind  CoUonell  John  BuUer  my  cristall  watch." 

1632  Bray,  John.  ^  1803  Bray,  Catherine  White. 

®  An  extract  from  this  will  has  been  printed  in  Chapter  IV.  From  the  Inquisitions 
and  Wills  the  following  particulars  have  been  gathered.  Edmund  Bray  living  in  1552, 
had  two  sons  Michael  and  John,  and  a  daughter  Ann :  Michael  had  a  son  Peter  and 
a  grandson  Edmund.  John  Bray  the  secoftd  son  of  Edmund,  had  two  sons  James  and 
John  and  a  daughter  Ann.  The  latter  John  married  Beale  Lee  of  Waterford  and  from 
his  will  supra,  it  appears  he  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  John,  Michael,  Thomas, 
Ann,  Christina,  Catherine. 

1805  Brenock,  Bartholomew.  1676  Brenock,  James.  '® 

*®  "  In  the  name  of  God  Amen,  I  James  Brenock  of  Clonmel,  Apotecary,  being 
of  perfect  sense  and  memore,  mindful  of  my  later  dales  doe  make  my  last  will  and 
testament  as  follows.  First  I  bequeath  my  soul  to  my  sweet  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
by  vertue  of  whose  passion  I  hope  to  be  saved,  my  body  to  be  buried  in  the  Parish 
Church  of  Clonmel  in  my  auncestors  graue  according  the  rites  of  the  holly  church." 
The  mortgage  of  Orchardstown,  of  the  house  of  Thomas  Donoghoe,  the  interest  in  the 
house  of  Lisnamucky  I  lived  in,  to  my  son  Walter ;  the  mortgage  of  the  house  called 
the  Red  Hall  in  Clonmel  to  John  Brenock  of  Carrigg,  the  slate  house  in  the 
Create  Streete  of  Clonmel,  the  land  and  four  parks  and  gardens  in  the  East  and  West 
Subburbs  to  my  son  Walter;  the  slate  house  in  East  side  of  William  Leynagh's 
Lane  mortgaged  unto  me,  to  my  son  Walter ;  my  interest  in  the  farme  of  Lisnamucky," 
and  the  stores  now  on  the  farme  to  be  divided  equally  betwen  my  son  Walter  my  wife 
Catherine  and  her  son  Nicholas  White.  "  I  leave  one  of  my  boyleing  potts  which  is  of 
the  largest  to  the  poore  of  the  hospitall  of  Clonmell,  I  leave  my  aqua  vitae  pott  to  my 
wife  Alsoe  I  leave  another  brass  pott  to  my  grandchild  Michael  White,  I  leave  my 
fomax  unto  mv  said  wife  and  after  her  death  the  same  to  redound  to  the  said  Michael 
White  fitz  Paul  alsoe  I  leave  my  greate  mortar  to  the  said  Michael  White,  I  leave  two 
silver  aqua  vitae  cupps,  a  silver  Jugg  and  a  drinking  silver  cupp  unto  my  son  Walter 
Brennocke.  I  leave  to  my  said  grand  daughter  Mary  Brenocke  and  heirs  a  silver 
drinking  cupp  two  small  silver  cupps  and  a  small  silver  salter.  I  leave  unto  Ann 
Lynch  £5  ster.  to  be  paid  her  by  my  sons  Walter  and  Nicholas  White  moytively  at  her 
mariadge  time."— January  3,  1676. 

1695  Brenock,  Walter  "  1810  Brian,  Phebe. 

"  This  testator  was  son  of  preceding.  Will  dated  13  April,  1695.  After  paying 
debts  etc,  of  the  rest  one  third  to  son  James,  one  third  to  daughters  Nell,  Catherine  and 
Franck  and  son  John,  one  third  to  his  wife  Mary  Walsh  and  son  Walter  Brenocke. 
"  I  leave  a  long  drawing  table  with  his  frame  to  the  convent  of  St.  Francis  Order  in 
Clonmell.  I  appoint  my  son  [in  law]  Nicholas  White  overseer  of  the  above  mencioned 
deseiring  him  according  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him  to  doe  what  becometh  a  trusty  son." 


History  of  Clonmel. 


329 


1734  Brittan,  James. 
1683  Broad,  Abraham. 
1761  Broneck,  Frances. 


1771  Brown,  Thomas. 

1688  Brownsworth,  Jonathan  ''^ 

1854  Buckley,  James. 


'2  Jonathan  Brownsworth,  clerke,  vicar  of  Clonmell.  Will  dated  "25  April, 
the  fourth  yeare  of  the  Reigne  of  our  Soveraigne  Lord  King  James  the  Second  anno 
Dom.  1688."  He  bequeaths  his  body  to  be  interred  in  the  chancel  of  this  parish  church 
of  Clonmell,  "  To  my  brother  Richard  Brownsworth's  children  living  in  or  about  Neston 
in  Cheshire,  England,  £4  sterling  to  be  equally  divided;  if  any  a  male  or  prove  a 
Scholler  20  of  my  best  books ;  To  the  English  poore  of  the  Parish  of  Clonmell  50s.  to 
be  laid  out  in  bread  on  the  day  of  my  buriall.  To  Mr.  Robert  Bredin  Vicar  of  Carrick 
50s.  whom  I  desire  to  preach  my  funerall  sermon.  To  the  maid  servts  of  Mr. 
Hanburys  House  30s.  To  my  servant  Andrew  English  tenn  pounds  I  appoint  my 
approved  freind  Mr.  Robert  Bradford  of  City  Waterford  Executor." 


1682  Bullock,  Thomas. 
1851  Burke,  John. 


1619  Butler,  Edward  *^ 
1794  Butler,  John. 


'3  Will  dated  21  May,  1619.  "I  bequeath  my  soule  to  the  holly  Trinitie  and  to  the 
blessed  virgin  Mary  and  to  all  the  celestiall  company  in  heaven,  my  boddie  to  be  buried 
in  the  Abbey  of  Sainet  ffrancis  in  Clonmell  in  my  Ancestors  buriall.  Debts  due :  to 
Thomas  Bibby  of  Bristoll  sixteen  pounds  i6s.  ster. ;  to  Mr.  Camberline  of  Bedmister 
for  a  brass  pott  three  pounds  five  shillings ;  to  my  servants  lowan  McDavid  20s.,  to 
Daniel  McShane  4s.  Debts  due  to  me  amounting  to  ffeefty  pounds  eight  shillings  and 
two  penns  many  of  the  said  debtors  dead  and  dekeaid  [i.e.,  decayed— reduced  to 
poverty.]  ....  I  bequeath  the  third  part  said  goods  to  my  wife,  the  third  to  my 
children  and  the  third  for  my  soule." 


1805  Butler,  James  Archer. 
1837  Butler,  James. 

1854  Butler,  Judith. 
1764  Byrne,  Patrick. 
1831  Cantwell,  Denis. 

1806  Campbell,  Rev.  William. 
171 5  Card,  Nathaniel. 

1845  Cantwell,  Thomas. 
1839  Carew,  Margaret. 
1786  Casey,  Maurice. 
1806  Cashen,  William. 
1741  Castle,  James. 


1794  Cave,  James. 

1795  Cave,  John. 
1808  Chaloner,  John. 

1803  Chaytor,  Thomas    (school- 
master). 
1749  Clean,  Elizabeth. 
1676  Cole,  Roger. 
1825  Collett,  Hanna. 
1742  Collett,  Joseph. 
1725  Collett,  Stephen. 
1698  Collet,  George  (skinner) 
1709  Colsery,  John  " 


^*  Will  dated  7  December,  1699.  John  Perry,  and  Phineas  Riall  of  Clonmel, 
merchant,  are  named  by  Colesary  as  executors  "  twenty  six  shillings  to  each  of  them 
to  buy  them  a  mourning  ring  a  peece  in  remembrance  of  me  " ;  the  farm  of  Ballyvaughan 
in  equal  shares  is  bequeathed  to  his  sons  John  and  Benjamin.  A  codicil  provides  that 
each  of  his  sons  should  get  a  "  Certificate  of  their  good  behaviour  and  civil  deportment 
and  demeanour  from  any  four  or  more  of  the  following— John  Pyke  Esq.,  Mathew 


330  History  of  Clonmel. 

Jacob  Esq.,  Mr.  Andrew  Roe  of  Tipperary,  The  Rev.  Mr.  John  Shaw  sen.  of  Clonmell, 
Charles  Alcocke  Esq.,  Mr.  Philip  Carleton,  Mr.  John  Darner,  and  Mr.  John  Bagwell  of 
Ballyboy,  or  be  cut  off  with  five  shillings,  the  rest  of  the  moiety  share  to  go  to  the 
other." 

1740  Congreve,  Rebecca.  1679  Comerford,  Edward  ** 

1849  Connelly,  Mary.  1771  Commin,  Margaret 

'*  Ellen  Cumberfort's  will  dated  23  August,  1748,  is  a  holograph.  "  I  desire  to 
be  beryed  in  the  Whites  Chapell,  if  no  roume  there  I  leave  foretteen  pounds  for  a  toume 
stone;  6o£  be  given  to  Rev.  father  Thomas  Henasey  to  descharge  a  lawful  dept  of  mine 
which  he  has  directions  for ;  to  poor  depters  in  prison  of  town  five  pounds,  the  poor 
prisoners  money  to  be  given  to  Parish  Priest  as  best  judge ;  to  six  poor  widowes  lOs. 
a  pees  for  six  doses  [i.e.  beds.]  Cosn  Doraty  White  5£ ;  Mrs.  Mary  Miller  St.  John  I0£ ; 
the  poor  house  of  this  town  forty  shillings ;  to  James  Striche's  wife  and  her  sister 
Carney  each  of  them  40s. ;  to  Catteran  Strich  dawter  to  James  Strich  six  tea  spoons  and 
toungs  ;  to  my  servant  that  lives  with  me  4£,  and  her  wages  and  some  of  my  clothes 
and  lening  [linen] :  to  the  poor  fryars  of  this  town,  I  desire  that  they  will  say  masses  for 
me  2£ :  to  robbin  Sherlock  a  large  silver  cup  his  paying  9£  without  interest  which  was 
the  money  I  payed  Mrs,  Morgan  to  reles  it  from  her,  in  August  1729,  robbin  Sherlock's 
mother  severall  yeares  ago  paid  me  thre  pounds  of  the  above,  there  remains  6£ ;  to  the 
poor  distressed  and  naked  people  among  the  poor  l£  to  be  laid  out  in  bread  for  five 
fridays;  to  the  chappell  for  vestments,  a  black  silk  gound;  I  desire  to  be  buried 
decently;  for  expenses  30£ 

lining  [linen]  and  clothes  to  be  divided. 
One  lase  brade  cape  and  lase  hainkerchief,  one  pair  lase  ruffles  to  niece  Nancy  White ; 
to  nice  Nancy  White  2  lase  caps ;  to  Betty  White  a  blue  damask  gound ;  to  Nancy  a 
blue  Ludstris  petty  cote  with  my  dressing  glass ;  my  cheney  [chinaware]  to  be  divided 
between  Betty  and  Nancy  White;  to  my  nephew  James  her  brother  a  silver  pinte  cann; 
to  Mrs.  St  John  a  small  rose  dymond  ring,  to  [sic]  cambick  caps,  2  poys  with  my 
velvett  poys,  2  of  my  best  cloth  aprons;  to  Catteran  White  her  sister  2  night 
shifts,  2  cors  [coarse]  cloath  aprons  and  all  remainder  of  my  caps  with  3  comon 
gounds,  a  corsett  with  some  of  my  quilted  petty  cotes ;  all  my  books  to  Jemmy  White ; 
to  my  nephew  John  Quanes  Daughter  3  chest  of  Drawers  upon  a  freame,  a  small  ovell 
table,  a  tea  chest,  a  small  gilt  leather  trounk ;  to  Mrs.  Catteran  White,  daughter  to  my 
nephew  Thomas  A  dymond  hoop  ring  and  a  pair  of  large  sconces,  I  peremtarlly  desire 
the  2  hundred  pounds  of  my  money  that  lyes  in  Mr.  Bagwell's  hands  may  be  imedeatly 
called  in  that  there  may  be  no  delay  to  discharge  this  obligation,  rest  to  be  divided 
between  Thomas  Whites  children,  I  would  have  6  clergymen  [at  funeral]  berers  scarfs 
given  them,  and  to  the  Doctor  and  pottacary  a  hood,  and  a  scarf  to  my  servant.  Bury 
me  at  night,"  etc 

1736  Connor,  Denis.  1816  Corcoran,  Patrick. 

1766  Connor,  John.  1798  Cooke,  John. 

1736  Connor,  William.  1704  Cooke,  Samuel. 

171 5  Cooke,  Elizabeth.  1799  Coote,  Guy  Moore  (Dublin). 

1753  Connors,  Elizabeth.  1806  Coote,  Guy  Moore  (Dublin). 

1850  Connors,  James.  1806  Costello,  Patrick. 
1791  Cooke,  Anne.  1720  Coulter,  Ann. 
1728  Cooke,  Deborah.  171 3  Cranwell,  James. 
1726  Cooke,  John.  1716  Cranwell,  Mary. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


331 


1818  Crotty,  Elizabeth. 
181 1  Crotty,  John. 
1804  Corbett,  William. 


1706  Coulter,  Andrew. 

1620  Creagh,  Leonard  fitz  Thomas. 

1748  Comerfort,  Ellen  ^« 


*®  The  will  of  Edward  Comerford,  merchant,  is  dated  10  November,  1679.  He 
desired  his  body  to  be  buried  in  the  Franciscans'  Abbey  ;  bequeaths  a  third  of  his  estate 
to  his  wife  and  £300  to  each  of  his  children.  "  To  Robert  Browne  as  much  money  as  with 
produc  of  what  freezes  of  his  I  have  at  St.  Malo  as  will  make  £lO." 


1800  Davis,  Grace. 

1756  Dallard,  William. 
1817  Dalton,  Isabel. 
1784  Daniel,  John. 
1816  Davin,  Pierce. 
1 85 1  Davis,  Michael. 
1805  Denny,  Rev.  James. 
1707  Dennison,  Richard. 
1728  Denny,  John. 

1765  Disney,  Rebecca. 
1769  Dixon,  William. 
1771  Dixon,  William. 
1769  Donnell,  Cornelius. 
1794  Doody,  Ellen. 

1766  Downey,  Edward. 
1794  Dudley,  Joseph. 
1808  Dudley,  Robert 


1810  Dudley,  Robert,  jun. 
1828  Duckett,  Susanna. 
1790  Dunlay,  Laurence. 
1769  Dunn,  Bryan. 
1793  Dumville,  Anne. 
1807  Dumville,  Henry. 
1772  Dumville,  John. 
1809  Dwan,  Patrick. 

1727  Dwyer,  Edmund. 
1741  Egan,  Sarah. 
1657  Entwisley,  Henry. 

1 65 1  Entwisley,  Laurence. 

1657  Everard,  Henry  (innkeeper). 

1751  Farrell,  Thomas. 

1728  Fell,  Nicholas. 
1707  Fennessy,  Darby  *^ 
1792  Fell,  Nicholas. 


^^  Will  dated  3  January,  1706;  Bequeaths  a  third  of  estate  real  and  personal  to 
widow  Mary  flfenisy ;  two  thirds  to  children  "  I  leave  unto  my  son  Bartholomew  my 
silver  Tankards  intirely  to  himselfe."    James  Nagle,  Garranavally,  Executor. 


1796  FitzGerald,  Elizabeth. 
1808  FitzPatrick,  Richard. 
1758  FitzGerald,  John. 
1735  Fley,  Francis. 
1661  Foster,  William. 
1774  Flood,  Mary. 
1720  Glaisher,  John. 

1691  Glanville,  Edmund. 

1771  Godfrey,  Thomas  (chandler). 

1692  Godfrey,  William. 
1743  Going,  James. 


1856  Grubb,  Ann. 

1829  Grubb,  Elizabeth. 

1717  Guiga,  James. 

1759  Going,  Elizabeth. 

1742  Gordon,  SamueL 

1757  Gordon,  Samuel. 

1807  Gordon,  Thomas. 

1714  Gwinn,  Chichester. 

1755  Gorman,  Michael. 

1802  Grubb,  Benjamin. 

1784  Grubb,  John  (Anner  Mills). 


332 

1788  Guyon,  Ann. 
1 761  Hackett,  Arthur. 

1689  Hamerton,  Richard. 
1733  Hamerton,  Robert. 

1690  Hamerton,  Mary. 
1728  Handcox,  Richard. 
1690  Hamilton,  Isabel!. 
1687  Hamilton,  James. 

1766  Hanagan,  Maurice. 

1767  Hanagan,  Maurice. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


1801  Hanrahan,  Edward. 

1810  Harty,  James. 

1776  Harwood,  Rev.  John  D. 

1753  Hanrahan,  William. 
1785  Hayman,  William. 
181 5  Hays,  John. 
1691  Henley,  Henry. 
1847  Hennebury,  Ellen. 
1854  Hennessy,  Michael. 
1752  Hennessy  Thomas  A.  *® 


*®  See  under  Parish  Priests. 


1 67 1  Hepburne,  Robert. 
1756  Hickey,  Edward,  M.D. 
1830  Hogan,  William. 
1658  Hill,  Francis. 


1764  Hill,  Elizabeth. 
1700  Holland,  John. 
1677  Hopkins,  Francis  ^^ 
1725  Hopkins,  Francis. 


**  Francis  Hopkins,  chandler,  lived  in  1660  in  High  Street,  north  side ;  the  house 
a  good  one  with  "  five  smoakes,"  was  formerly  occupied  by  Thomas  White  fitz  Michael. 
Hopkins  was  mayor  in  1673,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  John  Power  (ancestor  of  the 
Powers  of  Kilfane)  lived  in  the  adjoining  house.  For  the  dispute  of  Hopkins  with 
Power  relative  to  the  freedom  of  the  borough,  see  Chapter  VII. 


1788  Hoskins,  Henry. 

1670  House,  Elizabeth. 

1724  Humphreys,  Joseph. 

1792  Howell,  Edward  (saddler). 

1847  Hurley,  Michael. 

1842  Hynes,  Alice. 

1734  Jackson,  Rev.  William. 


17 1 7  Kearney,  Ann. 
1782  Kearney,  John. 
1729  Kearney,  Patrick. 
1784  Kearney,  Patrick. 
1727  Keating,  James. 
1735  Keating,  James. 
1734  Keating,  Jeffry  ^ 


^  Pierce  Keating  and  George  Parris,  saddler,  made  oath  that  Jeffry  Keating  in 
October  or  November,  1730,  came  before  them  in  Thomas  Bourke's  house  in  Clonmel, 
produced  a  paper  as  his  will  and  signed  it. 

"  I  bequeath  my  soul  to  Gkxi,  my  Creator,  hoping  through  the  precious  merrets  of 
my  gracious  Redeemer  to  obtain  Eternal  Glory."  £300  due  by  bond  of  Thomas  Morgan 
of  Raheen,  £207  due  by  John  Power  of  Barrettstown,  and  the  furniture  lodging  room  to 
my  only  son  Pierce  Keating :  £142  due  by  Joseph  Barrett  of  Ownskeagh  and  Stephen 
Moore  of  Moore  Park,  to  my  only  daughter  Elizabeth  Walsh :  £100  due  of  John 
Perry  Esq.,  £100  of  Redmond  Purcell  Gent.,  £lCX)  of  John  Bagwell,  merchant,  to  my 
grandchildren  Patrick  and  John  Walsh  in  equal  parts,  with  survivorship.  "  I  leave 
unto  my  grandson  Jeffery  Walsh  £5,  to  buy  a  mourning  shuite  of  cloath,  40s.  to  Rev. 
Father  Thomas  Kennedy,  5s.  unto  the  poor  of  Clonmel,  20s.  to  be  expended  at  cousin 
John  Burkes  on  the  labourers  of  Daragrath  Parish  that  come  to  my  funerall." 


History  of  Clonmel. 


333 


1827  Keating,  Johanna. 
1826  Keilly,  Patrick. 
1853  Keilly,  Patrick  J. 
1805  Keilly,  Patrick. 
1779  Kellet,  Edward. 
1767  Kellet,  William. 
1736  Kenrick,  Elizabeth. 


1739  Labarte,  Bartholomew 

1781  Labarte,  Frances.      (merchant). 

1767  Labarte,  John. 

1752  Labarte,  James. 

1820  Labarte,  John. 

1733  Lacky,  Thomas. 

1684  Ladyman,  Samuel  ^* 


21  The  will  of  Samuel  Ladyman,  Vicar  of  Clonmel,  is  dated  12  December,  1683. 
He  describes  himself  "  a  weake  consumptive  sickly  man  "  with  "  a  crazy,  distempered, 
wasted  body,"  and  requests  his  daughter  and  grand-daughter  "  that  they  never  doe 
forgett  those  many  signall  obligations  which  my  selfe  have  received  from  the  illustrious 
lord  Duke  of  Ormond,  but  continue  to  pray  for  the  Lasting  Happiness  of  the  most 
honorable  family."    He  bequeaths  to  his  grand-daughter— 

One  green  satin  Christening  mantle  with  the  broade  gold  and  sylver  lace ;  three  hanging 
sea-green  Sweet  Baggs  as  they  are  called,  mixed  with  Gold  and  sylver  ribbon  and  one 
more  wrought  with  Gold ;  one  pinkissine  of  the  same  silk  with  the  Baggs  with  gold  and 
sylver  lace ;  one  suite  of  fine  wrought  Child  bead  [bed]  Linenn  with  mantle,  baggs,  etc., 
being  used  by  my  dearest  wife  with  all  her  children  my  desire  and  will  is  that  they  be 
kept  without  any  alteration  (tho*  used  as  occation  requires). 

"  I  doe  give  the  sum  of  Twenty  Shillings  unto  such  at  whose  Baptisme  I  stood  as 
Witness  viz.  unto  Sir  Thomas  Stanley's  youngest  son,  John ;  unto  Captain  Foley's 
youngest  son,  Solomon ;  unto  Anne  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Arch  Deacon  Hamilton ; 
Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Wade  Esq. ;  Stephen  son  of  Mr.  Thomas  Moore ;  to 
each  of  them  I  doe  give  Twenty  Shillings  ster.  to  buy  them  the  Lord  Primat  Usher's 
sum  and  substance  of  Christian  Religion,  the  whole  duty  of  man,  and  the  practice  of 
Piety ;  or  if  they  have  these  already,  any  other  good  books ;  also  unto  Betty  Wade  I 
doe  further  give  one  piece  of  broade  gold  marked  with  the  letter  H,  being  the  same  that 
her  pious  mother  enforced  me  to  take  some  few  days  after  I  baptised  herselfe. 

"  I  doe  give  unto  the  publique  Library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  the  ensuing 
folio  books  all  marked  Cross  their  Bottomes  with  the  letter  V,  viz.  Bpp  Hall's  Work  in 
one  volume,  an  Hebrew  Bible,  the  Decretall  in  two  volumes,  Spondamus  his  Epithomy 
of  Beronius  in  four  or  five  volumes,  Unman's  Concordance.  To  be  carefully  sent  upp 
at  my  Executors  Charge  to  the  CoUedge  within  one  month  after  this  my  will  is  proved. 

"  Item,  I  doe  give  my  own  Watch  made  by  East,  Crosbow,  Gunn,  sylver-hilted 
rapier,  striped  morning  gowne  and  capp  with  Twenty  Ginneys  to  carry  him  for  England 
(when  his  father  may  deale  with  him  as  he  shall  deserve)  beyond  what  he  hath  in  this 
will,  unto  my  nephew  John  Ladyman ;  and  now  with  a  vicistimate  [sic]  Vale,  I  shall 
soone  take  leave  of  him  who  all  along  hath  been  my  Enemy  without  cause  whom  God 
in  mercy  forgive  and  Grant  that  we  may  meete  in  heaven  fJ(). 


1719  Lahiff,  John. 
1725  Lahiff,  John. 
1667  Lawless,  Robert. 


1789  Lach,  William. 
1824  Legg,  John. 
1824  Leonard,  Mary. 


f»)  The  nephew  did  not  go  "  for  "  England,  but  set  up  as  a  farmer  at  Ballywalter.  The 
consistent  enemy  was  Hugh  Gore,  whose  rectorship  of  Clonmel  was  usurped  during  the  Cromwellian 
period  by  Ladyman.  Gore  on  becoming  Protestant  Bishop  of  Waterford,  had  probably  his  doubts 
of  the  sincerity  of  the  quondam  preacher,  who  having  taken  orders,  was  now  vicar  of  Clonmel. 


334 

1730  Launders,  Edward. 
1757  Launders,  Jane. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


1628  Lenagh,  Richard  ^ 
1793  Lewis,  Michael. 


22  The  Lynaghs,  like  all  the  early  Clonmel  burghers,  were  English.  The  first 
mention  of  them  in  connection  with  the  town  is  in  1318.  The  Patent  Roll  1 1  Ed.  IL, 
contains  the  entry  "  The  King  pardons  Nicholas  Leynagh  20  marks  fine  for  an  offence, 
and  also  £4  on  account  of  the  escape  of  a  fugitive  John  de  Sampson  during  the  time  the 
said  Nicholas  was  in  the  King's  service  in  Co.  Tipperary. — Clonmele  16  January."  In 
time  becoming  Hibernicised,  the  following  charter  of  denization  was  granted  them 
1358.  "The  King  grants  to  Reginald,  John  and  Adam,  the  sons  of  Stephen  Leynach 
(provided  they  are  not  tenants  of  the  king  in  hetage)  that  they,  their  offspring  and 
posterity  be  of  free  condition,  exempt  from  all  Irish  slavery  and  in  enjoyment  of  English 
law.— Dublin  8  September,"  32  Ed.  III. 

Richard  Leynach's  will  is  dated  18  January,  1627.  Bequeaths  his  "  boddye  to  be 
hurried  in  our  Laddye  Churche  in  Clomell."  He  settled  his  house  property  in  Clonmel 
on  his  wife  Marrie  Brennocke  for  life,  then  on  his  nephew  William  Leynagh  and  his 
heirs,  remainder  to  Silvester  Leynagh  and  heirs,  remainder  to  Harrye  Whit  fitz  Nycolas 
and  his  heirs  for  ever.  He  "  ordains  "  his  nephew  William  "  tutore  whereby  my  wiffe 
Marrie  Brennocke  shall  not  be  wronged." 


1 77 1  Lewis,  Theobald. 
1750  Linihan,  Daniel. 
1809  Lowe,  James. 
1779  Lecky,  Thomas. 


1774  Lloyd,  George. 
1799  Long,  Elizabeth. 
1745  Lymbery,  Gregory. 
1795  Luther,  Richard  ^ 


23  John  Luther  born  in  Essex  in  1623,  settled  in  Youghal.  His  descendant 
Thomas  Luther  came  to  Clonmel  about  1726,  which  year  he  was  made  free  of  the 
borough.  His  son  Thomas  Luther  was  Mayor  1756-7-8-9,  and  one  of  the  most 
successful  traders  of  the  time.  "  Died  at  Clonmel  Thomas  Luther  Esq.  by  which  his 
son  Samuel  a  Lieutenant  on  half  pay  gets  an  estate  of  a  Thousand  Pounds  a  year  "  (y). 


1758  Macken,  John. 

1737  Magrath,  Cornelius. 

181 3  Magrath,  John. 

1826  Magrath,  John. 

1791  Malone,  James. 

1786  Mandeville,  Ambrose. 

1749  Mandeville,  Catherine. 

1776  Mandeville,  Edward,  M.D. 

1 72 1  Marony,  James. 
1660  Martin,  Thomas. 

1722  Maunsell,  James. 
1737  Maunsell,  James. 
1846  Mason,  Sarah. 


1810  Max,  Edward. 
1724  Mary,  David. 
1784  McCann,  Thomas. 
1828  McCarthy,  Francis. 
1735  McGrath,  James. 
1757  McNamara,  William. 
1694  Meade,  John. 
1738  Meade,  Margaret. 
1709  Meade,  Thomas. 
1707  Meade,  Mary. 
1712  Meagher,  Eleanor. 
1761  Meagher,  James. 
1796  Meagher,  James. 


(y)  Freeman's  Journal^  March  30th,  1773- 


History  of  Clonmel.  335 

1835  Meagher,  James.  1770  Meagher,  Catherine. 

1733  Meagher,  Joan,  alias  Davin.  1 809  Mitchell,  Nathaniel. 

1812  Meagher,  William.  1813  Mills,  George^ 

^  John  Wright  of  Cloneen  had  by  his  wife  Sarah,  sister  of  William  Markham, 
New  Abbey,  a  son  John  Wright  and  a  daughter  Margaret.  John  Wright  becoming  a 
convert  to  the  Catholic  faith,  his  father  disinherited  him  and  settled  the  estate  on  his 
daughter,  Margaret,  and  her  husband  George  Miles  of  Summerhill.  From  this  union 
sprang  Rev.  George  Miles,  Summerhill,  Elizabeth  married  to  Manley  Semple,  and 
Mary  married  to  Robert  Constable  of  Lawlesstown. 

1736  Moore,  Elizabeth.  1800  Moore,  Rev.  Joseph  '^ 

2*  Rev.  Joseph  Moore  was  vicar  of  Clonmel. 

1846  Moore,  Thomas.  1747  Moore,  Stephen  ^ 

1718  Moody,  John.  1691  Moore,  Margaret 

2«  Will  dated  4  January,  1747.  Bequeaths  to  his  sons  Joseph  and  Stephen  five 
shillings  each ;  his  lease  for  lives  renewable  of  Coleman  to  John  Labarte  and  his  heirs, 
in  trust  for  his  wife  Anne  Moore  and  his  daughter  Elizabeth  and  her  heirs  for 
ever,  remainder  to  Joseph  and  Stephen  in  equal  shares  should  she  die  unmarried. 

1690  Moore,  Richard^  1750  Moore,  Col.  Stephen. 

^  Will  dated  17  April  1690 ;  probate  granted  10  September.  Richard  Moore,  the 
founder  of  the  family,  and  common  ancestor  of  the  Lords  Mountcashel  and  the  Moores 
of  Bame,  has  been  noticed  elsewhere.  "  Being  now  growne  aged  "  eta  "  my  body  to 
be  decently  buryed  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Clonmell  where  my  children  are  buryal,  if 
I  dye  in  county  Tipperary.  To  my  wife  Margarett  the  house  I  now  dwell  in  in 
Clonmel  and  household  goods  and  £200  per  ann.  in  full  of  Dower."  To  eldest  son 
Stephen,  now  in  England,  Killworth  and  other  lands  in  Cork  purchased  from  Francis 
Fleetwood  and  Arthur  Hide ;  the  moiety  of  Hore  Abbey  and  all  the  lot  of  William 
Bulkeley  near  the  Devills  Bitt  and  elsewhere  in  Tipperary ;  the  farm  and  stock  of 
Grenane,  the  house  where  said  Stephen  dwelleth  in  Clonmel.  To  second  son 
Thomas  of  Chancellorstown,  Shanballyard,  Garrinlea,  Doggstown  and  moiety  of  Hore 
Abbey  and  other  lands  not  particularlly  devised  ;  the  house  I  now  dwell  in  on  the  death 
of  my  wife.  Said  Thomas  to  settle  £100  per  ann.  on  his  now  wife  (being  agreement  I 
made  with  Alderman  Lovett  of  Cork).  To  grandson  Richard,  son  of  Stephen,  and  his 
heirs  Kiltinan,  Garrygibbon  and  other  lands  bought  from  Andrew  Lynn.  To  grandson 
Stephen,  son  of  Thomas,  Archerstown,  Gortfree  and  Poulekeile  with  remainders  and 
cross  remainders. 

A  family  who  early  intermarried  with  the  Moores  may  be  here  noticed  -the 
Hutchinsons  of  Knocklofty,  ancestors  in  the  female  line  to  the  Earls  of  Donoughmore. 
In  1643  and  subsequently,  Richard  Hutchinson  an  ironmonger  in  London,  advanced  in 
all  £760  to  prosecute  the  war  against  the  Irish.  In  the  lottery  at  Grocers'  Hall,  London, 
September  I,  1653,  he  was  lucky  enough  to  draw  his  allotment  in  Tipperary: 
I466ac.  2r.  I5p.  plantation  acres  were  assigned  him  in  Knocklofty  neighbourhood, 
the  old  residence  of  the  Butlers,  a  junior  branch  of  the  Cahir  house.  At  the  Restoration 
Ormond  secured  a  considerable  portion  of  the  lands,  in  secret  trust  for  his  kinsmen,  and 


336  History  of  Clonmel. 

Hutchinson's  final  grant,  19  July  1667,  represented  only  755  plantation  acres. 
Hutchinson  appears  to  have  had  two  sons,  Edward  and  Ezekiah.  The  subsequent  links 
in  the  succession  may  be  found  in  the  porch  of  St.  Mary's  Protestant  Church. 

(i)  This  is  a  small  tablet,  the  letters  raised.  It  is  legible  only  by  means  of  a  later 
tomb,  "Here  lyes  the  Body  of  Anne  Hutchinson  Wife  to  Edward  Hutchinson  who  died 
November  the  30***  1682,  with  two  of  their  children  Mary  who  died  March  the  2"**  1675  and 
Thomas  who  died  Xber  the  6**^  1682."  The  delightful  equivocations  will  not  escape  the 
reader.  (2)  This  is  a  large  flag  which  reproduces  the  foregoing  inscription  with  the 
additional  particulars  "Also  the  Body  of  Ezekee  Hutchinson  Esq.  Brother  to  the  above 
Edward  Hutchinson  of  Knocklofty,  Esq.  who  Died  January  the  5'**  1697  aged  54  years." 
(3)  "  Here  rests  the  Body  of  Edward  Hutchinson  Esqr.  of  Knocklofty  who  departed  this 
Life  the  Third  Day  of  July  Ano.  Dom.  1699  in  the  65'**  yeare  of  his  age."  (4)  "Here 
rests  [sic]  the  Dear  Remains  of  Mrs.  Christian  Hutchinson  Daughter  of  Thomas 
Moore  Esqr.  Late  of  Bame  and  Wife  of  Richard  Hutchinson  of  Knocklofty.  This 
Tomb  is  erected  by  Her  surveiving  Husband  in  Token  of  Her  Ever  Dear  and  true 
affecting  Remembrance  of  A  Happy  Partnership  of  22  years.  She  departed  this  life 
the  7'**  Day  of  June  Anno  Dni  1727  in  the  59***  year  of  her  age  and  is  Here  deposited 
the  late  Dear  Companion  of  Her  life  when  God  shall  call  him  [cetera  desunt]"  The 
will  of  the  surviving  husband  is  dated  4  August,  1757.  He  left  a  niece  Christina  Nickson 
heir  to  his  estates,  who  marrying  John  Hely,  barrister :  major  in  a  horse  regiment : 
remembrancer  of  the  Exchequer :  searcher  of  the  port  of  Strangford :  provost  of  Trinity 
College,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  founded  the  Donoughmore  peerage.  (5)  "  Near  this  Place  lie 
[sic]  the  Body  of  Guy  Moore  late  of  Abbey  Esqr.  who  departed  this  life  the  [  ]  Day  of 
June  1755  [?]  in  the  [    ]  year  of  his  age." 

1752  Moore,  Thomas.  1728  Morony,  Francis. 

178 1  Moore,  Thomas  Chidley.  171 3  Morony,  James  ^ 

1834  Morony,  Thomas.  1726  Murphy,  John. 

'^  This  is   the   last   vestige   of  a   family   associated  with  Clonmel  for  centuries. 
The  following  account  of  a  member  of  the  family  is  taken  from  Mooney's  history  of 
the  Franciscans  written  in  1615.    "When  in  1570  Sir  Henry  Sydney  was  raiding 
Aherlow,  Dermod  0*Mulroney  fled  with  his  companions  from  the  country  convent  [of 
Galbally]  to  Clonmel.    But  when  he  remained  there  some  time,  he  resolved  to  return 
to  his  monastery,  God  perhaps  so  ordering  it,  that  he  might  gain  the  crown  of  martyrdom. 
When  therefore,  they  thought  all  was  safe  he  returned  to  the  convent  and  lived  there. 
But  one  day  the  English  soldiers  coming  of  a  sudden,  surrounded  the  place  and  there 
was  no  way  for  the  friar  to  escape.    The  good  man  got  up  with  his  two  companions 
into  the  bell-tower  to  hide,  and  pulled  up  the  ladder.    The  soldiers  made  a  fire  to  burn 
the  church  and  tower.     To  save  these  the  holy  man  came  down  of  his  own  accord,  and 
having  let  down  the  ladder,  he  blessed  himself  as  he  put  his  foot  on  the  first  round  saying 
the  psalm  "  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  God."     The  soldiers  unappeased,  struck  him  and 
wounded  him,  and  then  beheaded  him.    A  marvellous  thing  then  happened.    For  when 
his  head  was  struck  off  there  was  no  bleeding,  and  the  soldiers  seeing,  cut  the  body  in 
pieces  yet  there  was  not  a  drop  of  blood  "  ( *).      His  brother  Franciscan  and  fellow- 
citizen,  Bonaventure  Barron,  rendered  the  following  tribute  to  his  memory. 
Qua  suos  Hyblaeo  dignos  agnomine  cives 
Surius  angustis  omat  et  armat  aquis 
Ne  qua  tuae  proli,  Francisce,  trophea  deessent, 
Intulit  armatas  mors  violenta  manus 
Non  tamen  arma  viro,  non  mors  violenta  volenti. 


f'g)  Mooney's  MS.,  p.  54. 


HlSTOkY   OF  CLONMEL. 


337 


Vix  satis  in  sectam  saeviit  ansa  cutem, 
Nempe  ubi  ferali  coUo  caput  abscidit  ictu, 
Abstinuit  medio  cruda  cruore  manus, 
Stagnavit  tumidis  sanguis  per  vulnera  venis, 
£t  caro  purpureo  substitit  uda  vado, 
Gemmis  inquis  erat  dignus  cruor ;  ast  ego,  nulla 
Gemma  reor  tali  digna  cruore  fuit. 


1815  Murphy,  Joseph. 
1856  Neary,  Patrick. 

1 714  Newcombe,  Dorothy. 
1747  Newman,  Christopher. 

171 5  Nuttle,  James. 


1782  O'Brien,  Thomas. 
1802  O'Brien,  Cornelius. 
1841  O'Brien,  James. 
1825  O'Connor,  Patrick. 
1800  O'Donnell,  Richard  » 


2»  The  O'Donnells  were  associated  with  Clonmel  for  three  centuries.  In  1 576 
"John  Danyell,  the  Earl  of  Ormond's  man,"  sued  a  grant  of  freedom  for  Thomas  Brenog 
and  Thomas  Nynane,  merchants  of  Clonmel.  In  1623  Edmund,  John  and  William 
Daniel  held  houses  in  the  East  suburbs  from  John  fitz  Bennet  White. 


1798  O'Donnell,  William. 

1787  O'Donnell,  Catherine. 
1790  O'Neill,  Con. 

1793  O'Neill,  Ellen.     . 

1872  O'Neill,  Elizabeth. 

1668  Orchard,  Thomas. 

1759  Page,  Mary. 


1765  Pagett,  Robert. 
1763  Paine,  John. 
1686  Parker,  John. 
1734  Parr,  John. 
181 1  Peacon,  Thomas. 
1659  Peckett,  John  ^ 
1740  Pedder,  Benjamin. 


^  The  will  of  Peckett  is  interesting  as  the  earliest  extant  of  any  made  by  the 
Cromwellian  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

"I  John  Peckett,  Tanner,  Clonmell,  being  sicke,  I  commend  my  soule  unto 
Almighty  God,  to  my  Saviour  and  Redeemer  Jesus  Christ,  and  my  Body  to  the  Earth 
from  whence  it  came,  to  be  buried  in  the  Lady  Church  in  Clonmell.  I  constitut  my 
well  beloved  friend  Griffin  Howard  of  Holly  Cross,  Executor,  Tutor  and  overseer  of  my 
children  and  appointe  my  Indered  and  well  beloved  wife  Allen  Peckett  to  be  Executrix. 
I  bequeath  unto  my  wife  £i00  ster.  and  the  Tann  yeard  with  all  the  materialls,  until 
sonn  Richard  come  to  21  yeares  and  then  she  is  onely  to  enjoy  parte  of  tann  yeard  so 
long  as  widow.  It  is  my  will  and  pleasure  that  my  wife  shall  have  and  enjoy  the  backe 
[bake]  house  which  I  bought  of  Lieut.  Betsworth  with  all  therein,  and  after  her  decease 
to  my  daughter  Thomasin  and  her  children.  I  bequeath  £100  to  my  sonne  Richard 
and  my  new  dwelling  house  onely  to  my  wife  whilest  a  widow  until  Richard  reaches 
21  years  and  half  the  tann  yeard  during  widowhood.  I  bequeath  to  my  wife  £50 
due  me  by  Mr.  Osborne  liveing  near  Maidstone  in  Kent.  To  my  god  daughter  Rebecca 
West  tenn  shillings  to  buy  her  Lambs,  and  five  shillings  to  Thomas  Webb  my  god  son 
to  buy  him  Books.  To  my  son  Richard  £15  15s.,  due  me  by  bond  from  Thomas 
Wheeler  late  of  Clonmell,  Butcher,  and  another  bond  of  £6  due  from  Richard  Start  late 
of  Cashill,  butcher.  I  give  to  the  Poore  of  the  Parish  wherein  I  now  live  twenty 
shillings.— 15  Junne  1659,  John  Peckett." 


1791  Pedder,  Catherine. 
1799  Pedder,  Mary. 


1788  Penefather,  John. 
^753  Pourquier,  Catherine. 


358  History  of  Clonmel. 

1802  Pim,  Elizabeth.  1855  Power,  Patrick. 

1725  Pourguiere,  Theodore.  1841  Power,  Thomas. 

1849  Power,  Catherine.  1672  Prendergast,  John  ** 

1675  Power,  John.  1841  Prendergast,  Patrick. 

''  John  Prendergast,  of  Rahine ;  will  dated  14  May  1670.  Bequeaths  to  Captain  Gefrey 
Prendergast  his  horse,  sword  and  clothes ;  to  the  poore  of  Clonmell  20s. ;  a  third  of  his 
"  goods,  chattells,  rights  and  credits  "  to  his  wife  Ellen  Barry ;  two  thirds  to  his  son 
James,  Edmond  fitz  Gerrard  Prendergast  being  tutor  until  son  is  21  years. 

1851  Prendergast,  Thomas  F.  1803  Pyne,  Cornelius. 

1852  Prendergast,  Thomas.  1785  Quirk,  John. 
1708  Preston,  Caesar.  1684  Read,  Ruth. 
1724  Price,  Francis.  i739  Reddich,  Ann. 
1817  Prosser,  John.  1850  Reardon,  Edward  L. 
1839  Purcell,  Edward.  i735  Reddick,  James. 
1842  Purcell,  Mary.  i774  Rial*  Mary. 

1737  Purcell,  Nicholas.  1781  Rial,  William  ^ 

^  Phineas  Ryall  settled  in  Clonmel  about  1680.  His  name  occurs  frequently  in  the 
ledger  of  William  Vaughan,  merchant,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth  he  married.  Ryall 
succeeded  Vaughan  in  trade,  and  dying,  1709,  left  a  son  William  who  married  in  1727, 
Mary,  elder  daughter  of  John  Bagwell,  merchant,  in  Boate  (present  Duncan)  Street. 

William  Ryall  had  two  sons,  Phineas  and  Samuel,  and  a  daughter  Elizabeth  who 
married  Simon  Newport,  founder  of  the  Waterford  Bank.  On  the  death  of  Bagwell  in 
1753  his  premises  in  Boate  Street  were  occupied  by  his  son-in-law,  Ryall,  who  began 
the  banking  business  there.  Bagwell  bequeathed  to  his  grandson  Phineas  the  fee-farm 
grants  of  Nicholastown  and  Derrygrath,  and  to  his  second  grandson,  Samuel,  the  lands 
of  Grangebeg,  Suttonrath,  Bamora,  Ballylegan,  leased  for  lives  renewable  from  Thomas, 
Baron  of  Cahir  (aa). 

William  Ryall  and  his  son  Phineas  were  the  first  partners  in  the  bank.  These 
were  followed  by  William,  Charles  and  Arthur,  the  sons  of  Phineas.  Subsequently 
Samuel,  the  son  of  William,  came  into  the  firm.  The  return  to  cash  payments  on  the 
fall  of  Napoleon,  brought  a  collapse  in  the  Ryall's  inflated  securities ;  their  losses  in 
the  few  years  preceding  1820  amounted  to  £l00,000,  while  in  landed  property  the  loss 
was  correspondingly  heavy.  In  the  Sparrow  estate — Oaklands — alone,  the  estimated 
loss  was  £13,000  (bb), 

1853  Richards,  William.  17^6  Robson,  Elizabeth. 
1750  Rigge,  Thomas.  1741  Robson,  Mathew. 
1778  Rigg,  Thomas.  173S  Robson,  John. 
1808  Rigg,  Samuel.  1835  Roe,  Patrick. 
1798  Rivers,  Richard.  1693  Roth,  Peter. 


(aa)  This  Samuel  Ryall  was  a  Dissenting  clergyman,  and  married  Elizabeth  Miles,  of  Roches- 
town.  Their  daughter  who  married  Dunbar  Barton,  inherited  that  estate  on  the  death  without  issue 
of  Col.  Lawford  Miles. 

(bb)  Case  of  Ryall  trustees  for  Richard  Pennefather,  Clonmel,  1823. 


History  of  Clonmel.  339 

1690  Russell,  Henry.  1787  Shaw,  Richard. 

1729  Rutherford,  John.  1690  Shaw,  Roger. 

1807  Rjrall,  Charles.  1771  Shaw,  Roger. 

181 1  Rjran,  Denis.  1799  Shaw,  Thomas. 

1850  Ryan,  William.  i749  Sherlock,  James. 

1773  Ryan,  James.  1838  Shaw,  Thomas. 

1839  Ryan,  William.  i7S9  Shelmedeen,  William. 

1786  Ryan,  Mary.  1768  Sheehy,  John. 

1673  Ryattf  Thomas.  1727  Sherlock,  James. 

1807  Ryan,  Thomas.  1812  Sheehy,  John. 

1733  St.  Clair,  Mary.  1712  De  La  Sigounier,  Charles. 

1736  Saknon,  Christopher.  1805  Slaughtery,  Rev.  Thomas. 

1706  Salmon,  James.  1730  Smallman,  Francis. 

1708  Salmon,  Thomas.  1846  Smith,  Edward. 

1775  Scales,  Patrick.  1794  Sparrow,  Simmons. 

1842  Shanahan,  John.  1694  Stanley,  William  ^ 

^  William  Stanley  was  mayor  of  Clonmel  in  1693.  His  term  of  office  is  still  recorded 
in  stone  at  the  Clonmel  Spa. 

William 
Stanley 
EsqR  MayqR 
OF  Clonm 

ELL     1693. 

His  wife  Frances  was  a  sister  of  the  Carletons,  she  died  in  1689  (cc), 

1724  Stanton,  John.  1692  Stritch,  John. 

1757  Stritch,  Richard  ^  18 10  Sullivan,  Mary. 

^  The  Stritches  though  found  in  Clonmel  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century,  were 
probahly  a  Limerick  family.  In  1587  Richard  Stritche,  of  Limerick,  obtained  a  grant 
of  mills,  which  he  claimed  belonged  to  his  family  for  three  hundred  years. 

(cc)  The  following  account  of  the  Spa  is  taken  from  Smith's  Waterford,  1746.  "  The  Clonmel 
spaw  is  a  pretty  strong  chalybeat  water,  as  appears  by  its  keeping  good  near  a  year  in  bottles,  and 
being  brought  to  Dublin  retained  its  tinging  quality  with  Galls.  It  springs  out  of  the  side  of  a 
rising  ground,  over  which  hangs  a  pretty  steep  hill  on  the  County  of  Waterford  side  of  the  Suir. 
It  affords  a  thick  scum,  particularly  in  the  morning,  being  yellow  and  white.  It  has  berti  drank  not 
only  in  cachetick  cases,  but  also  for  the  scurvy,  and  other  chronick  disorders  by  numbers  of  persons, 
many  of  whom  have  received  considerable  benefit  by  it ;  and  its  operation  has  been  found  mostly 
diuretick.  Six  pints  of  this  water  were  exhaled  in  Dublin  by  a  mild  heat,  the  operation  being 
performed  in  not  less  than  forty-eight  hours;  which  yielded  of  a  dark  brown ochorous  powder  seven 
grains,  which  without  calcination  was  attracted  by  the  magnet,  a  further  evidence  of  the  strength 
of  the  impregnating  principles. 

**  In  the  water  season  a  few  years  ago,  this  place  was  thronged  with  company,  in  order  to  take 
the  benefit  of  this  spaw;  but  of  late  it  is  less  frequented,  most  of  our  fashionable  water  drinkers 
making  choice  of  the  waters  of  Mallow  or  Ballyspellan,  few  considering  that  these  waters  are  of  a 
quite  Afferent  nature." — ^pp.  241-2. 


340  History  of  Clonmel. 

John  Stritch  in  1641  as  one  of  the  ancient  burgesses,  was  proprietor  of  lands  in  the 
Burgagery.  He  was  probably  the  son  of  John  Stritch  and  Margaret  Daniel  whose  tomb 
is  in  St.  Mary's.  At  the  Restoration  his  house  in  St  Mary's  Street  was  occupied  by 
Pierce  Butler,  but  in  1676  a  John  Strich  was  living  in  Lough  Street.  His  will  is  dated 
13  April  1692,  and  he  makes  mention  of  his  wife  Cecilia,  his  sons  James  and  John,  his 
grandson  John,  and  his  daughters  Mary,  Anastasia  and  Margaret. 

The  will  of  Richard  Stritch  is  dated  9  January  1734.  Bequeaths  his  worldly 
substance  to  his  wife  Catherine  Brenocke  and  his  daughter  Catherine;  £50  to  his 
"  deraly  and  well  beloved  son  Thomas."  £10  each  to  his  sons  in  law  Michael  and 
Patrick  Kevins;  the  value  of  £5  in  woolen  goods  to  such  persons  as  his  wife  and 
daughter  think  fit ;  d£8  to  be  paid  to  such  person  as  they  think  proper ;  £5  to  his  nephew 
Thomas  White  fitz  Francis. 

The  dearly  and  well-beloved  son  Rev.  Thomas  Stritch  was  nominated  coadjutor 
bishop  of  Waterford  in  1737,  but  showing  some  signs  of  mental  aberration,  Peter  Creagh 
of  Limerick  was  appointed.  A  ciborium  presented  to  St.  Mary's  Catholic  church  in 
1725  by  Stritch  and  his  wife,  is  still  in  use  there.  His  sons-in-law  the  Rivers  were 
among  the  most  notable  traders  of  the  time.  Bartholomew  Rivers  and  his  cousin 
Henry  Hayden  carried  on  a  bank  in  Waterford,  which  met  the  usual  fate  of  private 
banks,  the  bankruptcy  court,  in  1793.  Another  enterprize  of  his  has  however  flourished 
to  our  time — Tramore.  Previous  to  his  purchasing  the  place,  there  were  not  more  than 
half  a  dozen  miserable  cabins.  At  the  time  of  the  bank's  collapse,  he  had  projected 
the  large  reclamation  scheme,  which  was  realized  sixty  years  later  by  the  Malcomsons. 

1841  Sullivan,  William.  1716  Tinison,  William. 

1837  Sutherland,  William.  172 1  Tobsm,  John. 

1854  Sweeny,  Bridget.  171 1  Tonnery,  Rev.  Edward. 

1835  Shortis,  Thomas.  1848  Troy,  Bridget. 

1805  Taylor,  John.  1695  Trayer,  Gilbert. 

1791  Taylor,  William,  sen.  1848  Troy,  Jeremiah. 

1676  Talbot,  Edward.  1670  Turpin,  Thomas. 

1784  Tennison,  Joseph.  1744  Ussher,  Mary. 

1821  Thompson,  Maria.  1609  Vale,  Garret  fitzEdmond. 

1693  Thompson,  Robert  1699  Vaughan,  Francis. 

1800  Thompson,  William.  1699  Vaughan,  William  ^ 

5*  Some  notice  of  William  Vaughan  has  been  given  in  Chapter  VII.  Bequeaths  to 
his  wife  Maiy  the  lands  of  Ballyboe ;  to  his  daughter  Elizabeth  Riall  £200  besides  her 
former  marriage  portion  £200 ;  £5  to  her  daughter  Anne  to  buy  her  a  "  piece  of  plaite  " ; 
to  his  daughter  Mary  Carleton  £200,  besides  her  former  marriage  portion  £200 ;  to  his 
sister  Colesary  £40 ;  to  his  grandson  John  Vaughan  £6  to  buy  him  a  silver  tankard ;  to 
the  two  sons— Joseph  and  Thomas  of  his  sister  Harris  d£8 ;  to  Mary  Harris  (being  lame) 
f  10,  "  to  be  disposed  of  for  her  as  my  son  Phineas  Riall  thinks  fitt " ;  to  the  other  five 
daughters  of  his  sister  Harris  £5,  each.  "  I  give  and  bequeath  to  each  of  my  executors 
Mr.  John  Perry,  Mr.  Mathew  Jacob,  Mr.  Joseph  Damer,  Mr.  John  Shaw,  Mr.  Phineas 
Riall,  Doctor  Francis  Vaughan  and  to  Mr.  Phil  Carleton,  the  sume  of  twenty  shillings 
to  buy  each  of  them  a  mouminge  ringe.  Item,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  poore  English 
Protestants  of  the  towne  of  Clonmell  the  sume  of  twenty  pounds  sterling  to  be  putt  out 
at  interest  for  them  by  my  executors  and  the  interest  thereof  yearely  to  be  distributed 
and  given  every  New  Yeares  day  to  whom  and  to  such  English  poore  Protestants  as 
my  executors  or  executors  hereafter  named  shall  thinke  fitt."  To  his  son  Benjamin 
Vaughan,  he  bequeathed  Cullinagh  with  all  his  goods,  plate  "  which  I  judg  to  be  neere 
three  hundred  ounces,"  horses,  com,  etc.  "  which  I  judg  may  now  be  worth  (after  all 
my  debts  and  legacies  are  deducted)  uppeward  of  one  thousand  pounds  besides  the 
lands  of  Cullinagh." 


History  of  Clonmel.  34i 

1 718  Vaughan,  John.  1641  Wall,  Patrick  fitz  Pierce  ^ 

1702  Vaughan,  Mary.  1791  Walsh,  Ann, 

^  By  will  4  March  1640,  Patrick  fitz  Piers  Wall  "  merchaunt  taylor  "  bequeathed  his 
soule  etc. ;  his  "  boddy  to  be  buried  in  my  auncestors  monument  within  the  parish 
church  of  Clonmell,"  one  third  of  his  estate  to  his  wife  Ellen  Brenock,  two  thirds  to  his 
daughters  Mary,  Anstas,  Gate,  Anne  and  Beale,  reversion  to  nephew  Piers  Wall  and 
the  heirs  of  his  brother  Richard  in  succession ;  his  executors  to  see  his  debts  paid  and 
"  to  cause  the  howse  in  Shellan  Streete  as  yet  unbuilt  to  be  builded  as  I  am  bound  by 
lease  made  by  Thomas  White  fitz  Richard." 

1820  Walsh,  Edmund.  1783  Watson,  John,  sen. 

1802  Walsh,  David.  1680  Webber,  George. 

1734  Walsh,  Elizabeth.  1692  Weily,  Thomas. 

1795  Walsh,  Ellen.  1808  Weldon,  William. 

1795  Walsh,  Joan.  17^6  White,  Francis. 

1829  Walsh,  Michael.  1589  White,  Henry  ^ 

1837  Ward,  Catherine.  1625  White,  Catherine  fitz  Thomas. 

^  This  is  the  earliest  will  of  any  citizen  of  Clonmel,  known  to  exist.  It  deserves 
therefore  to  be  quoted  in  extenso, 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen,  the  sixth  of  August  in- the  year  of  Our  Lord  God  1577, 
I  Henry  Whit  Burgess  of  the  towne  of  Clonmell  being  of  whole  mind  and  perfect 
memorie,  understanding  the  assurance  of  death  and  willing  to  prevent  the  soddaine 
chaunce  thereof  doe  make  my  will  and  testament  in  names  and  forme  following,  ffirst 
I  comend  my  soule  to  God  Almyghtie  through  the  meritts  of  Christes  passion  and  the 
intercession  of  his  blessed  mother  the  virgin  Mary  and  the  holy  company  of  heavin 
and  my  boddie  to  be  buried  in  the  sepulture  of  mine  Auncestors  within  the  parish 
church  of  Clonmell  and  do  make  my  son  John  White  my  full  and  generall  heire  of  all 
my  landes  and  inheritance  saving  of  such  lands  that  shall  hereafter  [be]  specified  and 
excepted.  And  the  said  John  to  have  and  to  hold  and  possess  the  same  landes  and 
inheritance  to  him  and  his  heires  males  of  his  bodie  lawfully  begotten  except  the  lands 
pre-excepted.  And  if  the  said  John  do  fortune  to  die  without  issue  male  of  his  bodie 
lawfully  begotten  then  I  will  by  this  present  that  my  son  Nicholas  White  shall  have 
hold  occupie  possess  and  injoy  my  said  lands  and  inheritance  to  him  and  to  his  heires 
males  of  his  bodie  lawfully  begotten  or  to  be  begotten  for  ever.  And  if  said  John  and 
Nicholas  doe  die  without  the  like  issue  males  of  their  boddie  lawfully  begotten  or  to  be 
begotten  that  then  John  White  fitz  Patrick  my  Brother  is  sonn  shall  have  hold  possess 
and  injoy  my  said  lands  and  inheritance  to  have  and  to  hold  to  him  and  his  heires 
males  of  his  bodie  lawfully  begotten  or  to  be  begotten  for  ever.  And  for  lacke  of  like 
issue  males  begotten  or  to  be  begotten  of  the  said  John  White  my  sonn  and  heire 
Nicholas  White  and  John  White  fitz  Patrick  I  will  that  John  White  fitz  Patrick  is 
Brother  Nicholas  White  shall  have  hold  possess  and  injoy  my  said  lands  and  inheritance 
etc.  Also  I  will  that  for  the  lacke  of  the  like  issue  males  of  said  John  White  Nicholas 
White  my  sones  and  of  the  bodies  of  the  said  John  White  and  Nicholas  White 
fitz  Patrick  that  my  said  land  and  inheritance  shall  remain  to  Michael  White  the  said 
Patrick  is  sonn  to  him  and  his  heirs  etc.  And  if  the  said  John  White  etc.  doe  fortune 
to  die  without  the  like  issue  males  etc.  that  then  my  said  lands  and  inheritance  shall 
return  and  revert  unto  the  rightful  heires.  I  doe  make  ordaine  institute  and  appoint 
my  said  sonns  John  and  Nicholas  White  executors  of  all  my  goodes  and  cattle  equally 
and  doe  leave  my  well  loved  Sir  Theobolde  Butler  Geffrie  White  my  nephew  John 
Kearinge  and  John  bray  Tutors  and  overseers  of  my  wife  and  childem  and  soules 
porcon. 


342 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Legacies, 

Itm  in  primis  I  leave  and  bequeath  by  this  present  to  my  said  son  Nicholas  White 
the  newe  slate  house  builded  by  me  in  the  southe  side  of  the  castle  of  the  brode  gate 
according  the  meares  and  members  thereof  which  I  have  purchased  my  selfe.  Itm  Also 
I  leave  and  bequeath  vnto  the  said  Nicholas  White  two  howses  or  tenaments  purchased 
also  by  me  of  lawles  is  lands  of  which  howses  or  tenaments  the  one  is  where  John 
murrye  in  his  lyfe  time  dwelled  in  the  weast  side  of  the  Cold  sete  within  Clonmell  and 
the  other  howse  or  tenement  is  where  James  Brennock  dwell  at  the  making  hereof, 
according  the  meares  and  markes  of  the  said  howses.  Itm,  Also  I  bequeath  and  leave 
to  my  said  son  Nicholas  a  parke  called  lawles  is  parke  purchased  also  and  bought  by 
me  for  my  money,  according  to  the  meares  and  markes  thereof.  To  him  and  to  his 
heirs  the  said  three  howses  or  tenaments  and  the  said  parke  with  all  and  singuler 
comodities  profits  and  appurtenances  of  them  and  any  of  them  to  the  said  Nicholas 
White  and  his  heires  males  of  his  bodie  lawfully  begotten  or  to  be  begotten  to  the  use 
and  behalf  of  them  and  every  of  them  forever,  yeilding  and  paeing  yearly  to  me  the 
said  heir  or  to  mine  heires  III  Is  of  good  lawfull  courant  money  of  Ireland.  And  if  the 
said  Nicholas  White  doe  fortune  to  departe  this  present  life  without  heires  males  of  his 
bodie  lawfully  begotten  or  to  be  begotten  then  I  will  that  the  remainder  of  the  said 
tenements  parkes  shall  be  to  my  said  son  John  White  and  to  his  heirs  males  lawfully 
begotten  for  ever.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  put 
my  scale  henry  Whit. 

Being  present  at  the  sealeing  and  ferming  hereof  Those  whose  names  insu 

Mighell  Bray 

Richarde  White 

Nicholas  Whyte. 
John  White  being  a  minor  at  the  death  of  his  father  in  1 577,  his  wardship  was 
granted  to  Sir  William  Drury  (dd).    He  died  unmarried,  probably  in  his  minority,  for 
the  estate  passed  to  the  second  son  Nicholas.    The  pedigree  of  the  family  until  they 
were  overwhelmed  in  the  Cromwellian  and  Williamite  ruin,  is  as  follows : — 

John  White 


Henry=f  Anne  Bray 
ob.  5  Aug.  1577 


Patrick 


John  Nicholas=Barbara 

bn,  1561  ob.  1622 


John 


Nicholas 


Michael 


Henry 
mayor  1625-39 
db.  1643 


Nicholas 
transplanted 
to  Connaught  1654 ; 
petit.  Ormond  for 

relief  1663  (ee). 


Patrick=Joan  Wise 
Settled  in 
Waterford 
ob.  1637 


Henry=Cicily  Strong  Agnes=Thos.  Walsh, 


,  Cath.=John 


Brown 


(dd)  Fiants  Elizabeth,  3196. 

(ee)  Foregoing  compiled  from  Wills,  Inquisitions  and  Tombs. 


History  of  Clonmel.  343 

1614  White,  Henry  fitz  Thomas.         1622  White,  James  fitz  Robert  ^ 

^  This  was  the  second  branch  of  the  Whites  in  importance. 

Pierce  White  of  Clonmel 


I 


Robert 


I 


Sabina  Burke   Thomas,  SJ.    Rev.  John,  V. A. 
(1558-1622) 


David    = 
settled  at 
Russels- 
town 
James=Cath.  Power  Solomon=Margaret  d.  of  David  Walsh,  Ballinvoher 
ob.  22  Ap. 


Will  1622 


TTTT 

David 
Pierce 
Thomas 
Robert 
John 
Patrick 


1638 


James=Ellice  d.  of  James  Butler,  Clonfinglash    Stephen 

(Colonel) 


1740  White,  John. 
1776  White,  Judith. 

1741  White,  Patrick. 
1810  White,  Sarah. 


Stephen=Catherine  d.  of  Thomas  Stritch  of  Limerick,  Mayor 
I  [1650. 

Nicholas  M.P.  for  Clonmel  1689. 

1664  White,  Thomas. 
1709  Whitehand,  Richard. 
1730  Whitehand,  Richard. 
1615  Whjrte,  John  fitz  Geffry^ 


^  The  following  is  the  will  of  John  White,  the  first  mayor  of  Clonmel,  a  notice  of 
whose  tomb  has  been  given  in  Chapter  XV. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  I,  John  White  fitzGefifery  of  Clonmel,  Alderman,  being 
sicke  in  body  yett  of  perfect  mynde  and  memorie  thancks  be  to  God  do  make  my  last 
wyll  and  tystement  in  maner  following,  ffirst  I  comend  my  sole  to  God  Almightye  my 
creator  and  redeemer  and  my  body  to  be  buryed  in  Sainct  flfrancis  abbay  in  myne 
ancestors  buriall.  I  doe  appoint  Benett  Whitt  my  son  and  heire  and  my  sones 
Thomas  and  Michele  White  myne  executors  together  with  my  wife  Alson  White. 
Itm,  I  leave  and  bequeath  to  my  son  Thomas  White  to  hym  and  to  his  heires  mayle  of 
his  body  lawfully  begotten  and  to  be  begotten  the  house  where  Christopher  Whit  some 
tyme  dwelled  and  the  house  with  his  backe  side  wherein  Geflfry  Baron  some  tyme 
dwelled  with  all  the  other  land  belonging  to  the  same  and  whereof  the  said  Baron  had 
a  layse  of  my  father  and  a  parcke  or  orchord  called  Garrymorran  adjacent  the  wales  of 
Clonmel.  I  leave  and  bequeath  to  the  said  Thomas  and  Michele  White  all  such  lands 
as  are  to  be  past  vnto  me  by  grant  from  his  Maiestie  by  Sir  James  Carroll  and  proctore 
piers  to  be  equally  divided  between  them  and  to  the  heires  mayle  of  their  bodyes 
successively  except  such  parcells  as  are  situat  in  Kilnalonqurty  which  I  do  will  and 
bequeath  to  my  son  in  law  John  haly  and  his  son  Nicholas  haly  their  heires  and  assigns 
for  ever.  Itm,  I  doe  will  and  bequeath  to  my  son  Michel  White  and  to  his  heires  mayle 
of  his  body  the  houses  where  Stephen  White,  James  White  fitz  David  now  is  dwelling 
with  the  rents  and  reversions  thereof  with  the  premises  aforesid  as  is  sayde,  together 
with  the  houses  wherein  Richard  Stretch  John  flfowlow  now  dwells  in  Clonmele,  the 
remayndre  of  all  the  said  premisses  to  my  son  and  heire  Benett  White  and  the  heires 


344  History  of  Clonmel. 

mayle  of  his  body,  the  parcells  by  me  formerly  devysed  to  John  haly  and  his  son  onely 
excepted.  The  said  Thomas  and  Michel  and  their  heires  rendring  payment  yearly  to  my 
said  son  and  heire  Benett  and  his  heires  VII**  ster.  every  of  them  per  ann.  for  and  out 
of  the  saide  lands  hereby  devised.  Itm,  I  bequeath  to  my  wife  Alson  White  over  and 
besides  the  foresaid  the  two  mylles  beyond  the  bridge  called  fifahys  mylles,  for  and 
duringe  her  naturall  lyflfe.  Itm,  I  doe  leave  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter  Ann  White 
the  some  of  one  hundred  and  fourty  pounds  towards  her  preferment  and  advancement 
to  marriadge  with  which  I  do  chardg  all  my  lands.  Itm,  I  doe  leave  and  bequeath  that 
myne  executors  shall  pay  unto  my  son  in  law  John  haly  the  remayne  of  such  marriadge 
goods  as  I  promised  vnto  hym.  Itm,  I  do  leave  vnto  my  son  Thomas  the  arreare  of 
what  whitherto  accrued  uppon  his  house  in  our  Ladye  Street  wherein  John  prendergast 
nowe  dwelleth.  Itm,  I  appointe  Mr.  Patrick  White,  maior  of  Clonmel,  Nicholas  White 
fitz  harry,  Richard  White  fitz  Nicholas,  and  John  haly  Trustees  and  overseers  of  this 
my  last  wyll  and  tystement  and  my  said  childrens  estate,  and  that  thereof  the  profits 
and  issues  of  my  said  land  in  theire  dyscretions  shall  take  onlie  for  the  bearinge  of  the 
said  marriadge  goods  of  the  said  Ann  White.  I  leave  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter 
Johan  her  filiall  portion  of  any  I  promised  vnto  her.  Itm,  to  my  son  in  law  John  haly 
my  black  sylke  goune.  Itm,  I  leave  all  the  cowes  and  calfs  for  my  wyfe  and  to  my 
daughter  Ann  White,  Itm,  to  my  brother  in  law  Patrick  White  a  token  of  the  next 
returne  as  my  wyfe  shall  choos.  I  leave  to  my  son  and  heire  Benett  White  to  be 
continued  in  the  house  as  principall  heirelooms  [?],  and  for  filiall  portion  a  great  pan,  a 
Scarlett  goune,  a  measuige  pan,  a  great  kettle  and  other  such  like  implements  as  shalbe 
thought  good  to  my  said  Trustees  and  overseers.  Itm,  I  charge  myne  executors  to 
satisffye  all  my  cleare  debts.  Itm,  I  leave  to  the  dyscretion  of  my  wjrfe  to  bestowe  a 
token  of  goodwyll  in  my  name  uppon  my  brother  in  law  Nicholas  White  of  the  next 
return.  Itm,  I  leave  that  the  house  and  the  kyll  in  the  abbay  lane  which  was  engadged 
by  my  brother  patricke  White  for  xxx  li.  .ster.,  and  by  my  selfe  redeemed  to  said  patricke 
accordinge  my  father  is  assignment  to  hym,  he  paying  xxx  li.  towards  the  preferment 
I  have  assigned  for  my  daughter  Ann  before  he  shall  have  any  claime  to  said  premises. 
Itm,  my  will  is  that  my  brother  Benett  White  shall  enioye  the  benefitt  of  his  ferme 
devysed  vnto  hym  by  my  father.  And  for  any  other  deattes  or  doubt  I  refer  it  to  be 
ended  by  the  dyscretion  of  my  said  Trustees  or  overseers.  In  wittness  whereof  I  have 
hereunto  putt  my  hand  and  seale.    Dated  at  Clonmel  the  XII  of  May  1614. 

John  Whyte. 
This  last  will  and  testament  was  made  and  declared  before  vs  the  undernamd  persons. 

pat  Whyte  maior  of  Clonmell. 

Nicolas  White. 

John  Haly. 

Bennett  Whyte. 

Patrick  White, 

This  third  branch  of  the  Whites  appears  to  have  been  far  removed  from  the  others. 
GeofiFry  White  =  Anastasia  Comerford. 

I '—^ 1 

John  =  Alson  White                           Benedict  Patrick 

ob.  1614  I 

I  \  \         \  I 

Benedict=Ellis  Wall  Thomas  Michael  Joan=John  Haly  Anne 

ob.  1622  I 

I  I — I 

John  Thomas  Michael 

bn.  1613, 
ob.  c.  1665. 

I 
Rev.  Luke 

(1637-1705) 


l-  '-^ 


From  Drawing  by  Mis»  CoUint, 


History  of  Clonmel.  345 

Besides  the  three  principal  branches  there  were  numerous  other  families  of  the 
name  in  Clonmel  during  the  sixteenth  and  early  seventeenth  centuries. 

The  Whites  are  found  among  the  Anglo-Norman  settlers  in  Tipperary  under  the 
form  of  "  Le  Blunde."  During  the  thirteenth  century  Thomas  "  the  White "  held 
lands  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ardmail  of  the  King  in  capite,  rendering  half  a 
knight's  service.  Their  earliest  recorded  association  with  Clonmel  is  1388  when 
Nicholas  White,  of  Clonmel,  was  joined  with  the  Earl  of  Ormond  in  a  commission  of 
the  peace  for  Co.  Cork.  John  White,  of  Clonmel,  in  1397  was  granted  the  custody  of 
lands  in  Tipperary  and  Limerick  belonging  to  his  idiot  brother  Theobald,  during  the 
latter's  lifetime,  without  accounting  to  the  exchequer  for  the  profits.  In  1402  the 
manor  of  Cooleagh  with  houses  in  Clonmel  and  other  lands  in  Tipperary  belonging  to 
Henry  White,  of  Clonmel,  were  granted  to  John  Lawless  in  custody,  rendering  account, 
etc  At  the  same  period  James  le  Botiller  seeking  some  dispensation  from  Rome, 
despatched  thither  Adam,  prior  of  St.  John's,  Dublin,  who  was  also  provided  with 
letters  of  attorney  from  Nicholas  White,  of  Clonmel. 

1812  Wilkinson,  Nicholas.  i794  Wood,  Isaac. 

1782  Wilkinson,  Robert.  1792  Wood,  Josiah. 

1679  Williams,  Thomas.  1704  Wood,  Ralph. 


Ohapxer  XVII. 


PRINTING  AND  JOURNALISM. 

PREVIOUS  to  1771  the  people  of  Clonmel  were  dependant  upon  the 
Dublin  news-sheets  for  their  knowledge  of  the  outer  world  and  its 
doings.  Among  the  Carleton  accounts,  February  2nd,  1730,  we 
find  "  Paid  in  full  for  English  News  sent  the  Collonel— £3  8s." 
"  December  14,  Pd.  Miles  Daly  for  a  year  and  a  halfs  Irish  news  sent  the 
Coll.  by  Walter  Paliser  of  Dublin  at  £l  6s.  per  ann. — £1  19s."  When  in 
October,  1730,  the  Colonel's  effects  at  Darlinghill  were  to  be  auctioned,  the 
advertisement  was  inserted  in  three  papers. 


To  Pue  for  incerting  it  in  his  Occurrances 
To  Gowan  for  do.  in  the  Gazette 
To  Hoy  for  Do.  in  the  Joumall 


£0  17 
3  13 
234 


A  generation  later,  the  Perry  accounts  show  "October  21,  1762.  Pd. 
Edwd.  Browning  for  Dublin  news  £l  2s.  9d." 

The  earliest  of  the  Clonmel  newspapers  was — 

The  Hibernian  Gazette  or  Universal  Advertiser. 

The  first  number  appeared  on  March  l8th,  1771  (ff).  It  consisted  of  four 
pages  of  three  columns  each,  the  size  of  the  page  being  19  by  12  inches.  In 
the  imprint,  between  the  alternative  titles,  is  a  curious  wheel — indicative  of 


(ff)  This  I  calculate  from  the  earliest  number  1  have  seen,  No.  31,  Vol.  VI.     "  From  Mondav 
July  the  8th  to  Thursday  July  the  nth,  1776.*' 


History  of  Clonmel.  347 

the  circulation.  The  box  of  the  wheel  shows  a  harp,  over  which  is  the  word 
"Liberty,"  and  in  the  enclosing  circle  "Clonmell,  County  Tipperary." 
Inscribed  round  the  band  of  the  wheel  is  "  The  Principal  Counties  in  which 
This  Paper  Circulates  are  The."  On  the  seven  spokes  are  "  C.  Kilkenny," 
"C.  Waterford,"  "C.  Corke,"  "C.  Limerick,"  "C.  Clare,"  "K.  County." 
"  Q.  County,"  respectively.     The  quaint  colophon  reads — 

Clonmel:  Printed  by  Edward  Collins  where  Advertisements  and  Letters  of 
Intelligence  are  taken  in,  And  wherfe  those  who  chuse  to  be  regularly  served  with 
This  Paper  are  desired  to  apply. 

Collins  was  a  native  of  Cork.  In  a  list  dated  1766,  he  is  described  as 
"  a  compiler  of  mineral  types." 

The  paper  is  coarse  and  yellow,  but  the  print  is  excellent;  clear  and 
crisp,  and  much  superior  to  later  local  journals.  The  Gazette  was  bi-weekly ; 
the  earliest  number  the  writer  has  met  is  dated  July  8-II,  1776.  The  first 
column  begins  with  an  epilogue  of  thirty-seven  verses,  heroic  metre,  "  For 
the  Anniversary  of  the  Boyne  Victory." 

As  on  this  day — 'tis  near  an  age  ago — 

(Time  and  Transitions  nature's  drama  show) 

The  guardian  genius  of  our  British  isles 

On  her  best  sons  shed  most  indulgent  smiles, 

Caused  justice,  freedom,  valour,  all  to  join 

As  guides  and  shields  for  William  o'er  the  Boyne. 

Anyone  who  objected  to  the  Boyne  celebration — 

If  such  a  timid  paltry  wretch  can  be 
May  he  ne'er  taste  the  sweets  of  liberty. 

And  the  laws — 

Immortal  may  their  various  blessings  be 
As  freedom's  sons  hold  William's  memory. 

The  leading  article  is  on  the  same  subject,  and  probably  from  the  same 
pen.  Some  prominent  Tories,  i.e.,  Jacobites,  are  singled  out  for  attack — 
Hume,  "pensioner  Pompous  Dr.  Johnson,"  "Dr.  Pillery  the  infamous 
Shebbeare,"  and  Macpherson.  The  latter  having  charged  William  of 
Orange  with  a  want  of  culture,  the  article  says  in  extenuation — 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  wars  pervaded  the  greater  part  of 
Europe,  and  when  little  more  than  twenty  years  of  age  he,  with  a  fortitude,  wisdom  and 
perseverance  that  were  amazing,  saved  his  country  from  that  ambitious  tyrant  Lewis 
14th.    Though  absolute  in  Holland,  he  ruled  them  as  their  guardian  angel. 


348  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  writer  concludes — 

If  I  forget  the  deliverer  of  our  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning  and 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  ;  yea  if  I  prefer  not  our  deliverer  in  my  mirth, 
May  all  British  Kings  and  subjects  be  hearty  lovers  and  drinkers  of  the  glorious  and 
immortal  memory  of  King  William  the  Third, 

The  second  page  is  occupied  with  foreign  intelligence,  got  from  "a 
French  gentleman  lately  arrived."  The  contemporary  accounts  of  the 
American  Revolution  "  from  a  private  letter  from  Philadelphia "  are 
interesting.  Wilke's  election  and  a  fight  between  two  privateers  and  H.M.S. 
Rose  make  up  the  rest.  The  Irish  news  consists  of  a  few  paragraphs,  a  party 
fight  at  Dundalk,  and  a  seizure  of  smuggled  brandy. 

The  advertisements  and  public  notices  are  the  most  curious  items  in  the 

paper.     Thomas  Cooke  of  Kiltinane,  offers  a  reward  of  100  guineas  for  the 

apprehension  of  the  blood-thirsty  villain  who  fired  at  him  from  behind  a 

quickset  hedge  as  he  was  on  his  way  from  Ballyvaughan  to  Kiltinane.    Daniel 

Toler  thanks  the  gentry,  clergy  and  freeholders  for  the  support  given  him  at 

the  recent  county  election.     Pat  Dalton  and  Silvester  Glascock  write  to  say 

that— 

The  two  horses  stolen  from  Cloneen  demesne  were  found  in  possession  of  John 
Crehane,  pound-keeper,  Fethard,  and  we  cannot  omit  apprehending  that  said  pound- 
keeper  was  an  accomplice  in  the  above  act. 

The  following  is  the  most  notable  paragraph  : — 

Whereas,  in  having  received  information  on  oath  that  Andrew  Walsh  of  Carrick- 
on-Suir,  Gunsmith,  a  noted  Papist,  had  in  his  house  a  number  of  fire  arms,  etc.,  repairing 
for  the  White  Boys,  I  repaired  to  his  house  at  Carrick-on-Suir  aforesaid  on  Tuesday, 
the  7th  day  of  May  last,  where  I  found  17  guns,  some  with  Locks  on  and  some  without, 
4  case  Pistols  in  like  manner,  18  Locks  of  Guns  and  Pistols  with  their  swords,  most  of 
them  concealed  in  different  parts  of  the  house.  I  do  therefore  give  this  notice  to  the 
public  that  such  as  may  have  been  robbed  of  the  like  by  those  nocturnal  Invaders  of  our 
Property  the  White  Boys,  that  by  calling  at  my  house  and  proving  property,  they  will 
have  them  returned.    Dove  Hill,  May  9th  1776. — Thomas  Newcomen. 

N.B. — The  said  Walsh  though  closely  pursued  made  off  a  back  way  out  of  his  house 
and  so  escaped. 

The  advertisements  of  land  to  be  let  occupy  an  entire  page,  Castle 
Willington  demesne  for  seven  years,  Coolmoyne  for  three.  Mr.  Power 
will  close  with  a  solvent  tenant  for  Barretstown  House  and  demesne. 
Killoskehane,  500  acres,  to  be  let  for  31  years.  Advertisements  of  a  more 
modern  character  appear.  "  Mr.  de  Bello,  Occulist  from  Verona  in  Italy,  is 
to  be  spoken  with  at  the  Royal  Oak  Tavern."  He  cured  Ellen  Power  of  a 
cataract  in  each  eye,  "  which  operation  was  performed  in  the  presence  of  a 
number  of  spectators  to  whom  he  appeals  with  what  dexterity  it  was 
conducted."  Mr.  J.  A.  Keyser  of  Paris  has  "celebrated  pills  that  are 
universally  allowed  to  be  the  only  cure  for  a  certain  disorder,  leprosy, 


History  of  Clonmel.  349 

fistulas,"  etc.  "The  French  king,  being  thoroughly  sensible  of  the  very 
great  consequence  of  these  pills  to  his  subjects  in  general,  was  pleased  to 
purchase  the  secret." 

About  1775  The  Hibernian  Gazette  or  Universal  Advertiser,  became 
The  Clonmel  Gazette  or  Hibernian  Advertiser,  and  the  paper  was  enlarged 
from  12  to  16  columns.  In  1792  George  Heaslop  was  associated  with  Collins 
as  printer.  Eight  years  later  the  paper  changed  its  name,  ownership  and 
politics,  becoming  the  Clonmel  Gazette  or  Munster  Mercury,  Edmond 
Power,  the  new  proprietor,  was  father  of  the  well-known  Countess  of 
Blessington ;  he  was  a  butter  and  corn  merchant,  resident  at  the  Water 
Gate,  and  locally  known  as  "  Shiver  the  Frills."  Power  appointed  Bernard 
Wright  as  editor.  Wright's  qualifications  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that 
he  had  been  educated  for  the  priesthood  in  France,  whence  he  was  driven  by 
the  Revolution.  His  father,  John  Wright,  and  his  uncle  the  Abbe  Wright  being 
disinherited  of  the  Cloneen  estate  by  their  father  John,  for  becoming  Catholics. 
Bernard  obtained  a  livelihood  by  teaching  French.  It  was  in  the  capacity  of 
French  teacher  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Sheriff  Fitz  Gerald,  who  flogged 
him  in  1798.  The  Clonmel  Gazette  under  Wright's  editorship  became  the 
organ  of  the  Llandaff-Donoughmore,  or  Catholic  party,  in  opposition  to  the 
Bagwell,  or  Protestant  party.  An  article  in  1802,  inspired  by  Solomon 
Watson  in  the  interest  of  Lord  Donoughmore,  made  a  violent  attack  on 
Bagwell.  He  was  accused  of  raising  the  market  tolls ;  of  compelling  butchers 
to  enter  the  new  shambles  under  threat  of  eviction,  and  finally,  of  personal 
dishonesty  by  withholding  the  bounty  from  some  men  of  the  Tipperary 
militia,  of  which  he  was  colonel.  The  libel  action,  John  Bagwell  versus 
Edmond  Power,  was  tried  at  the  Clonmel  Assizes,  lith  August,  1804.  A 
report  of  the  proceedings,  which  were  very  amusing,  may  be  seen  among  the 
Halliday  pamphlets  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  (gg).  Norbury  was  presiding 
judge,  and  the  leaders  of  the  circuit  were  engaged  on  either  side.  Three 
militia  men,  Hogan,  Nagle  and  Murphy,  were  examined  at  great  length  as  to 
whether  the  "Marching  Guinea,"  i.e.,  the  bounty  of  four  guineas,  had  been 
paid  them  by  Bagwell.  During  the  examination  by  junior  counsel,  Burrowes, 
the  plaintiff's  leader  was  seen  to  leave  the  court,  when  Grady,  on  the  other 
side,  called  out  to  know  if  he  had  received  his  "Marching  Guinea"  from  the 
Colonel.  It  was  elicited  that  Hogan  had  played  billiards  at  Marlfield. 
"  Did  he  get  his  cue  f  I  heard  he  did.  Did  Hogan  pocket  the  Colonel  ?  I 
heard  that  one  pocketted  the  other."  Robert  Malcomson,  who  appeared  in 
behalf  of  Power,  stated  he  was  a  brewer.     Norbury  therefore  appealed  to 

(gi)  Vol.  872, 1804. 


350  HISTORY   OF   CLONMEL. 

him  to  show  some  grains  of  allowance,  but  this  was  about  the  only  decent  joke 
made  by  the  judge.  The  jury  found  for  Bagwell ;  and  Power,  being  left  by 
his  aristocratic  friends  to  pay  damages  and  costs,  was  ruined  (hh). 

The  Clonmel  Journal. 

When  the  Clonmel  Gazette  changed  owners  and  principles  The  Clonmel 
Journal  took  its  place.  The  first  number  appeared  Wednesday,  August 
nth,  1798.  It,  like  its  rival,  was  bi-weekly;  price  fourpence;  had 
four  pages,  20  by  12  inches,  of  four  columns  each,  and  judging  from  the 
imprint,  "  Printed  by  S.  Collins,"  the  family  of  the  former  owners  of  the 
"  Clonmel  Gazette  "  carried  on  the  new  venture  also.  Neither  print  nor  paper 
however  is  equal  to  the  Gazette,  The  number  for  July  l6th,  1800,  contains 
an  address  from  the  nobility,  clergy,  gentry  and  freeholders  of  Tipperary, 
congratulating  his  majesty  on  escaping  "  the  atrocious  attempt  made  on  his 
sacred  life."  Five  or  six  columns  follow  of  intelligence  relative  to  Napoleon's 
campaign  in  Italy  ;  there  are  full  reports  of  "  the  British  Parliament."  In  the 
Irish  parliament,  inland  navigation  and  the  rights  of  the  Grand  Canal 
Company  were  being  discussed.  The  issue  for  September  22nd,  1800,  contains 
the  following  advertisement : — 

To  be  let  from  the  29  of  September  for  one  year.  The  Tolls  and  Custom  of  the 
Town  and  Borough  of  Clonmel.  Also  the  Quayage  and  Pontage  of  the  same. 
Proposals  (in  writing  only)  will  be  received  by  the  Mayor  and  Bailiffs  elect.  The  Mayor 
elect  will  also  receive  separate  proposals  for  the  Fairs  of  the  said  Town  and  Borough. 

The  following  table  from  the  issue  of  July  l6th  is  noteworthy. 

Clonmel  Market  Prices,  Saturday,  July  12. 

Wheat,       3s.  id.  7  .  Flour,  £4  per  bag. 

Oats,  2s.  Id.  5  P^^  ^^^^^  Mutton,  5d.  to  6d.  per  lb. 

Beef,  5(1  to  6d.  per  lb. 
Butter,  1st  £4  I2s.  \  _.  __.  ^_^  Tallow,  9s.  per  stone. 

Do.    2nd  £4   8s.  5  P^^  ^^'  Butter,  Is.  6d.  per  lb. 

Potatoes,  7d.  to  lod.  per  stone. 

Coal,  5s.  5d.  per  barrel. 

3  p.c.  Consols  in  Dublin  and  London  64  and  7-8ths.  to  65. 
The  Clonmel  Journal  passed  away  about  1804. 

The  Clonmel  Herald. 

This  like  the  Journal  was  a  strong  Tory  organ.  It  was  founded  by 
George  Grace,  a  barrister,  who  was  called  to  the  bar  as  far  back  as  1788.  The 
first  number  appeared  27th  May,  1802.    The  paper  was  bi-weekly,  Wednesday 

(hh)  Bernard  Wright,  the  editor,  died  9th  April  1821,  at  the  age  of  58,  leaving  an  only  son,  J.  B.  Wright. 


History  of  Clonmel.  351 

and  Saturday,  and  consisted  of  the  usual  four  pages  of  four  columns  each. 
The  arms  of  Clonmel  were  inserted  in  the  middle  of  the  title ;  the  price,  five- 
pence.  There  was  little  local  news ;  the  greater  part  of  the  space  was 
occupied  with  extracts  from  the  London  papers.  An  unmistakable  evidence 
of  venality  was  the  number  of  Government  notices  and  proclamations.  From 
an  issue  of  January  1808,  we  find  that  barley  was  l8s.  a  barrel,  coal  7s.  7d., 
butter  Is.  lod.  a  pound,  beef  4^d.,  and  mutton  6d. 

Grace  lived  in  the  old  mansion  at  the  corner  of  Mary  and  Peter  Streets, 
but  the  printing  appears  to  have  been  done  by  one  William  Duffy. 
Subsequently  Richard  Grace  took  over  the  enterprise  from  his  father,  and 
finally  the  paper  became  the  property  of  William  Bayly  Upton.  It  died  with 
him  in  1 840.  Mr.  J.  D.  White,  of  Cashel,  bought  the  printing  press  from 
Terence  McGrath,  Upton's  son-in-law,  for  thirty  shillings,  and  printed  with  it 
the  first  three  numbers  of  the  Cashel  Gazette. 

THE  Clonmel  advertiser. 

This  paper  was  founded  by  William  Carson,  who  had  for  several  years 
printed  the  Waterford  Mirror  for  Richard  Farrel.  It  was  printed  and 
published  in  Johnston  Street,  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  at  sixpence  a  copy. 
The  first  number  appeared  in  July  1811,  and  was  a  distinct  advance  on  the 
older  papers.  It  contained  four  pages,  22  by  16  inches,  five  columns  to  the 
page;  the  type  excellent  and  the  editing  capable.  Whatever  its  earlier 
politics  were,  in  1832  it  was  strongly  O'Connellite  and  anti-tithe.  No.  2,217 
(November  1832)  contains  an  address  fromO'Connell  to  the  people  of  Limerick. 
It  is  full  of  invective  against  "the  betrayer — the  deceiver — the  prince  of 
political  jobbers — Mr.  Pierce  Mahoney,"  whom  "it  would  be  an  eternal 
disgrace  to  elect,"  who  "has  not  one  particle  of  political  principle,"  etc.,  etc. 
Two  pages  are  filled  with  the  report  of  the  Clonmel  assizes.  The  most 
important  case  was  the  trial  of  James  Keeffe  and  Thady  Hackett  for  the 
murder  of  Rev.  John  Going,  of  Mealiff.  Shiel  defended  the  prisoners  who 
were  acquitted.  Lord  Galmoy,  Michael  Doheny,  John  Hackett  ^of  the  Free 
Press)  and  others  were  put  on  trial  "  for  a  combination  against  tithes."  The 
jury  deserves  to  be  recorded — Caleb  Going,  George  Hodges,  Southwell 
Mulcahy,  Richard  Brannagan,  Thomas  Knaggs,  John  Davis,  John  Graham, 
Robert  McClelland,  Robert  Lester,  Edward  Jones  and  Richard  Goss.  The 
traversers  had  taken  part  in  a  meeting  at  which  the  following  "non- 
intercourse  "  resolution  was  passed : — 

We  pledge  each  other  collectively  and  individually  not  to  hold  any  intercourse 
whatever,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  person  who  should  buy  anything  at  a  sale  for 
tithes  and  church-cess,  which  went  to  keep  up  a  pampered  clergy. 


352  History  of  Clonmel. 

Some  of  the  traversers,  as  Lord  Galmoy  and  Hackett,  pleaded  guilty. 

A  verdict  of  guilty  was  found  against  Doheny  and  the  others. 

The  market  report  for  November  6th,  1832,  is  as  follows  : — 

Best  milling  wheat,  I4d.  to  I4^d.  per  stone.  Shipping  wheat,  13d.  to  I4d.  Oats, 
7d.  to  7J^d.  in  a  few  instances.  Flour,  35s.,  32s.,  27s.,  15s.  per  bag.  Bacon  pigs,  in 
moderate  supply,  35s.  to  35s.  6d.  per  cwt.  Butter,  83s.  per  cwt.  Potatoes,  2^d.  per 
stone.    Beef,  4J^d.  per  lb.    Mutton,  do.    Pork,  3d.    Fresh  butter,  is. 

The  imprint  is  : — 

Clonmel.  Printed  and  published  for  the  late  Proprietor,  William  Carson,  at  the 
Office  in  Bagwell  Street,  opposite  the  Great  Globe  Inn,  and  sold  at  Mr.  Heuston's 
Circulating  Library  and  at  Mr.  O'Neiirs,  Bookseller  and  Binder,  Stationer  and  Printer, 
Dublin  Street. 

The  Clonmel  Advertiser  came  to  an  end  about  1836. 

THE  Clonmel  Magazine. 

This  was  a  literary  magazine,  compiled  for  the  most  part  by  the  aid  of  the 
scissors  and  paste-pot.  It  was  published  in  Dublin  Street  by  Cornelius 
Higgins.  The  first  number  was  issued  in  September,  1826,  four  quarto  pages. 
In  the  only  number  the  writer  has  met  with,  is  an  elaborate  account  of  the 
annual  distribution  of  premiums  to  the  pupils  of  the  Endowed  School,  which 
then  took  place  in  the  Courthouse. 

The  magazine  lived  only  a  few  months. 

The  Tipperary  Free  Press. 

At  an  "aggregate  meeting  "  held  in  Clonmel  in  1826,  presided  over  by 
James  Scully,  Esq.,  it  was — 

Resolved.  That  a  Liberal  and  Independent  County  Journal  which  should  express 
the  feelings  and  assert  the  rights  of  the  People  is  wanted  and  ought  to  be  supported. 

The  result  was  a  prospectus  issued  by  J.  Hackett,  "  Public  Library," 
Main  Street,  stating  that  "  a  few  individuals  actuated  by  no  views  of  personal 
gain  but  who  are  anxious  to  circulate  improvement  through  this  populous 
county  have  determined  to  carry  the  above  resolution  into  effect." 

"The  generality  of  Provincial  Journalists  who  exist  upon  official 
patronage  are  as  void  of  public  principle  as  they  are  of  information.  The 
proprietors  of  this  Journal  do  not  intend  to  take  them  for  their  model.  This 
Journal  will  be  the  advocate  of  the  unconditional  Emancipation  of  seven 
millions  of  British  subjects.  The  consequences  of  the  unnatural  exaltation  of 
the  few  professors  of  one  creed  above  the  numerous  believers  in  another,  are 
not  only  illustrated  in  the  general  discontent,  but  in  many  instances  of  petty 
tyranny  and  inglorious  oppression  which  are  hourly  practiced  amongst  us. 


History  of  Clonmel.  353 

The  contempt  for  the  interest  and  well-being  of  the  lower  orders  which  is  so 
unhappily  prevalent  among  the  Squirearchy  of  Ireland;  the  partiality 
manifested  in  filling  every,  even  the  meanest,  office  connected  with  public 
institutions ;  the  profligacy  which  is  sometimes  found  in  the  decisions  of 
individuals  armed  with  summary  powers  by  the  law ;  the  exactions  which  are 
practiced  upon  the  peasantry  through  cesses,  dues,  tolls  and  tithes,  and  all 
the  complicated  machinery  by  which  the  people  are  ground  down,  will  in  this 
Journal  be  fully  and  fearlessly  exposed  to  the  public  eye. 

"The  arts  by  which  society  is  embellished,  will  not  be  disregarded. 
Every  new  publication  of  merit  will  pass  through  a  brief  though  accurate 
review.  At  the  same  time  the  utmost  care  shall  be  taken  that  in  seeking  to 
please,  the  purest  delicacy  shall  not  be  offended,  and  the  fathers  of  families 
may  rest  satisfied  that  nothing  contained  in  this  Journal  will  ever  raise  a  blush. 
Pleasure  will  not  be  consulted  at  the  expense  of  modesty,  and  a  mother  will 
never  snatch  this  Journal  from  her  daughter's  hand." 

The  first  number  of  the  Free  Press  saw  the  light  Saturday,  23rd  December, 
1826.  In  size  and  price  it  was  identical  with  the  Advertiser,  but  the  print  was 
better  and  the  advertisements  more  numerous.  The  editor  with  pardonable 
vanity  wrote — 

We  consider  it  almost  unnecessary  to  call  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  Typo- 
graphical appearance  of  the  Paper.  It  is  printed  with  a  new  and  beautiful  type  from 
the  celebrated  Foundry  of  Caslon  and  Livermore,  of  London,  and  worked  with  the 
Columbian  Press  which  has  for  the  first  time  been  seen  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

The  imprint  is — 

ClonmeL  Printed  and  Published  on  the  mornings  of  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays 
by  J.  Hackett  at  the  Office,  Main  Street 

There  are  several  columns  of  reports — The  Cork  Election.  "  Aggregate 
Meetings  "  of  Catholics  at  Dublin,  Fethard,  Gammonsfield,  Moycarky.  Prices 
at  Clonmel  Markets  22nd  December,  1826. 

Butter  (first  quality),  £3  I2s.  per  cwt.  Oatmeal,  iSs.  per  cwt.  Bacon  pigs,  £1 12s.  6d. 
per.  cwt.  Flour  (seconds),  £l  15s.  per  bag.  Coal,  4s.  6d  per  barrel.  Wheat,  is.  5  J^d. 
per  stone.  Oats,  is.  2d  Potatoes,  4^d.  per  stone.  Beef  4^d.  per  lb.  Mutton,  5d. 
Pork.  iH± 


On  the  extinction  of  the  Clonmel  Advertiser  in  1837,  its  name  was  added 
to  the  Free  Press  as  a  sub-title.     During  the  first  thirty  years,  1826-1856, 

Y 


354  History  of  Clonmel. 

the  Emancipation  movement,  the  tithe-war,  corporate  reform,  repeal  of  the 
Union,  the  tenant-right  agitation,  followed  one  another  in  rapid  succession. 
The  Free  Press  voiced  the  popular  feelings  in  burning  language.  More  than 
once  Hackett,  the  proprietor,  found  himself  in  the  law  courts  for  libel.  During 
the  Clonmel  election  of  1835  a  series  of  sketches  appeared  in  the  paper 
caricaturing  and  occasionally  vilifying  the  principal  supporters  of  John 
Bagwell,  the  Conservative  candidate.  In  one  of  these  sketches  a  man  was 
described  with  a  drooped  figure,  a  haggard  brow  and  an  unearthly  excitement 
of  the  eye.  And  the  article  went  on  to  connect  him  with  the  drowning  of 
Lieutenant  Close  and  Miss  Grubb  in  1826  (ii).  William  Strangman,  the  person 
probably  aimed  at,  sued  Hackett  for  libel.  The  case  was  heard  at  the  Kilkenny 
Summer  Assizes,  1835,  and  resulted  in  a  verdict  for  Strangman  with  damages 
£750  and  costs.  Another  action  by  John  Labarte,  town  clerk,  also  ended  in 
heavy  damages.  In  later  years  the  tone  of  the  Free  Press  was  softened,  and 
its  politics  during  the  last  two  decades  of  its  existence  were  Catholic- Whig. 
Its  influence  to  a  large  extent  passed  away  with  its  founder,  John  Hackett. 
His  sons,  who  succeeded  him,  had  neither  his  ability  nor  his  courage,  and 
soon  after  the  death  of  Henry  O'Connell  Hackett  in  1880,  the  paper  ceased  to 
exist. 

Founded  at  a  time  when,  in  the  words  of  the  historian  Leckey,  the 
British  Constitution  did  not  exist  in  Ireland,  the  task  which  the  Free  Press 
undertook  was  no  light  one.  The  prospectus  may  read  to  us  blatant  if  not 
grotesque,  but  the  petty  oppression  there  set  forth  in  detail,  is  the  literal  truth. 
The  common  people  were  glad  to  be  permitted  even  to  breath  the  air,  and 
any  man  who  spoke  for  their  rights  or  criticized  their  oppressors,  found  him- 
self by  process  of  law  sooner  or  later  pauperized  or  imprisoned  (jj).  If,  as  in 
the  case  of  Strangman,  the  privileges  of  journalism  were  sometimes  abused, 
Hackett  in  the  main  nobly  vindicated  its  rights ;  and  the  freedom  of  the  press 
was  bought  by  him  and  such  as  him  by  many  a  bitter  sacrifice. 


(ii)  Lieutenant  Frederick  Close  was  stationed  with  his  regiment,  the  86th  Foot,  in  Clonmel  in 
1826.  He  there  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Anna  Grubb  who  was  about  18  years  of  age,  "  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  remarkable  for  much  beauty  of  person."  They  met  together  in  the 
evenings,  and  one  wild  night  of  wind  and  ram  in  February,  1826,  both  disappeared.  Three  weeks 
later  their  bodies  were  found  in  the  Suir.  There  were  no  marks  whatever  of  violence,  but  popular 
suspicion  fastened  on  William  Strangman,  who  had  been  also  paying  addresses  to  the  lady.  An 
account  of  the  incident  will  be  found  in  Maxwell's  Bivouac. 

(jj)  The  case  of  Denis  Scully,  a  Tipperary  barrister,  is  instructive.  His  "  Penal  Laws  "  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  Irish  historical  monographs.  It  is  a  calm,  lawyer-like  statement  of  the  several  laws 
of  William  and  Anne  affecting  Catholics,  with  the  various  judicial  decisions  and  facts  bearing  on  the 
subject.  Yet  in  1813  Hugh  Fitzpatrick,  the  publisher,  was  fined  £200  and  imprisoned  for  eighteen 
months.  Saurin,  the  Attorney-General  who  prosecuted,  described  the  work  as  "  a  call  upon  the 
people  to  break  out  into  civil  and  religious  war." 


History  of  Clonmel.  356 

The  circulation  of  the  Clonmel  papers  of  the  period  we  learn  from  the 

stamps  issued.     From  Sth  January,  1832,  to  5th  April,  1833,  the  numbers 

were — 

Clonmel  Herald  ...  ...  10,500 

Clonmel  Advertiser  ...  ...  10,840 

Tipper ary  Free  Press        ...  ...  43|250 


THE  TIPPERARY  CONSTITUTION. 

This  paper  was  started  to  replace  the  effete  Clonmel  Herald  in  November, 
1835.  Its  appearance  and  general  get-up  was  identical  with  the  Free  Press  of 
the  day.  It  was  bi-weekly,  Tuesdays  and  Fridays,  the  price  Sd.  The  printer 
and  proprietor,  Henry  Townshend,  had  considerable  experience  as  a  journalist 
in  Cork. 

At  this  period  party  feeling  ran  high.  When  Mulgrave,  the  Liberal  Lord 
Lieutenant,  passed  through  Clonmel  29th  July,  1835,  the  mayor,  Benjamin 
Bradshaw,  refused  to  call  a  meeting  to  draw  up  an  address,  but  the  popular 
party  waited  on  the  viceroy  at  the  Great  Globe  Hotel,  where  an  address  was 
presented  by  John  Hackett,  Father  Baldwin,  Counsellor  Mulcahy,  Dr.  Scully 
and  others.  Political  passion  was  reflected  in  the  newspapers ;  the  Constitution 
and  the  Free  Press  engaged  in  mutual  ink-slinging  in  true  Eatonswell, 
Pickwickian  style.  O'Connell  visitad  Clonmel  in  October  1840,  and  the  visit 
was  high  inspiration  to  the  Constitution. 

A  large  mob  collected  when  the  agitator  essayed  to  speak ;  but  in  Ireland,  if  any 
man  commences  to  speak  in  the  public  street,  he  will  quickly  have  a  numerous 
audience.  It  was  so  with  Dan.  His  game  was  and  is  to  gull  and  plunder  the 
unfortunate  people  of  Ireland ;  and  the  priests  who  have  such  a  fatal  influence  over 
them  are  his  assistants  in  the  pillage.  The  8*>>  of  November,  the  day  for  collecting  his 
rent,  is  coming  round,  and  O'Connell  must  get  the  pounds,  shillings  and  pence,  and 
provided  he  does,  his  griping  heart  is  incapable  of  feeling,  eta,  etc. 

O'Connell  and  his  pitiable  cavalcade  drew  up  at  Heam's  Hotel,  where  he 
proceeded  to  the  balcony  and  addressed  the  unwashed. 

The  banquet  afforded  the  editor  his  best  opportunity.  The  description  of 
the  feast  thus  concludes : — 

After  some  drunken  speeches  were  made  (for  every  man  who  was  not  restrained  by 
the  Mathewite  medal  was  relieved  from  the  horrors  of  sobriety),  the  party  broke  up  at 
an  early  hour,  and  thus  terminated  the  repeal  farce  in  Clonmel. 

The  Clonmel  market  prices  October  i6th,  1840,  are  as  follows : — 

Butter,  £4  iSs.  to  £5  percwt.  Bacon  Pigs,  £2  2s.  Barley,  14s.  per  barrel.  Wheat, 
is.  7d.  to  is.  9d.  per  stone.  Wool,  15s.  to  l6s.  Potatoes,  4d.  Beef,  3^d.  to  sHd. 
per  lb.    Mutton,  Sd.  to  6d.    Coal,  £l  is.  per  ton. 


356  HISTORY   OF  CLONMEL. 

The  temperature  of  the  Constitution  was  probably  too  feverish,  for  the 
paper  came  to  an  untimely  end  in  1847  (kk). 


The  Clonmel  Advertiser  and  Literary  Journal. 

A  weekly  magazine  owned  and  printed  by  James  Hennessy  in  Johnston 
Street  The  first  number  was  issued  8th  July,  1843.  It  consisted  of  four 
pages  (small  folio)  of  four  columns  each.  It  was  called  Advertiser  on  the 
principle  lucus  a  non  lucendo,  for  in  the  first  two  numbers  a  solitary  advertise- 
ment appears.  The  paper  had  therefore  a  brief  existence.  The  literary  part 
was  constructed  by  the  aid  of  the  scissors.  Dr.  Cahill's  lectures ;  scientific 
snippets;  a  short  story,  and  a  half  a  column  of  bad  prose  arranged  in  the 
form  of  verse.  As  a  condescension  to  mere  mundane  wants,  Clonmel  market 
prices  are  quoted. 

Wheat,  Is.  3d  per  stone.  Oats,  /d.  Potatoes,  3d.  Beef,  3d.  to  4d.  per  lb. 
Mutton,  4d.  to  Sd.  Pork,  2 J^d.  Butter,  lod  to  I2d.  Salt  Butter,  £3  to  £3 14s.  per  cwt. 
Pigs,  £1  to  £1  6s.    Wool,  I2s.  to  13s.  per  stone. 

The  millers  whose  quotations  are  given  are — ^Joseph  Grubb,  Malcomson 
Brothers,  T.  Hughes  and  Son,  Thomas  S.  Grubb,  Suir  Island  Mills,  Peter  R. 
Banfield,  Cooney  Brothers.    The  prices  of  flour  are — 

Superfine,  32s.  Fine,  30s.  Seconds,  28s.  Household,  26s.  Thirds,  22s.  Fourths,  l6s. 


The  Clonmel  Chronicle. 

The  Clonmel  Chronicle  succeeded  the  Tipperary  Constitution  as  the  organ 
of  the  Conservative  party.  The  first  number  was  published  2lst  July,  1848. 
It  was  printed  by  Edmond  Woods,  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  who  had 
settled  in  the  town,  but  the  establishing  of  the  paper  was  mainly  due  to  the 
efforts  of  Joseph  Napier  Higgins  (II).  Woods  subsequently  became  sole 
proprietor.  Under  his  management  the  Chronicle  obtained  a  reputation  for 
the  excellence  of  its  local  reports  and  general  reliability.  Though  its  price 
was  fivepence,  it  at  one  time  had  the  highest  circulation  of  any  bi-weekly 


(kk)  The  sub-title  of  the  Constitution  was  The  Munster  and  Leinster  Advertiser^  but  the  two 
provinces  contributed  between  them  only  three  columns  of  advertisements. 

(II J  Higgins,  who  was  a  barrister,  afterwards  practised  at  the  English  bar,  where  he  amassed 
an  immense  fortune.  He  was  long  recognised  as  the  highest  authority  on  joint-stock  company  law. 
The  principal  street  in  a  London  property  belonging  to  his  wife,  he  named  "  Clonmel  Street." 


History  of  Clonmel.  357 

paper  in  Ireland.  Unlike  most  newspapers  it  always,  by  judicious  editorship, 
kept  clear  of  the  law  courts.  The  only  trouble  in  which  the  Chronicle  ever 
found  itself  was  in  1856,  when  its  reporter  was  excluded  from  the  corporation 
meetings  for  caricaturing  the  councillors  as  they  said — for  reporting  them 
literally  as  he  said.  On  the  death  of  Edmond  Woods  in  1893,  the  ownership 
and  control  of  the  paper  passed  to  Messrs.  Clarke,  Barret  and  Montgomery 
who  for  many  years  had  been  associated  with  him  in  its  management  (mm). 


,    The  Clonmel  Advertiser. 

This  was  the  fourth  Clonmel  paper  that  adopted  this  name — all  of  them 
failures.  It  is  chiefly  remarkable  as  the  only  local  representative  as  yet  of 
modern  halfpenny  journalism.  The  first  issue  appeared  7th  June,  1884.  It 
consisted  of  a  single  sheet,  two  pages  of  five  columns  each.  The  paper  was 
owned  and  printed  by  Edward  McDonald,  of  Abbey  Street.  McDonald  had 
been  foreman  printer  of  the  Tipperary  Free  Press,  and  the  new  venture  was 
printed  from  the  type  and  press  of  the  old  Thunderer.  The  contents  consisted 
of  advertisements,  railway  time-tables,  a  short  story,  poetical  extracts.  The 
little  paper  lived  only  a  few  months,  but  it  deserved  a  better  fate. 


The  Nationalist. 

In  1881  a  Nationalist  newspaper  called  Tipperary  was  started  in  Thurles 
under  the  editorship  of  Mr.  T.  P.  Gill,  the  present  secretary  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture.  Two  years  later  Mr.  Gill  resigned,  and  eventually  the  paper 
ceased  publication.  In  1885  a  Nationalist  newspaper  company  was  formed 
in  Clonmel,  and  the  plant  of  the  defunct  Tipperary  purchased.  The  first 
number  of  the  Tipperary  Nationalist  appeared  in  January,  i886y  under  the 
editorship  of  Mr.  J.  G.  McSweeney,  who  had  considerable  experience  as  a 
journalist  in  Dublin.  On  the  subsequent  resignation  of  Mr.  McSweeney, 
Mr.  John  E.  O'Mahony,  formerly  of  the  Skibbereen  Eagle,  became  editor.  The 
country  being  now  in  the  thioes  of  the  land  agitation,  Mr.  O'Mahony  was 
imprisoned  and  the  Tipperary  Nationalist  company  became  involved  in  several 
libel  actions.  The  principal  of  these  was  one  by  George  Bolton,  Crown  Solicitor. 
Bolton  had  the  venue  laid  in  Belfast,  and  a  jury  of  that  city  awarded  him 
£10,000  danu^es.  There  were  two  seizures  by  the  sheriflf.  Mr.  O'Mahony 
resigned  In   1890,   and  the  paper  under  the  new  name  of  The  Nationalist 


(mm)  The  original  sub-title  was  Southern  Counties  Agriciiltural  and  Commercial  Gazette, 


358  History  of  Clonmel, 

was  edited  by  Mr.  T.  B.  Naughton  and  Mr.  H.  Dillon  successively.  The 
following  year  a  new  company  was  formed  to  acquire  the  property,  and 
Mr.  James  J.  Long,  the  former  sub-editor,  was  appointed  editor.  The 
subsequent  history  of  the  paper  is  uneventful.  Its  circulation  at  present  is 
amongst  the  highest  of  the  provincial  papers,  and  its  success  as  a  commercial 
enterprise  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  the  £l  shares  are  freely  bought 
at  £5. 

Clonmel  Printing. 

There  were  booksellers  in  Clonmel  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In 
the  Carleton  accounts  is  the  item  "  1730  ffeb.  27.  To  Cash  paid  Gorman  for 
Caesars  Commentaries  for  Mr.  Bo***  Carleton  3s.  6d."  Patrick  Brennock  is 
mentioned  as  a  bookseller  in  1747.  The  earliest  printer,  however,  appears  to 
have  been  Edward  Collins  who  founded  the  Clonmel  Gazette  in  1771.  In  that 
year  he  printed  a  small  octavo  of  46  pages  entitled — 

1.  The  Swadler.  A  new  Comedy  of  Three  Acts.  Written  by  Amyas 
Griffith  Esq.    Clonmell  Printed  by  Edward  Collins  MDCCLXXI. 

Amyas  Griffith,  then  rising  into  notice,  was  one  of  the  celebrities  of  the 
period.  He  was  the  son  of  Jonas  Griffith,  surveyor  of  Excise,  and  was  born 
at  Roscrea  1744.  Educated  at  Tralee  he  entered  Trinity  College  as  a 
pensioner.  Here  he  spent  nine  months,  when  he  left  and  entered  at  the 
Temple,  London.  Shortly  after  he  obtained  a  commission  in  the  Queen's 
Royal  Foot,  but  selling  his  commission  turned  to  literature.  Subsequently 
through  influence  became  gauger  at  Wexford,  married  the  mayor's  daughter 
there,  and  opened  shop.  Hackett,  the  Collector  of  Tipperary,  introduced  him 
to  Sir  William  Osborne  through  whose  influence  he  was  appointed  Examiner 
in  Dublin.  He  stood  unsuccessfully  for  that  city  on  the  death  of  Lucas,  and 
was  one  of  the  contributors  to  Barataria. 

The  next  Clonmel  publication  which  has  been  met  with,  is  a  very 
wonderful  pamphlet. 

2.  The  Life  and  Conversion  of  James  Albert  Ukawsaw  Gronniosaw.  An 
African  Prince.  Giving  an  Account  of  the  Religion,  Customs,  Manners  of 
the  Natives  of  Zaara  in  Africa.  As  related  by  Himself.  Clonmel  Printed  by 
Thomas  Lord  in  the  Year  MDCCLXXXVL 

In  the  same  year  appeared  a  similar  anthropological  study. 

3.  The  Upright  Lives  of  the  Heathen  briefly  noted,  or  Epistles  and 
Discourses  betwixt  Alexander  the  Conqueror  and  Dindimus,  King  of  the 
Brachmans.  Giving  an  Account  of  what  sort  of  People  they  are,  their 
Divinity  and  Phylosophy  with  the  Manner  of  Living  etc. 


History  of  Clonmel.  359 

Thomas  Lord  was  son  of  Patrick  Lord,  printer,  Cook  Street,  Dublin. 
Patrick  Lord  lost  heavily  and  ran  no  slight  risk  by  printing  Brook's  Trial  of  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  similar  works.  Thomas  Lord  and  his  press  moved  about 
like  a  travelling  show.  He  printed  in  Cashel  from  1770  to  1780,  in  Youghal 
in  1784,  Clonmel  1786,  Waterford  1792.  Finally  in  1798  he  was  established 
at  Roscrea  where  the  press  was  burnt  in  that  year  by  the  yeomanry  on 
suspicion  of  printing  seditious  ballads. 

4.  Irish  Poems.    By  Tadg  Gaedleach. — Clonmel  1799. 

5.  List  of  Tolls  and  Dues  of  Clonmel. — Clonmel  Thomas  Gorman  1802. 
[A  broadsheet.] 

6.  The  Harp  of  Erin ;  consisting  of  a  choice  collection  of  the  most 
fashionable,  convivial  and  Bacchanalian  Songs,  Toasts,  etc. — Thomas  Gorman 
Main  Street  180— 

7.  The  Love  of  Jesus  :  A  new  and  correct  Translation  from  the  French  of 
H.  M.  Bondon.— T.  Gorman  Main  Street  l8e4. 

8.  An  Accurate  and  Faithful  Report  of  a  Trial  held  before  the  Rt.  Hon. 
Lord  Norbury  and  a  Special  Jury,  at  Clonmel,  in  the  County  of  Tipperary, 
Summer  Assizes  1804.  Wherein  John  Bagwell  Esq.  wcls  Plaintiff,  and  Edmond 
Power,  Esq.  Defendant /^r  a  Libel.  [This  is  a  reprint  from  the  Clonmel  Gazette 
of  which  Power  was  proprietor.] 

9.  Thoughts  on  a  late  Advertisement  in  The  Dublin  Evening  Post  relative  to 
a  Meeting  to  be  held  in  Cashel,  on  the  22nd  day  of  August,  1807,  on  the 
subject  of  the  Moderation  of  Tythes. — ^T.  Gorman  Main  Street  1807. 

10.  The  Life  and  Adventures  of  Lady  Lucy  the  daughter  of  an  Irish 
Lord  etc.  To  which  is  added  The  Adventures  of  Yarico,  also  Linder  and 
Eugenia,  a  Tale. — ^T.  Gorman,  Clonmel,  1808. 

11.  Original  Poems.    Samuel  Fennell. — ^T.  Gorman  Clonmel  181 1. 

12.  A  Letter  to  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Richmond  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland;  containing  certain  exertions  of  Power  and  certain  dispensations  of 
Patronage  supposed  to  have  Originated  in  the  late  Election  for  the  County  of 
Tipperary.    George  Grace  B.L. — W.  Duffy,  King's  Arms,  Main  Street,  181 3. 

13.  Maghtruig  Go  Maith  Air.  Padraig  Denn.  (Think  Well  on't. 
Translated  into  Irish  by  Patrick  Denn). — Clonmel  John  Hackett  1819. 

14.  Dr.  Butler's  Catechism  Approved  and  Recommended  etc. — ^WilHam 
Goggin  Main  Street  1820. 

Goggin  was  celebrated  as  a  printer  of  street  ballads  and  chap-books. 
He  was  a  native  of  Limerick,  and  does  not  appear  to  have  spent  more  than 
a  year  in  Clonmel. 


360 


History  of  Clonmel. 


15.  Selim.    A  Turkish  Tale.    E.  FitzGerald,  Clonmel  1821. 
This  curious  poem  was  also  published  in  London  the  same  year. 

16.  Letters  between  the  Rev.  J.  Mackey  and  the  Rev.  H.  Woodward. — 
Clonmel  1827. 

17.  Report  of  Evidence  given  at  Clonmel  before  the  Commissioners  for 
Enquiry  into  Irish  Municipal  Corporations. — Free  Press  Office,  Clonmel  1833. 

Owing  to  the  facilities  of  communication  with  book-producing  centres, 
only  a  few  and  unimportant  pamphlets  have  issued  from  the  Clonmel  press 
during  the  past  half  century. 


Ohapxe^r  XVIII. 


THE  CASE  OF  FATHER  SHEEHY. 

CHE  most  memorable  episode  in  local  history  from  the  Cromwellian 
period  down,  is  the  execution  of  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  parish 
priest  of  Clogheen.  Memorable,  not  so  much  by  reason  of  the 
status  of  the  victim,  as  by  the  fact  that  the  event  focussed  in  itself 
all  the  class  hatred,  the  religious  and  political  fanaticism  of  the  time.  For 
the  case  was  not  the  ordinary  process  of  law  overtaking  crime,  but  the 
suppressing  of  popular  discontent  by  haphazard  vengeance,  and  the 
quenching  by  strangulation  of  the  voice  that  proclaimed  the  wrongs  of 
the  lowly  and  the  poor. 

While  the  substantial  facts  were  collected  sixty  years  ago  by  Dr.  Madden, 
the  historian  of  the  United  Irishmen,  there  is  much  still  that  is  obscure.  We 
know  little  of  Father  Sheehy's  history  or  antecedents.  His  fellow-priests 
were  shy  of  him  because  of  the  trouble  in  which  he  helped  to  involve  them, 
and  his  diocese  does  not  preserve  a  solitary  tradition  of  him.  Again  a  fuller 
insight  is  desiderated  into  the  causes  and  motives  which  actuated  a  body  of 
country  gentlemen,  prosperous,  contented,  given  to  the  pleasures  of  the  chase 
and  the  table,  to  pursue  him  relentlessly  for  riot,  Whiteboyism,  treason  and 
murder,  in  a  series  of  prosecutions  which  ended  only  in  his  death  (nn).  The 
statics,  indeed,  of  the  case  were  given  by  Madden ;  the  writer  has  made  some 
attempt  to  explain  the  dynamics. 

From  1750  onwards  the  rent  of  land  was  steadily  increased,  until  in 
1775  it  was  more  than  double  what  it  had  been  at  the  earlier  period  (00). 


(nn)  The  writer  has  sought  every  source  of  information;  the  results  have  not  been  equal  to  the 
research.  Little  has  been  added  to  Madden's  information,  but  the  origin  and  springs  of  the 
case  have  been  made  more  intelligible. 

(00)  Young's  Tour,  passim. 


362  History  of  Clonmel. 

Owing  to  the  rise  in  prices,  the  increase  in  rent  affected  slightly,  if 
at  all,  the  huge  graziers  who  then  divided  the  county  of  Tipperary  between 
them.  But  the  additional  weight  of  rent  crushed  the  poor  cottiers  into 
a  deeper  level  of  misery,  and  made  their  condition,  bad  enough  before, 
desperate  now.  "  It  is  not  uncommon  in  Munster  to  charge  from  four  to 
five  guineas  per  acre  for  potato  ground;  the  daily  wages  for  labourers  is 
four  pence  per  day ;  there  are  three  hundred  working  days — ^that  is,  there  are 
nine  shillings  above  the  price  of  the  land  (assuming  this  but  four  guineas). 
Five  shillings  are  paid  for  the  tithe  and  two  for  hearth  money,  and  the 
remainder  goes  towards  the  rent  of  the  cabin.  What  is  left?  Nothing. 
And  out  of  this  nothing  they  are  to  buy  seed  for  their  garden,  salt  for  their 
potatoes,  and  rags  for  themselves,  their  wives  and  their  children  "  (pp).  So 
writes  a  contemporary.  A  little  later  Henry  Grattan  stated  that  the  cottier 
paid  £7  an  acre  for  his  potato  patch,  eight  to  twelve  shillings  tithe,  and 
received  as  wages  sixpence  a  day  (qq).  Yet  by  means  of  the  cow  which 
grazed  on  the  unenclosed  lands  the  labourer  and  his  family  still  eked  out  an 
existence.  But  another  turn  was  given  to  the  screw.  In  1760,  and  subsequently 
the  landlords  began  to  enclose  not  only  their  own  lands,  but  large  stretches 
of  connnonage.    The  consequences  are  described  by  Arthur  Young  (rr). 

"  The  Whiteboys  began  in  Tipperary  and  were  owing  to  some  inclosures 
of  commons  which  they  threw  down,  levelling  the  ditches.  They  were  first 
known  by  the  name  of  Levellers.  After  that  they  began  with  the  tythe- 
proctors  (who  are  men  that  hire  tythes  of  the  rectors),  and  these  proctors 
either  screwed  the  cottars  up  to  the  utmost  shilling  or  re-let  the  tythes  to  such 
as  did  it.  It  was  a  common  practice  for  them  [the  Whiteboys]  to  go  in  parties 
about  the  country,  swearing  many  to  be  true  to  them  and  forcing  them  to 
join,  by  menaces  which  they  very  often  carried  into  execution.  At  last  they 
set  up  to  be  general  redressers  of  grievances ;  punished  all  obnoxious  persons 
who  advanced  the  value  of  lands,  or  hired  farms  over  their  heads,  and  having 
taken  the  administration  of  justice  into  their  own  hands,  were  not  very  exact 
in  the  distribution  of  it "  (ss). 


(pp)  An  Enquiry  into  the  Causes  of  the  Outrages  committed  by  the  levellers  or  Whiteboys  of 
Munster.— Dublin,  1762. 

(qq)  Parliamentary  Debates,  1787,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  342. 

(rr)  In  the  patents  of  land  made  out  under  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation,  1662-5, 
probably  not  more  than  an  average  of  two-thirds  of  the  acreage  is  found  of  the  lands  which  are 
supposed  to  be  granted  under  these  patents.  The  Perry  Papers  between  1760-1770  relate  a  curious 
dispute  between  the  Perrys  and  Prendergasts  as  to  the  mountain  lands  of  Newcastle.  Neither  party 
could  show  a  grant  of  these  lands,  and  the  title  seemed  to  devolve  on  an  enclosure  made  seventy 
years  previous. 

(ss)  Young's  Tour,  I.,  p.  82. 


History  of  Clonmel,  363 

A  contemporary  in  1762  gives  a  similar  account. 

"  Some  landlords  have  set  their  lands  to  cotters  far  above  their  value ; 
and  to  lighten  their  burthen,  allowed  commonage  to  their  tenants  by  way  of 
recompense.  Afterwards  in  spite  of  all  equity,  contrary  to  all  compacts, 
the  landlords  enclosed  the  commons  and  precluded  their  unhappy  tenants 
from  the  only  means  of  making  their  bargains  tolerable.  The  law  indeed  is 
open  to  redress  them,  but  they  do  not  know  the  laws  or  how  to  proceed.  Or 
if  they  knew  them,  they  are  not  equal  to  the  expense  of  a  suit  against  a 
rich  tyrant  Hence  they  fly  with  eagerness  to  what  is  ever  the  resource  of 
low  and  uncultivated  minds — violence  "  (tt). 

And  Lord  Charlemont  wrote  to  the  same  purport 

"  Farms  of  enormous  extent  let  by  their  rapacious  and  indolent  proprietors 
to  monopolizing  land-jobbers,  by  whom  small  portions  of  them  were  again 
let  and  re-let  to  intermediate  oppressors  and  by  them  sub-divided  for  five 
times  their  value  among  the  wretched  starvers  upon  potatoes  and  water. 
Taxes  yearly  increasing,  and  still  more,  tithes  which  the  Catholic  without 
any  possible  benefit  unwillingly  pays  in  addition  to  his  priests'  money. 
Misery,  oppression  and  famine,  these  were  undoubtedly  the  first  and  original 
causes  of  Whiteboyism  obvious  to  the  slightest  inspection,  though  resolutely 
denied  and  every  public  investigation  into  them  impudently  frustrated  by 
those  whose  sordid  interest  opposed  their  removal "  (uu). 

The  precise  date  when  the  Tipperary  disturbances  began  has  not  been 
ascertained,  but  it  would  appear  to  have  been  in  the  winter  of  1761,  for  in 
January  1762,  William  Perry,  of  Woodroff,  who  acted  as  land-agent  for 
William  Austin,  of  Dublin,  wrote  :  "  There  has  been  a  vast  deal  of  mischief 
done  by  numbers  of  people  who  assemble  at  night "  (w).  Clogheen  being 
the  focus  of  discontent,  the  Earl  of  Drogheda  was  sent  there  with  a  large 
military  force.  "Great  numbers  of  insurgents,"  if  we  trust  Sir  Richard 
Musgrave,  "  were  killed  by  his  lordship's  regiment "  (ww).  The  Gentleman's 
Magazine  for  May  1762,  reports — 

The  riots  and  disturbances  lately  raised  in  the  southern  parts  of  Ireland  by  a  set  of 
people  called  Levellers,  are  entirely  put  a  stop  to  by  the  vigilance  and  activity  of  the 
Earl  of  Halifax  [Lord  Lieutenant]  It  appears  that  the  authors  of  these  disturbances 
have  consisted  indiscriminately  of  persons  of  different  persuasions,  and  that  no  marks 
of  disaffection  to  his  Majesty's  person  or  government  have  been  discovered  upon  this 
occasion  in  any  class  of  people. 


(tt)  An  Enquiry,  etc. — Dublin,  1762. 
(uu)  Hist.  MSS.  12,  Rep.  x.,  p.  21. 
(w)  Perry  Papers. 
(ww)  History  of  the  Irish  Rebellion. 


364  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  following  year,  however,  the  disturbances  broke  out  worse  than 
before.    In  March  1763,  we  read — 

Six  of  the  Irish  Levellers  who  were  in  their  white  uniforms,  were  conducted  to 
Clonmell  gaol  for  levelling  a  park  wall  and  killing  six  deer  at  Clonbrogan.  There  are 
now  twenty  of  these  fellows  in  Clonmell  and  eighteen  of  them  in  Kilkenny  gaol. 

Again  in  August — 

The  insurrections  in  Ireland  are  become  a  serious  matter.  The  high  sheriff  and 
gentlemen  of  the  county  of  Tipperary,  published  a  reward  of  twenty  guineas  to  any 
person  who  shall  prosecute  to  conviction  any  of  the  rioters. 

On  29th  September  an  affair  occurred  which  aroused  the  attention  of  the 
whole  kingdom.  Seven  men  arrested  in  Pilltown  for  Whiteboyism,  were 
being  conveyed  to  Kilkenny  gaol  under  a  military  escort.  At  a  place  called 
Newmarket  the  party  got  mixed  up  in  a  passing  "  funeral."  The  soldiers 
were  forthwith  disarmed  and  the  prisoners  rescued,  but  in  the  affray  Sergeant 
Johnson  and  Private  Finch  of  Lord  Drogheda's  troop  were  killed.  Three  of 
the  rescuers  were  killed  and  a  number  wounded.  Among  the  minor  incidents 
recorded  is  the  following  : — 

Timothy  Loughnan  of  Clashvagha,  in  the  Parish  of  Newcastle,  made  oath,  etc. 
That  in  1760  he  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Rev.  William  Downes  and  Rev. 
Richard  Foulke  for  the  tithes  of  Newcastle ;  that  he  held  the  said  tithes  two  years ; 
that  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  the  said  Deponent  was  seized  by  near  one  hundred 
persons  unknown  to  said  Deponent,  in  the  dead  of  night,  who  carried  off  said  Deponent 
almost  naked,  put  him  on  horseback  and  carried  him  near  half  a  mile ;  made  part  of  a 
grave  and  threatened  to  bury  him  alive  if  he  did  not  promise  to  give  up  his  bargain,  etc 
Sworn  before  me  at  Shanrahan  in  said  county — October  6,  1763. 

Richard  Foulke  (xx). 

From  the  Perry  correspondence  we  catch  some  valuable  glimpses.  On 
19th  December,  1763,  he  writes  to  Austin  : 

The  nocturnall  meetings  which  subsist  and  are  likely  to  continue,  together  with  the 
most  dreadfuU  threatening  Letters,  has  struck  such  a  terror  into  most  of  the  old 
protestants  as  I  can't  well  express.  Nor  is  there  from  Stephen  Moore's  to  the  bounds  of  the 
county  (as  Dick  Folks  has  quitted  the  country  and  gone  to  town)  a  Justice,  when  our 
Members  are  attending  in  Dublin,  that  such  persons  as  you  or  I  would  care  to  rely  on ;  and 
therefore  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  the  want  there  is  of  a  proper  one  in  this  part  of  the 
Country.  Therefore  I  would  beg  leave  to  mention  and  beg  your  interest  with  my  Lord 
Chancellor  for  his  Comsn.  to  enable  Mr.  William  Bagnell  of  Marlhill  to  act  in  that 
capacity,  and  altho  he  has  not  a  large  affluent  fortune  yet  his  scituation,  circumstances 
and  character  is  such  that  I  woud  stake  the  last  penny  I  am  worth  for  his  Justice  and 
integrity.  His  abilities  for  such  a  Comsn.  I  dare  say  far  exceeds  Numbers  that  have  it. 
If  my  Lord  Chancellor  is  pleasd  to  grant  his  Comsn.  accordingly,  it  will  no  doubt  render 
vast  service  and  Peace  to  this  Neighbourhood. 


(xx)  Miscellaneous  Papers,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  365 

Bagnell  was  appointed  a  magistrate  the  following  year,  and  the  services 
he  rendered  will  be  learned  subsequently.  Two  months  later,  23rd  February, 
1764,  Perry  again  writes  to  Austin  : 

Mr.  Richard  Folke  who  came  through  Ballyporeen  about  half  an  hour  after  me 
yesterday  was  insulted  by  the  mob  of  that  place,  and  the  Night  before,  they  destroyed 
and  ruined  a  Ditch  of  his  to  convince  him  of  their  dislike.  They  have  likewise  posted 
up  threatening  papers  etc.  in  Clogheen  to  prevent  William  Fennell  and  some  other 
Quakers,  or  people  for  spinning  for  their  carrying  on  the  woolen  manufactory,  as  it 
affected  James  Hyland  who  carrys  on  the  same  business ;  who  was  a  Captain  amongst 
them  when  taken  up  by  Lord  Drogheda  and  got  clear  at  the  Special  Commission  when 
tried  by  the  Lord  Qiief  Justice,  so  that  in  all  probability  that  tract  of  Country  they'll 
have  all  to  themselves. 

The  demonstration  against  the  Rev.  Richard  Foulke  had  evidently 
the  intended  effect,  for  among  the  Perry  accounts  of  the  May  following 
is  the  item  "Mr.  Broadrick  is  to  have  the  vicarial  tythe  inDaragrath  parish 
for  1763  Mr.  Folks  being  frightened  by  the  White  boys,  haveing  given  up 
his  Lease  to  Brodrick."  The  more  militant  clergyman  Brodrick  will  be  met 
with  again. 

By  this  time  the  Tipperary  squires  were  driven  through  fear  and  passion  to 
desperation.  Ditch-levelling,  cattle-houghing,  proctor-baiting  and  noctmrnal 
meetings  were  more  frequent  than  ever.  Yet  the  gaols  were  full ;  five  men 
had  been  hanged  at  one  assizes  at  Waterford ;  the  military  raids  of  Lord 
Drogheda  and  others  were  still  continued.  Accordingly  it  was  now  suspected 
that  the  whole  movement  was  a  popish  insurrection  in  favour  of  the  Pretender, 
organized  and  financed  by  French  agents.  The  old  ghosts  began  to  walk 
again ;  there  would  be  another  war  of  1641,  and  a  general  massacre  of 
Protestants.  For  the  air  of  Tipperary  was  literally  charged  with  religious 
factionism,  and  Protestants  were  prepared  to  believe  anything.  At  the 
general  election  in  November  1761,  consequent  on  the  death  of  George  IL, 
Thomas  Mathew  stood  for  the  county.  The  Mathews  of  Thomastown  were 
known  to  be  Catholics,  though  once  or  twice  they  had  taken  the  Protestant 
sacrament  to  save  their  estates  from  the  Discovery  Acts.  Some  months  before 
the  election  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  of  Dundrum,  announced  himself  a  candidate 
and  threatened  Mathew  he  would  petition  against  his  return,  on  the  ground 
that  Mathew  had  professed  Catholicism  after  the  age  of  twelve,  and  had 
brought  up  his  children  Catholics.  The  election  was  fought  with  intense 
bitterness.  Daniel  Gahan,  of  Coolequill,  was  agent  for  Maude.  Thomas 
Prendergast,  of  Ballylomasney,  acted  for  Mathew.  Each  voter  was  challenged 
by  Gahan  whether  he  was  born  of  Popish  parents,  had  been  educated  in 
Popery ;  and  his  certificate  of  conformity  to  Protestantism,  demanded. 
Prendergast's  own  right  to  act  was  questioned  on  the  ground  that  his  wife. 


366  History  of  Clonmel. 

Molly  Keating,  was  a  Papist  and  had  been  seen  praying  with  Thomas 
Hennessy,  priest,  at  Clonmel.  In  the  duel  which  resulted,  Prendergast  was 
shot  dead.  Mathew  was  unseated  on  petition,  Maude  among  other  reasons 
stating  that  ''  during  the  course  of  the  poll  and  scrutiny,  great  mobs  of  Irish 
Papists  assembled  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  crowded  the  Court 
House,  and  during  the  poll  and  scrutiny  evidently  showed  themselves  to  be 
under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Mathew's  gentlemen,  by  which  means  the  Sheriff 
and  manv  of  the  Petitioner's  voters  were  greatly  intimidated  (yy). 

Such  was  the  state  of  feeling  among  the  squires  and  parsons  of  Tipperary 
when  some  of  the  more  active  spirits  undertook  to  unravel  "  the  Popish  Plot" 
As  not  uncommonly  happens,  a  clergyman  assumed  the  leading  part.  The 
Rev.  John  Hewetson  had  the  tithes  of  several  Tipperary  parishes.  He  lived, 
however,  at  Suirville,  opposite  Waterford,  held  the  commission  of  the  peace, 
and  was  chiefly  known  as  an  active  magistrate.  Associated  with  Hewetson 
was  William  Bagnell  of  Marlhill,  near  Ardfinnan,  who  in  October  1764,  was 
appointed  magistrate  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with  Whiteboyism.  John 
Bagwell  of  Kilmore,  a  stripling  of  twenty-eight,  as  ^parvenu  gentilhomme  was 
eager  to  distinguish  himself.  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  Rev.  Laurence  Broderick 
and  Mathew  Bunbury,  of  Kilf eacle,  were  equally  prominent  (z).  A  revenue 
collector  then  resident  in  Tipperary,  himself  a  Protestant,  thus  describes  the 
champions  of  the  "  Protestant  Interest "  as  they  were  styled. 

(\y)  The  following  is  a  contemporary  account.  "  The  Roman  Catholics,  imprudently  at  such 
a  time,  made  great  exertions  at  a  contested  election  in  favour  of  a  gentleman  whose  mild  principles 
conciliated  their  affections.  This  perhaps  they  were  the  more  inclined  to,  through  resentment  to 
some  intolerant  gentlemen  who  were  in  opposition  to  their  favourite,  and  avowed  enemies  to  their 
profession.  Some  time  after,  an  affidavit  was  made,  by  whom  I  know  not,  that  four  French  officers 
had  landed  in  the  west  of  Ireland.  These  four  officers^  it  was  given  out,  came  over  here  to  raise  a 
rebellion,  and  to  get  all  the  Protestants  in  the  kingdom  massacred.  At  this  time  it  became  fashion- 
able for  gentlemen,  immediately  in  the  scene  designed  for  action,  to  take  in  and  annex  to  their  estates 
large  tracts  of  land  which  lay  in  commonage  for  time  immemorial;  perhaps  this  was  done  on  the 
same  principle  that  the  Lords  Justices  formerly  acted.  You  need  not  be  informed,  Mr.  Toler,  that 
land  situated  near  commonage,  lets  dearer  on  that  account;  and  the  ppor  people  who  had  taken 
such  land,  on  being  deprived  of  the  Deodands  which  induced  them  to  take  it,  naturally  felt  so  glaring 
a  violation  of  justice  as  a  grievance,  and  having  had  some  nocturnal  meetings  they  levelled  the 
fences,  and  I  highly  applaud  them  for  their  spirit  in  so  doing,  and  assure  you,  Mr.  Toler,  had  I  been 
in  their  situation,  as  legal  redress  was  out  of  the  question,  I  would  have  acted  in  the  same  manner 
they  did.  Prom  prostrating  those  fences  they  were  called  Levellers,  and  afterwards  from  wearing 
their  shirts  outside  their  cloaths,  to  disguise  themselves,  they  were  called  White-boys,  And  this  was 
the  whole  of  what  furnished  matter  for  the  "  Munster  Plot " — and  which  in  my  opinion  entitles  it 
to  a  place  under  the  head — Great  Events  from  Little  Causes. 

Reports  at  this  time  were  industriously  circulated,  that  *  all  the  Papists  in  the  kingdom  had 
privately  agreed  to  rise  on  a  night  prefixed,  to  massacre  all  the  Protestants  in  the  kingdom.'  In 
order  to  support  this  idea  the  houses  of  the  Protestants  in  Waterford,  Kilkenny  and  other  places  were 
chalked  in  the  nij^ht  to  alarm  them,  by  letting  them  see  they  were  marked  out  as  victims  of 
assasination." — Grifiith's  Tracts,  pp.  240-1,  Dublin,  1788. 

(zz)  As  a  side-light  on  the  views  and  motives  of  Father  Sheehy's  prosecutors,  it  maybe  mentioned 
that  George  and  Phineas  Bagnell  (brothers  of  William),  of  Cork,  issued  in  1766  Temple's  "  Irish 
Rebellion  "  and  King's  **  State  of  the  Protestants."  The  Tipperary  gentry  are  among  the  principal 
subscribers  to  these  incendiary  publications — **  John  Bagwell  of  Kilmore  esq.  5  books,"  "  William 
Bagnell  of  Marlhill,"  "  Mathew  Bunbury  of  Kilfeakle,"  "  Mathew  Jacob  of  Mobamane,  4  books,"  etc. 


History  of  Clonmel.  367 

I  was  personally  acquainted  with  several  members  of  the  junto ;  and  when  I  reflect 
on  the  toasts,  the  sentiments  they  gave,  my  hair  almost  stands  erect.  Ah !  no  wonder 
I  should  be  an  enemy  to  religious  persecution,  for  I  witnessed  its  bloody  spirit  and 
beheld  it,  with  complacency  and  delight  drinking  the  tears  of  the  widows  and  orphans. 
Holding  such  an  appointment  as  I  did  and  immediately  in  the  scene  of  action,  I  was 
but  too  much  exposed  to  the  society  of  men  whom  I  looked  on  as  a  pestilence  and  would 
have  shunned  as  such  but  from  motives  of  common  prudence  (a). 

Lord  Charlemont  writes  to  the  same  effect. 

The  furious  and  bigoted  zeal  with  which  some  Protestants  were  actuated  was 
shocking  to  humanity  and  a  disgrace  to  our  mild  religion ;  yet  in  behalf  of  the  latter, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  religious  zeal  was  in  many  instances  assumed  to  serve  as  a 
decent  veil  under  which  motives  of  a  still  worse  nature  were  concealed.  The  bashaws 
could  not  brook  opposition  to  their  established  despotism,  and  the  resistance  of  Papists 
was  looked  upon  as  the  rebellion  of  slaves.  The  idea  also  of  French  interference,  readily 
conceived  and  eagerly  embraced  by  those  who  wished  to  catch  at  every  plausible 
pretence  for  their  interested  violence,  and  to  hide,  if  possible,  even  from  themselves  the 
more  inexcusable  source  of  their  conduct,  strongly  co-operated ;  and  these  three  motives 
mutually  supporting  and  excusing  one  another  were  powerful  enough  to  induce  even 
some  men  of  decent  character  to  act  in  a  manner  unbecoming  Christians.  The 
hunting  of  White-boys  was  the  fashionable  chase.  I  heard  Lord  Carrick  exclaim  with 
delight  "  I  have  blooded  my  young  dog,  I  have  fleshed  my  blood  hound,"  after  a 
successful  hunt  for  White-boys  in  which  his  son  had  participated  (b). 

When  James  Nagle  of  Garnavilla,  in  1767  was  prosecuted  as  a  White- 
boy,  his  cousin  Edmund  Burke  intervened.  To  this  incident  may  be  traced 
the  following  from  the  great  statesman. 

The  exclusion  from  the  law  may  subject  Catholics  to  dreadful  hardships  and 
expose  them  to  all  that  is  mischevious  in  a  trial  by  jury.  This  was  manifestly  within 
my  own  observation,  for  I  was  three  times  in  Ireland  from  the  year  1760  to  the  year 
1767,  where  I  had  sufiicient  means  of  information  concerning  the  inhuman  proceedings 
(among  which  were  many  cruel  murders  besides  an  infinity  of  outrages  and  oppressions 
unknown  before  in  a  civilized  age)  which  prevailed  during  that  period  in  consequence 
of  a  pretended  conspiracy  among  Roman  Catholics  against  the  Kings  government. 

The  taking  away  of  a  vote  is  the  taking  away  the  shield  which  the  subject  has,  not 
only  against  the  oppression  of  power,  but  that  worst  of  all  oppressions,  the  persecution 
of  private  society.  If  the  unfranchised  should  become  obnoxious  to  any  bigotted  or 
malignant  people  amongst  whom  they  live,  it  will  become  the  interest  of  those  who 
court  favour  to  use  the  numberless  means-  which  always  reside  in  magistracy  and 
influence  to  oppress  them.  The  proceedings  in  a  certain  county  in  Munster  during  the 
unfortunate  period  I  have  mentioned,  read  a  strong  lecture  on  the  cruelty  of  depriving 
men  of  that  shield,  on  account  of  their  speculative  opinions  (c). 

As  the  most  palpable  agent  of  Popish  insurrection  the  Rev.  Nicholas 
Sheehy  was  from  the  first  marked  out  for  destruction.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
little  is  known  of  the  previous  history  of  this  unhappy  man.    He  was  born  in 


(a)  A  letter  to  Daniel  Toler,  High  Sheriff  of  Tipperary,  1766,  by  Amvas  Griffith.    Dublin,  1788, 
p.  268. 

(b)  Lecky's  History,  and  Hist.  MSS..  12  Rep.  x.,  p.  20,  note. 

(c)  Burke's  Works,  Vol.  I.,  p.  538.     Edit.  Bohn,  1854. 


368  History  of  Clonmel. 

1728,  is  said  to  have  been  educated  in  France,  and  was  ordained  probably 
about  1753.  He  ministered  for  some  time  in  Newcastle  parish,  and  appears 
to  have  succeeded  to  the  parish  of  Clogheen  in  1755,  on  the  death  that  year 
of  Dr.  James  Gleeson  (d).  His  character  we  learn  from  two  thumb-nail 
sketches  by  contemporaries — one  friendly,  the  other  hostile.  "  This  man," 
writes  Dr.  Curry,  '*  was  giddy  and  officious,  but  not  ill-meaning,  with  some- 
what of  a  Quixotish  cast  of  mind  towards  relieving  all  those  within  his  district 
whom  he  fancied  to  be  injured  or  oppressed ;  and  setting  aside  his  unavoidable 
connection  with  those  rioters,  several  hundred  of  whom  were  his  parishioners, 
he  was  a  clergyman  of  an  unimpeached  character  in  all  other  respects"  (e). 
The  account  of  him  given  by  a  writer  in  Exshavfs  Magazine  is  in  substance 
the  same — ^making  allowance  for  the  writer's  standpoint.  "He  was  a 
clergyman  esteemed  by  his  flock,  among  whom  he  enjoyed  an  income  of 
above  £200  [?]  a  year,  and  whose  profession  should  have  led  him  to  promote 
peace  and  obedience  to  the  laws  both  human  and  divine.  To  such  as 
personally  knew  him,  he  appears  in  the  character  of  a  plain  man,  free  from 
design,  but  over  this  there  must  have  been  laid  the  most  artful  disguise." 
From  which  it  is  clear  that  Sheehy  was  a  man  with  a  heart  for  the  sufferings 
of  his  people,  with  a  passionate  sense  of  justice,  and  a  courage  that  despised 
alike  the  threats  of  his  enemies  and  the  timid  counsels  of  his  fellow-priests. 

His  parish  was  the  centre  of  the  Whiteboy  disturbances.  This  fact 
alone  was  enough  to  earn  for  him  the  notice  of  Hewetson,  Bagnell,  Broderick 
and  the  others. .  But  in  addition  he  had  a  bad  record.  While  in  Newcastle, 
where  he  had  previously  ministered,  he  had  advised  the  people  to  pay  no 
church  rates,  there  being  no  Protestants  in  the  district.  Again  in  1762  an 
inn-keeper  of  Ballyporeen  named  Dobbyn,  who  farmed  the  tithes,  having 
made  claim  to  five  shillings  for  every  marriage  celebrated  by  the  priest,  Father 
Sheehy  offered  a  strenuous  resistance.  Worse  than  all,  he  had  openly  taken 
part,  in  the  beginning  of  the  troubles,  in  levelling  some  fences  which  the 
Rosses,  middlemen  under  Lord  Cahir,  had  set  up  round  the  commons  of 
Drumlemmon.    A  notice  of  this  is  found  among  the  Tipperary  Crown  Records. 

Clonmel  General  Assizes,  May  23,  1763,  before  the  Right  Hon.  Warden  Flood  and 
Hon.  William  Scott. 

Nicholas  Sheehy  bailed  in  £2000^ 

Denis  Keane  £1000  >  a  true  bill. 


Nicholas  Dogherty  £l000 


y 


(ii)  Dr.  Madden  states  he  was  born  in  Pethard.  Maurice  Lenihan,  the  historian  of  Limerick, 
who  was  a  native  of  Carrick-on-Suir,  states  that  he  was  the  son  of  Francis  Sheehy,  of  Glenaheira, 
Co.  Waterford,  and  a  first  and  second  cousin  of  Edmund  "  Buck  "  Sheehy.  This  latter  particular 
is  certainly  inaccurate.  A  painting  on  glass  of  Father  Sheehy  was  published  about  eighty  years  ago 
valeat  quod  valeat  It  shows  him  to  be  a  thin  young  man  of  rather  refined  features — straight  nose, 
dark  eyes,  a  high  square  forehead,  with  jet  black  hair. 

(e)  Curry's  Civil  Wars,  569.     Edition,  18 10. 


History  of  Clonmel.  369 

Nicholas  Sheehy  a  Popish  priest,  bound  over  in  Court  last  assizes,  trial  then  put  off 
by  the  Court,  indicted  for  that  he,  with  divers  other  ill-disposed  persons  and  disturbers 
of  the  peace,  on  the  second  day  of  March,  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  George  III., 
at  Scarlap,  did  unlawfully  assemble  and  assault  William  Ross,  and  did  wickedly  compel 
him  to  swear  that  he  would  never  discover  anything  to  the  prejudice  of  the  White- 
boys,  etc 

William  Ross,  bound  over  in  £l00,  estreated. 

James  Ross,  £l00,  estreated. 

The  Rosses,  who  were  Catholics,  were  unwilling  to  appear  against  their 
parish  priest,  and  probably  also  for  the  reason  that  those  who  framed  the 
indictment  inserted  more  than  the  Rosses  could  prove,  viz.,  the  administration 
of  the  Whiteboy  oath.  This  much  is  certain,  that  the  prosecution  of  Sheehy 
on  this  count  was  carried  no  further  (f). 

But  though  the  first  prosecution  failed,  Hewetson  and  Bagnell,  Maude 
and  Bagwell,  were  busily  weaving  a  network  of  testimony  not  only 
around  the  parish  priest  of  Clogheen,  but  around  every  Catholic  of  position 
in  the  whole  district.  "The  number  of  informations,"  writes  Madden, 
"sworn  to  against  all  the  leading  Catholic  gentry  of  the  county  by 
the  Lonergans,  Guynan,  Toohy  and  two  abandoned  women  of  the  names 
of  Butler  and  Dunlay  between  the  years  1763  and  1767,  would  fill  a  good- 
sized  volume.  The  names  of  the  magistrates  before  whom  these 
informations  in  almost  every  instance  were  sworn,  were  John  Bagwell, 
Thomas  Maude,  and  the  Rev.  J.  Hewetson."  The  deponents,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  were  Michael  Guinan,  a  hackler  of  Clogheen,  who  with  his  wife 
Catherine  had  in  1759  abjured  the  Catholic  faith  (g),  Thomas  and  John 
Lonergan,  nephews  of  Guinan,  Mary  Butler,  a  reputed  prostitute,  together 
with  John  Toohy  and  Mary  Dunlea,  of  whom  more  anon.  On  these 
informations  indictments  were  framed  at  the  assizes. 

Qonmel  Spring  Assizes,  1764.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  popish  priest  of  Shranrahan, 
Edmund  Burke  of  Tullow,  John  Butler,  innkeeper,  Clogheen,  Edward  Meehan,  Clogheen, 

Indicted,  for  that  they  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  nor  the  duty  of 
their  allegiance,  but  that  being  moved  and  seduced  by  the  instigation  of  the  devil,  and 
departing  from  the  true  affection  and  natural  obedience  of  our  Lord  the  King,  and 
intending,  contriving  and  conspiring  to  disquiet  and  disturb  the  peace  of  our  said  Lord 
the  King,  and  all  his  liege  subjects,  on  the  loth  day  of  February,  in  the  2"**  year  of  the 
King,  and  at  divers  other  times  before  and  after,  at  Clogheen,  falsely,  unlawfully, 
devilishly,  and  traitorously  did  compass,  imagine  and  intend  to  raise  and  levy  open 
war,  insurrection  and  rebellion ;  and  in  order  to  fulfil  and  bring  to  effect  the  treasons 


•  (f)  Dr.  Madden  treats  this  as  an  episode  of  the  persecution  of  Sheehy.  The  truth  is  that  the 
charge  made  by  the  Rosses  is  on  a  plane  quite  different  to  those  subsequently  made  by  Guinan, 
Toohy,  Moll  Dunlay  and  the  rest. 

(g)  Egerton  MS.  77,  British  Museum. 

Z 


370  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  intentions  aforsaid,  afterwards,  to  wit  same  day,  year  and  place,  did  traitorously 
and  seditiously,  assemble  together  with  200  other  unknown  persons,  armed  with  guns, 
pistols  and  other  weapons,  as  well  offensive  as  defensive,  dressed  in  white  apparel, 
begin  and  levy  public  war  against  our  said  Lord  the  King,  against  the  peace  and 
statute. 

Michael  Guynan  £50. 
Bailed  in  Court. 

At  the  summer  assizes  following^  a  true  bill  was  found  against  Father 
Sheehy,  Edward  Meehan,  Nicholas  Lee,  John  Maganjohn  Butler  and  Edmund 
Burke  for  "compassing  rebellion  at  Clogheen  on  the  7th  March  and  6th 
October,  second  year  of  the  King,  and  unlawfully  assembling  in  white 
shirts,  in  arms,  when  they  did  traitorously  prepare,  ordain  and  levy  war 
against  the  King."  Michael  Guynan,  Thomas  Lonergan  and  Mary  Butler 
were  bound  to  appear  as  witnesses. 

At  the  same  assizes  a  further  indictment  was  framed  against  Father 
Sheehy  and  seven  others  which  deserves  to  be  noted  in  connection  with 
subsequent  events. 

That  they  on  the  6th  January  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  King's  reign,  at  Shanbally, 
did  assault  John  Bridge,  against  the  peace,  etc. 

John  Bridge,  whose  name  is  here  met  with  for  the  first  time,  is  thus 
sketched  by  Amyas  Griffith. 

Amongst  some  popr  wretches  who  were  treated  with  for  evidence,  was  a  drivelling, 
begging  idiot.  Though  what  they  call  a  half-fool,  he  was  much  disliked  for  some  little 
thefts  he  had  been  guilty  of.  He  was  a  foundling,  and  took  his  name  from  the  bridge 
on  which  he  had  been  left  exposed.  He  grew  up  a  beggar,  and  I  often  gave  him  a 
charity.  Perhaps  for  want  of  education  his  little  reason  toqk  a  wrong  bent.  However, 
as  he  had  scarce  a  perfect  association  of  two  ideas,  his  evidence  could  not  be  admitted 
in  any  court  of  justice  (h). 

The  theft  of  which  Bridge  was  accused  and  which  earned  for  him  popular 
odium  was  this.  A  few  days  after  Christmas  1763,  the  chalice  belonging  to 
the  chapel  of  Carrigvisteale,  near  Ballyporeen,  was  missing.  It  used  be  kept 
for  security  at  the  public-house  of  a  man  named  Sherlock  adjoining  the 
chapel.  Suspicion  at  first  fell  on  Sherlock  himself,  but  ultimately  settled  on 
Bridge.  Bridge,  it  was  reported,  had  been  seen  at  the  Christmas  midnight 
mass  at  Carrigvisteale.  Now  as  Bridge  was  a  person  rarely  seen  at  Catholic 
worship,  and  was  said  by  some  to  be  a  Protestant  and  by  others  an  informer, 
the  evidence  of  his  connection  with  the  sacrilegious  robbery  appeared  very 


(h)  Griffith's  Tracts,  Dublin,  1788,  p.  243. 


History  of  Clonmel.  371 

strong  (i).  The  "  assault  "  therefore  on  the  holiday  following  Christmas,  for 
which  Father  Sheehy  and  the  others  were  indicted  at  the  summer  assizes, 
was  doubtless  in  connection  with  the  robbery  of  the  chalice. 

From  the  date  of  his  indictment  for  high  treason  at  the  Spring  Assizes  of 
Clonmel,  1764,  Father  Sheehy  found  it  necessary  to  hide  himself.  Yet 
throughout  a  great  part  of  the  year  he  ministered  to  his  people,  and  there  is 
no  evidence  of  any  persistent  attempt  to  capture  him.  The  Whiteboy 
disturbances,  however,  being  renewed,  the  executive  was  appealed  to  and  a 
determined  effort  was  made  to  arrest  him. 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas  Nicholas  Sheehy  Popish  Priest  of  Shanraghan  in  the  County  of  Tipperary 
stands  indicted  at  an  assizes  and  general  gaol  delivery  held  for  the  said  county  the 
twenty  eight  day  of  March  for  High  Treason  and  Rebellion. 

And  whereas  the  said  Nicholas  Sheehy  has  since  absconded,  and  we  have 
received  information  upon  oath  that  he  is  concealed  in  some  part  of  the  kingdom 
and  has  since  been  concerned  in  several  treasonable  practices  to  raise  a  Rebellion 
in  this  kingdom;  We  the  Lords  Justices  and  Council  do  hereby  publish  and 
declare  that  if  any  person  or  persons  do  within  the  space  of  six  calendar  months  from 
the  date  of  this  our  proclamation,  apprehend  the  said  Nicholas  Sheehy  and  lodge  him  in 
any  one  of  his  Majesty's  gaols  in  this  kingdom,  such  person  or  persons,  shall  receive 
as  a  reward  the  sum  of  three  hundred  pounds  sterling ;  and  we  do  hereby  strictly  charge 
and  command  all  Justices  of  the  peace.  Mayors,  Sheriffs,  Bailiffs  and  all  other  his 
Majesty's  loving  subjects  that  they  do  use  their  utmost  endeavours  to  have  the  said 
Nicholas  Sheehy  apprehended. 

Given  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Dublin. 
February  i6,  1765. 

Bowes  C[hancellor]  Kildare,  Westmeath,  Grandison,  Carrick,  Arran,  Phil.  Tisdale, 
John  Gore,  Rich.  Aston,  Edwd.  Willis,  Wm.  Fownes,  Ant  Malone,  A.  Trevor,  Nath. 
Clements,  C.  Gardnier,  Ben.  Burton,  Francis  Andrews,  John  Hely  Hutchinson. 

God  Save  the  King  (j). 

By  this  time  it  was  clear  the  storm  was  not  going  to  blow  over.  Two 
courses  were  now  open  to  Sheehy,  either  of  them  perilous.  He  might  flee 
the  country  and  save  himself.  But  this  would  be  taken  for  an  admission  of 
guilt,  and  would  be  used  with  fatal  effect  against  those  joined  with  him  in 
the  prosecution.  The  other  course  was  to  surrender  and  take  his  trial.  This 
again  would  be  merely  to  deliver  himself  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies ;  for 
he  knew  that  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  the  Tipperary  high  sheriff,  would  impannel 
a  jury  not  to  try  but  to  hang  him.  Accordingly  within  a  fortnight  after  he 
had  heard  of  the  proclamation,  he  formed  a  plan  of  at  once  meeting  his 

(i)  The  truth  is,  Bridge  who  went  about  among  the  farmers  of  the  locality,  was  staying  that 
night  with  William  Cremins,  of  Shanbally,  a  rent-warner  to  Mr.  O'Callaghan.  Bridge  wore  a  large 
white-frieze  overcoat  with  shell  buttons,  which  Cremins  donned  to  go  to  midnight  mass.  In  the 
darkness  Cremins  was  mistaken  for  Bridge.  These  particulars  were  furnished  to  the  writer  when 
investigating  the  Sheehy  case  in  1890,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hickey  of  Lisfuncheon,  maternal  grandson  of 
Cremins. 

(j)  Proclamations,  P.  R.  O. 


S72  History  of  Clonmel. 

accusers  and  vindicating  his  character  with  safety  to  himself  and  the  others 
concerned.  This  was  to  stipulate  for  a  trial  in  Dublin  as  the  condition  of 
giving  himself  up.  He  wrote  therefore  to  Waite,  the  Irish  Secretary  of  the 
day,  that  he  only  wanted  justice  and  "would  save  the  Government  the 
reward  offered  for  taking  him,  by  surrendering  himself  out  of  hand  to  be  tried 
for  any  crime  he  was  accused  of,  not  at  Clonmel  (where  he  feared  the  power 
and  malice  of  his  enemies  were  too  prevalent  for  justice),  but  in  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench  in  Dublin  "  (k).    The  following  is  the  Secretary's  reply : — 

March  5th,  1765. 
Sir,— Yesterday  I  received  your  letter  from  Ballyporeen,  with  the  two  papers 
enclosed  therein,  and  having  laid  the  same  before  the  Lords  Justices,  their  Excellencies 
have  commanded  me  to  acquaint  you,  that  if  you  surrender  yourself  to  Mr.  O'Callaghan, 
you  may  depend  on  his  receiving  and  treating  you  with  all  civility,  and  that  you  will 
by  him  be  transmitted  in  the  most  private  manner  to  Dublin,  with  the  utmost  security 
and  safety  to  your  person.  I  write  to  him  for  that  purpose  this  night,  by  order  of  the 
Lords  Justices,  and  you  may  be  assured  that  upon  your  arrival  here,  you  will  meet  not 
only  with  the  justice  you  desire,  but  with  such  further  regard  as  your  candid  behaviour 
may  deserve  (I). 

Sheehy,  on  receipt  of  the  letter,  waited  on  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  of 
Shanbally,  in  accordance  with  Waite's  instructions.  O'Callaghan,  whose 
father  and  grandfather  were  Catholics,  sympathising  with  the  unhappy  priest, 
offered  him  a  hundred  guineas,  and  told  him  to  make  his  way  out  of  the  country 
at  once.  O'Callaghan  knew  the  feeling  of  the  Tipperary  gentlemen,  and  that 
the  secretary's  letter  would  not  protect  him  from  their  vengeance  (m).  The 
head-strong  priest  conscious  of  his  innocence,  declined  the  offer,  and  an 
escort  of  the  light-horse  was  provided  by  the  friendly  magistrate.  The 
Dublin  Gazette  of  l6th  March,  1765,  states  : — "About  8  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
night,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  a  popish  priest,  charged  with  being  concerned  in 
several  treasonable  practices  to  raise  a  rebellion  in  this  kingdom,  for  the 
apprehending  of  whom  Grovernment  offered  a  reward  of  £300,  was  brought 
to  town  guarded  by  a  party  of  light  horse  and  lodged  by  the  Provost  in  the 
Lower  Castle  Yard." 

Whilst  in  Dublin,  Father  Sheehy  was  under  the  charge  of  Joseph  Sirr, 
Town-Major.  It  would  appear  that  he  underwent  an  examination  by  the 
members  of  the  Privy  Council,  for  he  certainly  made  the  acquaintance, 


(k)  Sheehy's  letter  is  not  now  forthcoming,  but  the  above  paragraph  is  given  by  Curry,  a 
contemporary,  in  commas  as  if  a  copy  were  before  him. — Civil  Wars,  p.  569. 

(I)  Book  of  Entries  Civil  Petitions. — Lecky's  History  II.,  p.  42. 

(m)  Cornelius  O'Callaghan  was  created  subsequently  first  Baron  Lismore.  His  grandson, 
Cornelius,  third  and  last  Viscount  Lismore,  who  died  1898,  aged  89  years,  is  the  authority  for  above 
statement. 


History  of  Clonmel.  373 

during  his  stay  there,  of  Lord  Chancellor  Bowes,  Secretary  Waite,  John 
Ponsonby,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  some  of  the  judges. 
There  was  however  no  appearance  on  the  part  of  the  prosecutors.  Having 
now  got  him  in  their  power,  he  might  clamour  for  justice  as  he  liked.  Their 
proceedings  are  illustrated  by  the  following  :— 

The  King  \  ^^  ^^®  R'  Honble  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  and  the  Honble 

I        the  justices  of  His  Maties  Court  of  King's  Bench  in 
^  I        Ireland. 

Nicholas  Sheehy.  ;  The  Humble  Petition  of  Nicholas  Sheehy  Sheweth 

That  Petitioner  finding  that  a  Proclamation  issued  against  him  in  February  last 
by  the  Lords  Justices  and  Council  of  Ireland  offering  a  reward  of  three  hundred  Pounds 
for  apprehending  him,  he  on  receiving  intelligence  thereof  wrote  to  M"*  Secretary  Waite 
that  he  was  ready  to  surrender  himself  at  the  Castle  of  Dublin  to  answer  any  charge 
made  against  him,  and  therein  mentioned  that  he  there  hoped  to  have  Justice  impartially 
administered  to  him  which  was  more  than  he  could  expect  in  the  County  Tipperary, 
and  Petitioner  shortly  after  in  answer  thereto  reced  a  Letter  from  said  M*"  Waite 
wherein  he  tells  him  by  command  of  their  Excellencys,  that  if  Petitioner  would 
surrender  himself  to  M*"  O'Callaghan  in  the  said  County  who  would  have  him 
transmitted  to  Dublin  with  the  utmost  safety  to  his  Person,  that  Petitioner  should  on 
his  arrival  there  not  only  meet  with  the  Justice  he  required,  but  with  such  further 
Regard  as  his  candid  behaviour  might  deserve  as  by  said  Letter  may  appear. 

That  Pet*"  immediately  or  very  shortly  after  receiving  said  Waite's  Letter  freely 
and  voluntarily,  surrendered  himself  to  said  M*"  O'Callaghan  and  was  by  him  transmitted 
to  Dublin  where  he  continued  in  close  confinement  in  the  Provost  Martial  and  other 
goals  from  the  13***  day  of  March  to  the  l8'*»  day  of  July  subsequent  without  any 
Commital  having  appeared  against  Petitioner  during  his  confinement  in  said  Martial. 

That  Pet*"  during  such  his  confinement  caused  several  Memorials  to  be  preferred 
to  their  Excellencys  praying  a  Tryall  and  redress  in  consequence  whereof  Pef  on  the 
22*' June  last  received  a  message  from  their  Excellencys  by  M'  Morison  Solicitor  for  the 
Crown  Granting  Pef  leave  to  apply  to  the  Courts  for  redress,  and  accordingly  Pef  on 
the  25***  of  June  aforesaid  applyed  by  Councill  for  a  Habeas  Corpus  to  remove  Pef  in 
virtue  whereof  Pef  was  on  the  26'*'  of  said  month  brought  up  to  the  Barr  of  this  Honble 
Court  and  on  Hearing  Council  for  the  Crown  and  Pef  your  Lordshipps  were  pleased  to 
order  that  a  Certiorari  should  issue  to  remove  the  several  Indictments  against  s**  Pef  in 
s<*  County  and  that  he  should  be  tried  at  the  Barr  of  s**  Court  on  the  25***  of  November 
ensuing,  and  in  the  meantime  be  admitted  to  Bail  on  his  entering  into  a  Recognizance 
of  £4000  and  his  Security  in  the  like  sum  conditioned  that  Pef  should  appear  this 
present  Michas  Term  at  the  Barr  of  s**  Court  to  take  his  trial. 

That  Pef  was  so  much  distressed  to  find  Bail  in  the  City  of  Dublin  equal  to 
the  said  sum  of  £4000  that  he  was  under  a  necessity  of  sending  to  a  gentleman  in  the 
County  of  Tipperary  to  become  one  of  his  Bail,  who  accordingly  came  and  was  the 
principal  person  that  procured  Petitioner  his  Liberty. 

That  Pef  caused  different  applications  to  be  made  to  have  Pet"  Prosecutors  taken 
into  custody  untill  they  gave  sufficient  Security  to  prosecute  Pef  at  the  time  and  place 
aforesaid  and  Pef  in  obedience  to  the  said  order  of  the  26**»  day  of  June  last  arrived  in 
Dublin  on  the  7**»  Instant  and  on  the  Monday  following  gave  notice  to  M*"  Morrson  of 
Pet"  intention  to  surrender  himself  on  that  day  to  abide  his  Tryal  as  aforesaid  But 
Pef  sheweth  that  said  Morrison  prevented  Pef  from  surrendering  himself  alledging 
that  he  apprehended  there  woud  be  no  prosecution  against  Pef  and  that  it  would  be 
time  enough  to  appear  on  Monday  the  18^**  Instant. 

That  Pef  had  no  intention  to  give  even  the  least  delay  to  the  taking  of  his  Trial, 
he  being  ready  and  willing  to  abide  by  the  said  order  of  the  26'**  of  June,  and  Pef  having 
some  Material  Witnesses  in  Town  to  appear  in  Pet"  Favour  by  whose  Death  or  any 
other  accident  Pef  will  be  deprived  of  their  Testimony  and  Pef  will  on  the  account 


374  History  of  Clonmel. 

aforesaid  and  the  great  expence  and  losses  he  has  sustained  be  rendered  unable  to  Fee 
Councill  or  bring  up  the  Material  Witnesses  for  Pef  on  said  Trial  in  any  Ensuing 
Term. 

May  it  therefore  Please  your  Lordships  to  order  that  Pet'  may  be  tryed  at  the  Barr 
of  this  Honble  Court  pursuant  to  the  said  Rule  of  the  26^**  of  June  and  the  rather 
as  the  High  Sherriff  and  numbers  of  the  Freeholders  of  said  County  are  now  in  said 
City,  and  that  the  Proper  Requisites  may  be  prepared  for  that  Purpose  or  otherwise  do 
in  the  Premes  for  Pet"  Relief  as  to  your  Lordships  in  your  great  Wisdom  and  Charity 
shall  seem  meet  and  Pef  will  Pray. 

The  above  named  Pef  maketh  oath  that  he  hath  read  the  above  Petition,  and  the 
contents  thereof  are  true  to  the  best  of  Dep**  knowledge  recollection  hearsay  and  belief. 

Sworn  in  the  Court  this  25***  day  of  November  1765. 
Nich»  Sheehy  (nj,  Hamilton. 

Though  the  year  passed  away  without  any  indication  on  the  part 
of  the  prosecution  of  his  being  brought  to  trial,  the  champions  of  "the 
Protestant  interest"  in  Tipperary  were  not  idle.  The  manufacture  of 
evidence  against  him  was  busily  carried  on.  Michael  Guinan  who  had 
incurred  popular  antipathy  by  his  turning  over  to  Protestantism,  was  prepared 
to  swear  that  Father  Sheehy  with  others  had  appeared  in  arms  against  the 
king  at  Clogheen  and  Dromlemmon  in  March,  1762.  Mary  Butler,  an 
abandoned  woman,  would  prove  a  similar  offence  in  October,  1763. 
John  Bridge  would  give  evidence  of  an  assault  committed  upon  him 
by  the  priest  and  several  others  in  the  beginning  of  1764.  But  where  was 
Bridge  ?  He  had  disappeared.  For  months  past  no  one  had  seen  him — spirited 
away,  murdered  perhaps,  by  the  Whiteboys.  The  plot  was  thickening,  and 
the  efforts  of  Hewetson,  Bagnell,  Maude  and  Bagwell  were  redoubled.  Bridge 
was  to  have  presented  himself  at  the  Clonmel  assizes,  March  1765,  to  give 
evidence  against  Denis  Brien  of  Ballyporeen,  but  all  attempts  to  discover  him 
were  in  vain.  The  worst  was  now  feared,  and  accordingly  the  High  Sheriff, 
Sir  Thomas  Maude,  and  the  Grand  Jury  published  an  advertisement. 

That  whereas  the  said  John  Bridge  is  missing  since  October  past,  and  is  supposed 
to  be  murthered,  we  do  hereby  promise  a  reward  of  50//  to  any  person  or  persons  who 
shall  discover,  within  twelve  calendar  months,  any  person  or  persons  concerned  in  said 
act. 

Though  no  information  was  forthcoming,  it  became  increasingly  evident 
to  the  Tipperary  magistracy  that  Bridge  was  murdered.  They  were  satisfied 
too  that  the  priest  was  connected  with  the  murder,  but  their  difficulty  was  to 
bring  it  home  to  him.  For  months  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people  were 
questioned  in  vain,  but  this  was  only  an  additional  proof  of  the  dangerous 
character  of  the  Whiteboy  conspiracy,  as  of  the  almost  demoniacal  influence 
exercised  over  the  people  by  the  priest  Sheehy.  At  length  the  energetic 
Hewetson  lifted  the  veil.    On  20th  September  a  man  named  John  Toohy  was 

fn)  Affidavits  King*s  Bench,  Crown  Office,  P.R.O. 


History  of  Clonmel.  375 

committed  to  Kilkenny  gaol  for  stealing  a  horse.  In  due  course  being  visited 
by  Hewetson,  he  expressed  his  readiness  to  make  discoveries  as  to  the 
Whiteboy  movements,  and  in  particular  the  murder  of  Bridge. '  Lord  Carrick 
was  now  introduced  on  the  scene,  and  Toohy's  disclosures,  in  connection  with 
the  evidence  previously  obtained,  were  regarded  by  his  lordship  as  forming 
an  overwhelming  case  of  high  treason  against  the  priest 

Accordingly  on  lOth  February,  1766,  eleven  months  after  Father  Sheehy 
had  been  brought  to  Dublin,  he  was  put  forward  for  trial  at  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench.  The  judges  were  the  Right  Hon.  John  Gore,  Chief  Justice,  Christopher 
Robinson,  Second  Justice,  and  William  Scott,  Third  Justice.  The  counts  in 
the  indictment  were  that  Nicholas  Sheehy  had  acted  as  a  leader  in  a 
treasonable  conspiracy,  had  exercised  men  under  arms,  had  sworn  them  to 
allegiance  to  the  King  of  France,  and  had  incited  them  to  rebellion.  The  trial 
lasted  eleven  hours;  the  witnesses  completely  broke  down  and  Toohy's 
evidence  was  discredited.  A  verdict  of  acquittal  on  all  counts  was  given  by 
the  jury. 

The  result,  however,  was  not  quite  unforeseen  by  Sheehy's  enemies,  for 
immediately  on  the  declaration  of  the  jury,  a  motion  was  made  by  the 
prosecution  for  his  committal  on  the  charge  of  coixiphlicity  in  the  murder  of 
John  Bridge.  The  motion  was  granted,  and  the  unhappy  priest  was  committed 
to  Newgate  prison  preliminary  to  his  being  sent  back  to  Clonmel  to  be  tried 
there  for  murder.  The  faith  of  government  with  him  was  now  broken.  He 
had  surrendered  on  condition  of  a  fair  trial  in  Dublin,  and  despite  the  promise 
of  the  Lord  Justices  holding  the  royal  commission,  he  was  now  to  be  delivered 
up  to  men  who,  mad  with  religious  and  political  fanaticism,  thirsted  for  his 
blood.  "He  was  satisfied,"  wrote  a  contemporary,  "to  stand  a  trial  any- 
where but  in  Clonmel,  for  he  well  knew  the  influence  that  would  be  exerted 
against  him.  However,  thither  he  was  transmitted  contrary  to  the  faith  of 
the  secretary.  He  entered  the  town  surrounded  by  his  enemies  and  their 
tenantry  in  arms.  He  was  now  at  their  mercy,  and  he  conducted  himself 
with  fortitude  and  composure.  To  expose  his  person  they  made  him  travel 
on  horseback,  with  his  arms  pinioned,  and  his  feet  chained  under  the  horse's 
belly.  In  jail,  he  was  double  bolted  and  treated  in  every  respect  with 
rigour  "  (0). 

From  the  date  when  Father  Sheehy  was  lodged  in  Clonmel  gaol,  until 
the  Spring  Assizes  three  weeks  later,  a  great  military  force  overawed  the 
town.  It  was  given  out  that  he  intended  to  escape  and  had  actually  undone 
the  bolts.      Patrols  of  soldiers  were  seen  in  all  directions.      Strangers  were 

(0)  Griffith's  Tracts,  p.  245. 


376  History  of  Clonmel. 

narrowly  scrutinised  Any  exhibition  of  sympathy  with  the  wretched  man 
was  regarded  as  treason,  and  the  few  friends  who  interested  themselves  in 
his  behalf  risk'ed  their  own  lives  (p). 

The  assizes  opened  Thursday,  13th  March ;  two  contemporaries  have  left 
a  description  of  the  scene.  "  When  the  day  of  trial  arrived,"  writes  Griffith, 
"  the  town  was  as  it  were  under  martial  law.  Every  avenue  was  guarded 
with  Drogheda's  light  horse,  and  to  get  in  or  out  was  attended  with  difficulty 
and  danger."  Curry's  account  is :  "  On  the  day  of  the  trial  a  party  of  horse 
surrounded  the  court,  admitting  and  excluding  whom  they  thought  proper ; 
while  others  of  them  with  a  certain  Baronet  [Sir  Thomas  Maude]  at  their  head, 
scampered  the  streets  in  a  formidable  manner ;  forcing  into  inns  and  private 
lodgings  in  the  town ;  challenging  and  questioning  all  new  comers ;  menacing 
his  friends  and  encouraging  his  enemies.  Even  after  sentence  of  death  was 
pronounced  against  him,  which  one  would  think  might  have  fully  satisfied 
his  enemies,  Mr.  Sparrow  his  attorney,  declares,  that  he  found  it  necessary 
for  his  safety  to  steal  out  of  the  town  by  night,  and  with  all  possible  speed 
to  escape  to  Dublin  "  (q). 

Thus  amid  every  circumstance  of  terrorism.  Father  Sheehy  was  marched 
through  Lough  Street  to  the  court  house,  the  present  Main  Guard  (r),  there  to 
meet  the  charge  of  murder,  his  life  being  the  forfeit.  For  two  years  Messrs. 
Hewetson,  Bagnell,  Maude  and  Bagwell,  the  self-styled  maintainers  of  "  the 
Protestant  Interest,"  had  been  interviewing  gaol-birds,  taking  informations 
and  putting  together  a  case  against  the  man  whom  they  regarded  as  the 
leader  of  a  Popish  conspiracy.  And  though  a  month  before,  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench  and  a  Dublin  jury  had  utterly  discredited  their  evidence,  they 
were  now  convinced  they  had  an  overwhelming  case  against  him.  What 
was  the  new  testimony,  untainted  and  unimpeachable,  which  was  being 
brought  forward?  A  contemporary  has  sketched  the  witnesses,  and  the 
fidelity  of  the  sketch  we  know  from  other  sources. 

I  shall  begin  with  the  principal,  John  Toohy,  who  had  been  double  bolted  in  the 
jail  of  Kilkenny  for  horse  stealing  at>out  a  month,  when  on  hearing  of  the  reward  for 
good  swearers,  and  having  little  hopes  of  life,  as  there  were  home  proofs  against  him, 
he  said  he  knew  a  great  deal  relative  to  Sheehy.  This  soon  reached  the  ears  of  Mr. 
Bagwell,  Sir  Thomas  Maude  ^nd  Lord  Carrick  who  visited  him.  He  was  sent  to  Dublin 
to  prosecute  Mr.  Sheehy,  and  from  there  to  Clonmel  where  he  was  confined  for  a  short 

(P)  "  The  military  were  obliged  to  attend  in  order  to  preserve  the  peace  and  strengthen  the 
hands  of  justice.  The  prisoners  Sheehy  and  Meehan  intended  an  escape  as  it  was  discovered  they 
had  disengaged  themselves  from  their  irons;  on  this  the  guards  were  reinforced  and  patrols 
appointed.  The  tro<ips  for  their  discipline  and  attention  to  the  public  service  were  particularly 
complimented  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  county.** — Exshaw's  Magazine, 

(q)  Candid  Enquiry,  p.  10. 

(r)  The  criminal  court  in  which  Father  Sheehy  was  tried,  stood  to  the  rere  of  the  present 
building,  and  was  only  taken  down  in  18 10. 


History  of  Clonmel.  377 

time,  and  then  suffered  to  walk  about  the  streets,  with  a  lock  on  one  of  his  legs.  In  a 
few  days  after,  this  lock  was  taken  off  and  he  got  an  elegant  suit  of  new  cloathes  from 
head  to  foot,  which  were  bought  for  him  at  a  Mr.  George  Lloyds  in  West  Street  [West 
Gate  Street]  I  remember  the  coat  was  a  superfine  blue  cloth  and  the  waist  coat  and 
breeches  black  silk.  His  company  was  sought  after  and  his  lesson  often  repeated.  In 
short  he  was  for  some  time  before  the  trial  as  much  venerated  as  Mr.  Titus  Oates  was. 
In  the  course  of  the  trial  he  was  asked  who  gave  him  the  new  cloathes  ?  He  answered 
his  uncle,  who  being  in  court  was  examined  and  denied  it.  I  must  do  justice  to  his 
employers,  to  say  they  religiously  kept  their  word  with  him,  for  he  was  never  brought 
to  trial  for  the  horses  he  had  stolen  in  the  county  Kilkenny,  but  suffered  to  go  when  he 
pleased  after  he  performed  the  dirty  work.  He  survived  Mr.  Sheehy  but  a  few  years, 
and  died  of  a  leprosy  which  spread  all  over  his  body.  Before  he  was  afflicted  with  this 
disorder,  his  good  friends  had  the  mortification  to  hear  a  judge  on  the  bench  (Mr. 
Prime  Serjeant)  pronounce  him  perjured  and  desire  the  jury  to  give  no  credit  to  his 
evidence.  In  consequence  of  this  laudable  conduct  of  the  judge,  Roger  Sheehy,  who 
stood  indicted  for  high  treason  was  acquitted  (s). 

The  next  to  be  mentioned  in  order  was  a  common  prostitute,  Mary  Dunlea,  alias 
Brady,  a  woman  of  a  most  infamous  character.  She  was  kept  in  the  barracks  of 
Qonmel  for  some  time  previous  to  the  trial;  where  she  was  well  attended.  She 
got  elegant  cloaths  and  her  table  was  furnished  from  the  first  tavern  in  the  town — the 
Spread  Eagle,  kept  at  that  time  by  the  Widow  Corbett  While  in  the  barracks  one  of 
the  light  horse  men  of  the  name  of  Brady,  took  up  with  her.  It  was  said  they 
were  married;  at  least  she  went  by  his  name.  After  the  trial  she  took  up  with  Toohy, 
but  the  vengeance  of  God  pursued  her  for  the  perjuries  she  had  been  guilty  of,  and  she 
actually  died  in  a  ditch  near  Kilkenny  (t). 

The  third  evidence  was  a  boy  who  went  by  the  name  of  Lonergan;  however 
I  believe  his  real  name  was  Guynan,  as  he  was  reputed  to  be  the  natural  son,  (by  those 
who  knew  him  in  Clogheen)  of  a  poor  man  of  the  name,  who  lived  there.  This  young 
vagabond,  from  the  first  opening  of  his  intellects  seemed  to  be  bom  for  the  gallows. 
He  was  a  fit  person  therefore  for  the  present  occasion.  He  was  kept  in  the  barracks 
with  Mary  Dunlea,  and  was  genteely  dressed  up,  preparatory  to  the  trial.  In  some 
time  after  the  trial  this  abandoned  wretch  came  to  Dublin.  He  took  up  his  quarters  in 
a  cellar  in  Barrack  Street  where  the  arm  of  the  Lord  smote  him  and  he  was  a  mass  of 
ulcers  from  the  top  of  his  head  to  the  souls  of  his  feet.  Mr.  Terence  M'Mahon 
of  Aungier  street,  apothecary,  was  employed  to  attend  him.  This  gentleman  has  often 
declared  he  never  visited  such  a  miserable  object  in  his  life.  He  covered  his  body  with 
plasters,  to  no  purpose;  the  wretch  died,  and  Mr.  M'Mahon  received  for  his  trouble 
(I  won't  say  from  whom)  twenty  guineas  (uj. 

Toohy,  the  principal  witness,  had  broken  down  at  the  trial  in  the  King's 
Bench.  To  sustain  the  tottering  testimony,  a  new  witness  who  had  not 
appeared  in  Dublin,  was  brought  forward.  This  was  "Mrs.  Mary  Brady" 
popularly  known   as  Moll  Dunlea.    Toohy,   the  priest  had  seen  for  the 

(sj  Clonmel  Assizes,  August,  1767.  In  the  Tipperary  Crown  Books  for  Ihis  year  arc  informations 
by  Toohy  for  assaults  committed  on  him  29th  May  by  John  Hogan  of  Clonmel,  Cabinet-maker,  also  on 
15th  August  by  John  and  Edmund  Cody  of  Orchardstown,  at  Rathronan,  when  they  beat  and  wounded 
him  "  through  means  of  which  he  lies  in  eminent  danger  of  life,  they  having  then  and  there  declared 
that  if  they  had  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  John  Bagwell  Esq.,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hewetson  they  would 
serve  them  in  the  same  manner." 

ft)  Madden  recording  the  Clogheen  traditions,  states  she  was  denounced  from  the  altar  by 
Father  Sheehy.  At  the  Clonmel  Assizes,  August  1766,  a  true  bill  was  found  against  James  Kearney 
and  Terence  Begley  for  "  dissuading  M.  Brady  for  giving  evidence  "  also  against  a  Mary  Dunlea  "  for 
unlawfully  reviling  said  M.  Brady,  for  giving  evidence  against  Nicholas  Sheehy."  Madden  further 
states  that  she  lived  for  many  years  subsequent,  and  that  she  ended  by  falling  into  a  cellar  in  Cork. 

(u)  Madden  states  that  after  the  trial  he  enlisted  under  the  name  of  Ryan,  and  subsequently  went 
to  Dublin. 


378  History  of  Clonmel. 

first  time  in  Dublin,  but  the  woman  he  was  familiar  with.  She  was  a 
parishioner;  she  had  lived  in  sin  with  a  man  named  Michael  Kearney  in 
Clogheen  ;  her  character  was  infamous ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  his  duty,  he 
had  denounced  her.  As  he  listened  to  the  tale  she  unfolded  in  court,  the 
scriptural  warning  of  the  adder's  tongue,  must  have  come  to  him  with  force 
and  bitterness. 

But  the  witnesses  had  to  meet  a  friendly  jury,  who  considered  their 
previous  character  only  as  dust  in  the  balance.  There  were  some  landlords, 
some  graziers,  a  few  Clonmel  shopkeepers /"t^^  a  military  man,  and  an 
attorney,  all  unrelenting  foes  of  Popish  aggression,  and  staunch  upholders  of 
"our  happy  constitution  in  Church  and  State." 

It  is  regrettable  that  there  is  no  impartial  report  of  the  proceedings  at 
Sheehy's  trial.  In  Exshau/s  Magazine  for  May  and  June,  1766,  the  "  Monthly 
Chronologer  for  Ireland  "  supplies  two  long  accounts.  Both  were  written  by 
the  prosecuting  parties  obviously  to  poison  the  public  mind  against  Sheehy 
and  his  fellows.  As  the  first  account  was  not  deemed  sufficient  to  allay 
all  uneasiness  about  these  awful  transactions,  a  longer  and  professedly  exact 
precis  of  the  evidence  by  "  a  gentleman  of  worth  and  probity,  one  of  the 
jury,"  was  printed  the  following  month.  The  trustworthiness  of  the  accounts 
may  be  judged  trom  the  following  comparison  : — 

June,  1766.  May,  1766. 

[John    Toohy,    sworn.]     Saw    many  The  witness  swore  positively.    .    ,    . 

people  in  the  field,  to  wit,  Edward  Meighan,     When  Bridge  came  to  the  place  where  the 

Nicholas  Sheehy and  many     Whitel)oys  were  assembled  they  expostula- 

others  drawn  up  in  a  rank  as  if  to  be  ted  with  him  on  the  subject  of  gfving  in 
reckoned.  John  Bridge  and  company  and  swearing  examinations  or  informations 
went  towards  the  people  and  joined  them,  against  many  of  them,  and  urged  him  to 
Nicholas  .^eehy  tendered  an  oath  to  John  retract  or  contradict  what  he  had  already 
Bridge  to  deny  his  examinations;  who  sworn,  but  the  deceased  resolutely  told 
refused  to  take  it ;  on  this  refusal  Pierce  them  that  he  would  stick  to  what  he  had 
Bym  struck  at  him  with  a  slane,  which  he  already  sworn ;  which  answer  irritated 
defended  with  his  left  hand ;  then  the  them  so  much  that  one  person  with  a  slane 
prisoner  drew  a  bill-hook  from  under  a  made  a  stroke  at  the  deceased's  head, 
belt,  and  struck  Bridge  on  the  head,  which  which  he  warded  off  with  his  arm.  Where- 
to his  recollection  clove  the  skull ;  Bridge  upon  Meehan  who  was  hanged  with  the 
fell  down  instantly.  priest  came  behind  the  deceased  and  with 

a  bill-hook  gave  him  but  one  stroke  and 
cleft  his  skull  in  such  a  manner  that  he 
dropped  dead  or  as  the  witness  say  did  not 
bring  life  with  him  to  the  ground.  The 
priest  was  not  present,  or  did  not  see  this 
transaction  but  was  in  the  company,  and 
immediately  came  up  and  approved  of 
what  was  done  that  every  informer,  and  an 
informer  to  [against]  the  French  King 
ought  to  be  served  so. 

fv)  Dumviile  was  a  tallow  chandler,  and  Ferris  a  draper,  both  resident  in  the  Main  Street. 


History  of  Clonmel.  37© 

[John  Lonergan  sworn]  was  discovered  The  priest  then  enquired  who  he  was  ? 

in  the  trench  by  Thomas  Magrath,  and  and  where  he  was  going  or  had  been  ?  in 

taken  out  and  asked  his  business ;  they  which  he  satisfied  him.     Whereupon  the 

then  put  him  behind  Nicholas  Sheehy ;  he  priest  got  the  boy  mounted  and  carried 

saw  them  carry  a  corpse  rolled  up  in  a  him  to  the  turn  of  another  road  at  some 

caddow ;  saw  the  head  bloody  on  the  side  of  distance  and  bid  him  go  home  and  gave 

the  horse  next  to  him ;  was  not  carried  far  him  three  half-crowns  desiring  him  at  the 

before  he  was  put  from  behind  Sheehy :  same  time  not  to  tell  anybody  of  what  he 

knew  John    Bridge   but   did    not    know  saw.     During  the  t>oy's  riding  behind  the 

whether  he  was  the  corpse. priest,  he  saw  the  corpse  with  its  head  out 

Heard  that  Bridge  was  killed  on  same  of  the  caddow  and  although  the  head  was 

night,  very  soon  after.  almost  split  in  two  and  all  bloody,  he 

knew  it  to  be  that  of  the  deceased  John 

Bridge  (w). 

There  are  about  a  dozen  similar  traces  of  "  cooking  "  in  the  two  reports. 
Hence  the  following  extracts  from  the  June  report  are  to  be  read  with  the 
greatest  caution.  The  witnesses  deal  with  the  case  of  Edmund  Meehan 
accused  of  the  murder,  but  the  same  evidence  was  brought  forward  in  the 
subsequent  case  of  Father  Sheehy  charged  with  being  present  at  and  aiding 
and  abetting  Meehan. 

John  Toohy,  Sworn. 

Knows  the  prisoner ;  knew  John  Bridge ;  he  is  dead ;  was  killed  by  Edward  Meighan, 
by  a  stroke  of  a  bill-hook  on  the  head  at  Shanbally  and  died  instantly. 

Went  to  English's  house  at  Shanbally  with  Pierce  Bym,  James  Buxton,  James 
Farrell,  Silvester  Herd,  Darby  Tiemey ;  knew  not  for  what  purpose ;  saw  John  Walsh, 
Dennis  Q>leman,  Peter  Magrath  and  John  Bridge  playing  cards  at  English's  house. 
Went  a  small  way  out  of  the  house  on  James  Farrell's  call  into  a  field ;  saw  many 
people  in  the  field  to  wit,  Edward  Meighan,  the  prisoner,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  Edward 
Prendergast,  Thomas  Beere,  John  Burke,  Edward  Burke,  Thomas  Magrath,  Hugh 
Hayes,  Roger  Sheehy,  Dennis  Coleman,  William  Flynn,  Edmund  Sheehy,  Edward 
Qjffee,  James  Coghlan,  John  Walsh,  Philip  Magrath,  Thomas  Harman,  John  Butler, 
and  many  others  drawn  up  in  a  rank  as  if  to  be  reckoned.  John  Bridge  and  company 
went  towards  the  people,  and  joined  them.  Nicholas  Sheehy  tendered  an  oath  to  John 
Bridge  to  deny  his  examinations,  who  refused  to  take  it ;  on  this  refusal  Pierce  Bym 


(wj  This  identification  being  palpable  perjury,  the  correction  was  inserted  the  following  month. 
*'  As  I  have  read  in  your  Magazine  for  March  the  only  circumstantial  account  of  our  proceedings  at 
the  assizes  which  in  time  may  be  consulted  as  authentic,  I  beg  leave  to  point  out  one  particular  of 
this  case  which  if  not  corrected  may  prejudice  the  whole  narrative.  It  is  said  that  John  Lonergan 
riding  behind  the  priest  saw  the  corpse  with  its  head  out  of  the  caddow,  and  although  the  head  was 
almost  split  and  all  bloody  he  knew  it  to  be  that  of  the  deceased  John  Bridge.  Now  as  this 
transaction  was  in  the  night  between  the  hours  of  eleven  and  twelve,  it  must  be  concluded  there  was 
not  sufficient  light  to  give  a  person  even  on  foot  an  opportunity  to  make  this  distinction,  therefore 
to  prevent  this  apparent  mistake  from  destroying  the  credibility  of  the  relation  which  in  every  other 
particular  is  consonant  to  truth,  I  have  sent  you  a  more  circumstantial  account  taken  from  notes 

penned  in  the  court,  not  dependant  on  memory [John  Lonergan]  on  his  way 

between  the  hours  of  ten  and  twelve  at  night,  heard  the  noise  of  a  number  of  people 

when  they  came  to  a  turn  of  the  road,  the  priest  let  him  down  directing  him  the  shortest  way  home 

and  gave  him  three  half-crowns he  understood  from  the  conversation  of  the  people 

that  the  dead  l)ody  was  that  of  John  Bridge."     This  corrected  version  may  now  be  compared  with 
the  June  "  verbatim  '*  report.    Abysstts  ahyssum  invocat. 


380  History  of  Clonmel. 

struck  at  him  with  a  slane,  which  he  defended  with  his  left  hand ;  then  the  prisoner 
drew  a  bill-hook  from  under  a  belt,  and  struck  Bridge  on  the  head,  which  to  his 
recollection  clove  the  skull ;  Bridge  fell  down  dead  instantly. 

The  same  persons  in  at>out  half  an  hour,  got  a  blanket  and  carried  the  corpse  to  a 
field  belonging  to  Connor's  son,  or  Ross,  at  Ballybuskin,  and  buried  him  in  a  ploughed 
field,  about  two  miles  from  the  place  of  committing  the  murder. 

Ah  oath  was  then  tendered  by  Nicholas  Sheehy  to  all  present,  not  to  disclose  what 
had  passed  that  night,  and  to  be  true  to  the  King  of  France,  and  Shaun  Meskill  and 
children  which  most  or  all  of  them  did.  The  prisoner  took  the  oath :  all  approved  of  what 
happened ;  that  as  John  Bridge  was  out  of  the  way,  Michael  Guinan's  testimony  could 
not  take  effect.  The  field  is  called  the  Barn-field ;  knows  not  what  was  done  with  the 
body  since ;  heard  the  prisoner  say  that  the  corpse  was  taken  up  and  removed ;  knows 
of  a  letter  brought  to  James  Buxton  by  John  Dogherty.  which  was  wrote  by  Nicholas 
Sheehy.  At  the  time  of  burying  the  corpse  in  the  field  a  little  boy  was  found  hiding  in 
the  ditch  and  put  up  behind  Nicholas  Sheehy.  The  boy's  name  John  Lonnergan ; 
believes  he  could  not  see  him  killed  or  where  he  was  buried,  but  could  see  the  people 
carrying  the  body. 

Cross-examined. — Came  from  Killcrow  ;  has  been  in  gaol  for  at>out  four  months ; 
was  sent  to  gaol  the  20th  of  September ;  first  gave  examinations  against  prisoner  about 
a  month  after  committal;  was  committed  for  horse-stealing;  believes  the  28th  of 
October,  1764,  was  Tuesday,  but  cannot  recollect;  knowsnotof  any  rewards  to  be  given 
by  Government ;  remembers  Clogheen  fair  in  October,  1764,  but  not  the  day ;  Bridge 
was  killed  about  10  or  1 1  at  night ;  knows  not  whether  before  or  after  the  fair  of 
Clogheen ;  lived  for  a  week  before  the  murder  with  James  Buxton,  and  returned  to  the 
same  place ;  lived  with  James  Buxton  for  three  years  before  and  after ;  was  employed 
to  carry  messages  and  letters  too  and  from  the  Whiteboys ;  knows  not  whether  the 
house  belongs  to  English  but  it  was  named  for  his ;  never  was  there  after  the  murder ; 
believes  there  were  above  an  hundred  persons  present  when  the  murder  was  committed ; 
says  the  several  people  already  named  were  present ;  there  is  a  dwelling  house  in  the 
field  where  Bridge  was  buried ;  in  his  evidence  in  Dublin  he  said  the  house  was  within 
a  musket  shot  of  the  place  of  burial ;  knew  the  prisoners  by  seeing  them  at  several 
meetings  of  the  WhitelJoys ;  gave  in  examinations  against  the  Whiteboys,  in  about  a 
month  after  committal,  and  after  the  murder,  a  short  time  before  he  went  to  Dublin. 

John  Lonnergan,  Sworn, 

Knows  the  prisoner ;  saw  him  in  October,  1764  between  Mr.  Callaghan's  and  Father 
Sheehy's;  saw  several  in  company  with  prisoner;  to  wit,  Thomas  Magrath,  John 
Butler,  Nicholas  Sheehy  and  many  others,  in  the  high  road  to  Shanbally ;  when  he  first 
saw  them  he  slipped  into  a  trench,  being  afraid  of  his  life ;  was  discovered  in  the  trendi 
by  Thomas  Magrath,  and  taken  out  and  asked  his  business ;  they  then  put  him  behind 
Nicholas  Sheehy ;  he  saw  them  carry  a  corpse  rolled  up  in  a  caddow ;  saw  the  head 
bloody  on  the  side  of  the  horse  next  to  him  ;  was  not  carried  far  before  he  was  put  from 
behind  Sheehy ;  knew  John  Bridge  but  did  not  know  whether  he  was  the  corpse. 

They  desired  this  evidence  to  go  home  another  short  road,  and  Nicholas  Sheehy 
gave  him  three  half-crowns  and  desired  him  not  to  talk  of  what  he  saw  or  betray  to  his 
uncle,  Michael  Guinan ;  is  not  very  certain  of  the  time  of  the  murder  of  Bridge,  but 
heard  he  was  murdered ;  believes  it  was  about  the  first  of  November  was  two  years. 
He  was  sent  by  his  uncle,  Michael  Guinan,  to  John  Bridge  for  a  pistole  or  guinea ;  does 
not  recollect  when  but  it  was  the  same  night  that  he  saw  the  corpse,  but  did  not  go  all 
the  way  on  account  of  hearing  the  crowd,  some  on  foot  and  some  on  horseback.  Heard 
that  Bridge  was  killed  on  same  night,  very  soon  after.  When  he  was  taken  from  behind 
Nicholas  Sheehy  the  prisoner  showed  him  a  short  cut  to  the  town  of  Clogheen,  and 
desired  him  not  to  follow  the  corpse,  but  to  go  home  the  short  way ;  there  were  also 
present  Buck  Farrell  and  James  Farrell. 

Cross-examined. — Saw  the  corpse  after  midnight.  It  was  neither  very  dark  nor 
very  light ;  the  days  were  not  long  but  rather  short ;  believes  it  was  Sunday  night 


History  of  Clonmel.  38i 

because  he  saw  people  going  to  mass ;  knows  not  how  long  it  was  before  Christmas ; 
people  go  to  mass  on  holidays  as  well  as  Sundays,  therefore  it  might  be  an  holiday ;  he 
did  not  know  the  length  of  a  week. 

Mary  Brady,  Sworn, 

She  lived  with  her  mother  in  Clogheen.  Michael  Kearney  was  in  her  house  in 
October,  1764,  and  was  called  on  by  Nicholas  Sheehy;  she  was  present;  Nicholas 
Sheehy  said  Kearney  was  to  go  with  him  that  night ;  she  followed  them  to  Shanbally ; 
saw  a  man  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  dead.  She  then  and  there  saw  Nicholas  Sheehy,  the 
prisoner,  Edmund  Sheehy,  Thomas  Magrath  and  several  others ;  there  were  about  a 
hundred.  She  first  saw  the  body  at  Shanbally.  They  buried  the  body  at  Ballyhuskin  on. 
the  lands  called  the  Bam ;  was  not  present  at  the  burial ;  she  saw  a  bill-hook  in  the 
prisoner's  hand ;  the  prisoner  made  un  attempt  to  strike  the  corpse  when  in  the  blanket, 
and  said  that  what  had  been  done  was  very  right ;  and  it  was  a  pity  but  to  use  all  whores 
and  rogues  in  like  manner ;  she  observ«l  the  bill-hook  bloody ;  they  left  Shanbally 
shortly  before  she  followed  them. 

She  recollects  no  other  words  of  the  prisoner;  in  about  eight  days  the  corpse  was 
taken  up  and  buried  at  Ballysheehan,  near  Shanbally.  Says  she  was  sent  by  Nicholas 
Sheehy  to  the  prisoner— that  he  was  to  go  on  command — and  he  said  he  would  obey ; 
says  she  watched  the  party  and  followed  them  from  Clogheen  to  Ballyhuskin  Bam ; 
was  desired  by  Nicholas  Sheehy  and  Edmund  Sheehy  alias  Buck  Sheehy,  to  stay  at  the 
end  of  the  road  and  not  go  farther,  and  by  the  prisoner.  She  saw  them  bring  the  corp  se 
the  same  way  as  before,  from  Ballyhuskin  to  Ballysheehan ;  it  was  carried  by  tums ; 
about  a  hundred  present ;  followed  the  corpse  most  of  the  road  to  Ballysheehan ;  they 
said  they  would  bury  it  in  the  churchyard  there. 

Nicholas  Sheehy  tendered  an  oath  at  the  first  and  second  burial  on  the  cross  to  be 
true  to  each  other  and  never  to  discover ;  the  prisoner  was  swom  on  the  cross  at  both 
burials ;  she  heard  prisoner  say  it  was  John  Bridge. 

Cross-examined. — She  remembers  it  was  October;  knows  not  when  the  fair  of 
Clogheen  is  held ;  says  it  was  four  days  before  Lieut.  Chaloner  went  to  Clogheen ;  she 
went  after  Michael  Kearney,  by  whom  she  had  a  child,  to  Ballyhuskin;  Kearney 
had  no  certain  residence,  but  was  at  her  mother's  house  the  night  Sheehy  called 
on  him. 

The  men  were  gathered  about  nine  o'clock;  says  Michael  Keamey  was  then 
present  at  the  burial ;  there  were  many  other  women  there ;  she  was  admitted,  as 
Michael  Keamey  was  such  as  they  imagined ;  Keamey  swore  her ;  there  were  some 
Clogheen  women  there ;  she  saw  none  prevented  ;  Ballyhuskin  how  far  from  Shanbally 
or  Ballysheehan  she  knows  not ;  but  thinks  about  three  miles ;  all  dressed  as  usual ;  it 
was  neither  light  nor  dark ;  did  not  go  the  high  road. 


This  was  the  case  presented  by  the  prosecution.  The  defence  proceeded 
on  two  lines.  First,  the  untrustworthiness  of  the  crown  witnesses.  Second, 
that  on  Sunday,  28th  October,  1764,  the  date  assigned  by  the  crown  witnesses 
for  the  murder.  Father  Sheehy  had  spent  the  night  with  Robert  Keating,  of 
Knockagh,  nine  Irish  miles  from  the  alleged  scene  of  the  murder.  It  will  be 
observed  that  at  this  trial  the  defence  was  not  able  to  locate  Toohy  (who 
was  a  stranger  from  Co.  Limerick)  on  the  night  when  he  swore  he  was  present 
at  the  murder.  In  the  subsequent  trial  of  Edmond  Sheehy  on  8th  April,  it 
was  shown  that  Toohy  spent  the  night  of  28th  October,  1764,  at  the  house  of 
a  man  named  Griffith  in  Cullen,  thirty  miles  from  Shanbally.    With  the 


382  History  of  Clonmel. 

second  witness,  Mary  Brady,  popularly  known  as  "  Moll  Dunlea,"  who  lived 
in  Clogheen,  there  was  less  difficulty  in  ascertaining  her  whereabouts  on  the 
night  in  question. 

FOR  THE  TRAVERSER. 


Gregory  Flannery.  Sworn. 

He  knew  Michael  Kearney ;  lived  in  Clogheen ;  saw  him  in  April  1763,  in  Dublin ; 
he  went  to  borrow  money  from  counsellor  O'Callaghan  fxj  ;  and  if  he  could  not  get  it, 
to  quit  the  country ;  he  gave  the  witness  £60  in  cash,  who  got  a  bill  for  £58  12s.  4d., 
and  left  two  letters  ;  saw  him  go  at>oard  a  ship  bound  for  Bristol  or  Parkgate ;  saw  the 
ship  sail  below  the  wall ;  wrote  to  witness  about  some  things  about  two  months  after ; 
never  heard  of  him  since  he  left  the  kingdom,  22nd  or  23rd  of  April,  1763. 

Cross-examined, — He  might  have  returned  since  without  his  knowl^ge ;  he  lived 
in  Dublin  ten  years  but  never  resided  in  the  county  of  Tipperary. 

Thomas  Gorman,  Sworn, 

Knew  Michael  Kearney  twenty  years ;  saw  him  in  February  or  March,  1763 ;  heard 
Michael  Kearney  went  abroad,  and  received  a  letter  from  him  dated  7  May,  1763,  from 
London ;  received  several  other  letters  till  September  or  October,  1763,  when  he  said  he 
was  going  to  Jamaica ;  often  saw  him  when  in  the  country  and  believes  if  he  had 
returned  he  would  have  seen  him. 

Henry  Keating,  Sworn. 

Knew  Michael  Kearney  in  Jamaica,  the  beginning  of  March,  1764 ;  saw  him  first 
there  in  December,  1763 ;  he  was  in  very  good  health  ;  then  did  not  think  of  returning ; 
witness  returned  in  August,  1764;  left  Jamaica  in  April,  1764;  made  some  stay  in 
London;  has  been  in  Clonmel  since:  believes  he  would  have  seen  Kearney  if  he 
returned ;  it  was  Michael  Kearney  of  Clogheen. 

Cross-examined.— Knew  the  county  of  Tipperary  sixteen  years ;  heard  there  was 
another  Michael  Kearney. 

Dennis  Magrath,  Sworn. 

Lives  at  Clogheen  since  he  was  t>om ;  knew  Michael  Kearney  left  Clogheen  the 
iSth  of  April,  1763 ;  he  was  the  same  Michael  Kearney  that  kept  Mary  Brady. 

Cross-examined. — Witness  a  brother  to  Thomas  Magrath,  a  prisoner;  says  Michael 
Kearney  set  off  for  Dublin  the  15th  of  April,  1763;  he  received  a  letter  in  six  or  eight 
days  from  Dublin;  he  received  letters  from  London  the  May  following;  he  is  sure 
Kearney  did  not  return  after  he  first  went  off. 

Daniel  Keefe,  Sworn. 

Lived  in  Clogheen  fifteen  years ;  knew  Michael  Kearney ;  saw  him  last  three  years 
ago  next  April ;  knew  him  since  1752 ;  heard  he  was  in  Jamaica ;  quitted  on  account 
of  money  due ;  sure  if  he  was  in  Clogheen  he  must  have  seen  him  unless  he  kept  his 
room ;  he  had  a  child  by  Mary  Brady. 

Ann  Hullan,  Sworn. 

Remembers  the  fair  of  Clogheen  1764;  knows  Mary  Brady;  her  daughter  Mary 
Brady  lived  with  witness  in  October  1764 ;  the  fair  is  in  October ;  she  lived  with  her 

(x)  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  someUme  Master  in  Chancery,  died  1769.  He  was  uncle  of  the 
Cornelius  above  mentioned. 


History  of  Clonmel.  M3 

mother ;  she  was  at  the  fair ;  lay  for  two  nights  before  the  fair  with  her  two  daughters, 
Mary  Brady,  one  of  the  daughters,  Eleanor  Dunlea,  the  other ;  lay  in  her  own  house 
with  her  two  daughters  in  one  bed ;  she  and  her  daughter  went  to  bed  about  eight  or 
nine  o'clock,  two  nigKts  before  the  fair ;  Mary  Brady  remained  the  whole  time  in  bed 
for  the  three  nights ;  could  not  be  out  of  bed  without  her  knowing  of  it ;  knows  not 
whether  Mary  Brady  be  married ;  she  is  not  to  be  believed  on  her  oath ;  three  years 
next  Easter  since  Michael  Kearney  left  Clogheen ;  he  was  not  at  her  house  at  any  time 
in  1764 ;  no  one  in  company  with  her  daughter  but  what  she  was  present  with. 

Eleanor  Dunlea,  Sworn. 

Knows  Mary  Brady ;  the  fair  in  Clogheen  before  all-holland  tide ;  a  fair  there  every 
year  in  October ;  lay  the  fair  night  in  bed  with  Mary  Brady  and  her  mother,  and  the 
night  before,  and  the  night  before  that,  and  the  night  after  the  fair ;  went  to  bed  about 
seven ;  all  went  to  bed  together ;  has  known  Michael  Kearney ;  does  not  ever  remember 
his  spending  an  hour  in  her  house ;  it  was  usual  with  the  family  to  go  to  bed  early. 

The  next  two  witnesses  were  called  to  prove  that  on  the  eve  of  the  fair 
of  Clogheen,  the  date  of  the  murder  sworn  to  by  the  crown  witnesses,  Meehan 
the  accused,  was  at  his  house  in  Clogheen. 

John  Henderkin,  Sworn. 

Knows  Edward  Meighan  the  prisoner ;  the  fair  of  Clogheen  the  28th  of  October, 
1764,  was  on  a  Monday ;  witness  lives  in  Carrick ;  came  to  Clogheen ;  spent  the  night 
before  the  fair  in  prisoner's  house  to  which  he  went  as  being  his  friend ;  prisoner  keeps 
a  free  house  in  Clogheen ;  came  to  his  house  about  five  in  the  evening  of  the  28th ; 
prisoner  was  at  home  before  him  and  remained  with  him  all  the  evening ;  went  to  bed 
at>out  eight  or  nine  o'clock ;  the  prisoner  was  in  the  house  when  witness  went  to  bed ; 
the  prisoner  did  not  go  to  bed  all  night  as  the  fair-day  was  to  be  the  next  day  and  he 
had  work  to  finish  for  the  fair ;  he  and  a  journeyman  were  at  work  in  the  same  room 
where  witness  lay,  who  awoke  several  times,  and  still  found  them  at  work ;  lay  awake 
about  half  an  hour  and  spoke  to  Meighan  at>but  working ;  did  not  go  to  sleep  before 
ten ;  at  which  time  Meighan  the  prisoner  was  in  the  room. 

Cross-examined. — Meighan  the  prisoner,  is  married  to  witness's  sister ;  came  from 
Carrick  to  Clogheen  about  five  in  the  evening,  where  he  found  the  prisoner,  his  wife,  a 
journeyman  and  maid ;  prisoner  sitting  in  the  kitchen  with  man  and  maid ;  witness 
got  cold  meat  in  prisoner's  house ;  did  not  speak  to  the  journeyman  since  he  came  to 
town ;  an  entry  between  the  shop  and  the  kitchen ;  worked  usually  in  a  bed  chamber 
and  not  in  the  shop ;  they  began  to  work  after  nightfall ;  no  other  person  lay  in  the 
room  without ;  the  witness  did  not  sleep  before  ten ;  did  not  sleep  an  hour  together  all 
night ;  the  prisoner  could  not  go  out  unknown  to  him ;  he  slept  an  hour  together ;  does 
not  think  it  possible  for  the  prisoner  to  go  out  unknown  to  him ;  the  prisoner  and  his 
journeyman  were  at  work  when  he  got  up  in  the  morning ;  witness  after  the  fair  lay 
with  prisoner  in  the  same  bed ;  prisoner  and  he  went  to  bed  together  that  night  about 
ten ;  Meehan  and  he  lay  positively  together  all  that  night ;  heard  the  prisoner  was 
charged  with  the  murder  of  John  Bridge  about  a  month  ago ;  never  kpplied  to  for  his 
evidence  by  anyone ;  knows  not  who  told  him  of  the  muider ;  did  not  hear  when  the 
murder  was  committed ;  came  voluntarily  to  give  his  evidence ;  heard  the  morning  of 
the  fair  that  John  Bridge  fled  out  of  the  country ;  never  heard  he  was  murdered  but  by 
common  fame ;  had  no  conversation  with  prisoner  since  he  came  fo  town,  or  since  he 
was  committed ;  is  a  nailor  by  trade. 

John  Landregan,  Sworn. 

Worked  all  Saturday  night;  worked  Sunday  night  till  five  or  six  on  Monday 
morning;  began  to  work  about  six  on  Sunday  evening;  did  not  go  to  bed  or  sleep  aU 


384  History  of  Clonmel. 

night ;  witness  went  to  prepare  a  stand ;  [prisoner]  in  witness'  company  all  night  with 
his  wife,  maid  and  Henderkin,  all  there;  Henderkin  went  to  bed  in  the  work-room 
above  stairs. 

Cross-examined. — Did  not  sleep  from  Saturday  to  Monday ;  fay  on  Monday  night 
at  his  father's  house ;  Henderkin  went  away  on  Tuesday ;  saw  Henderkin  a  fortnight 
ago ;  did  not  see  him  this  day  or  yesterday ;  did  not  hear  what  he  swore. 

This  evidence  appeared  so  strong  that  the  managers  put  up  Techy  a 
second  time. 

John  Toohy,  produced  a  second  time  by  Counsellor  Hughes. 

Knows  the  prisoner  was  present ;  says  there  was  John  Butler  and  Thomas  Magrath, 
both  of  Clogheen,  present. 

To  rebut  this  the  following  witnesses  were  called  for  the  defence. 

Gerald  Fitzgerald  for  the  Prisoner. 

Knows  John  Butler ;  saw  him  in  October  1764,  in  a  fever  at  his  own  house  from  the 
third  to  the  end  of  the  month ;  cannot  say  he  saw  him  the  28th ;  saw  him  November 
2nd,  before  he  was  able  to  go  out. 

Daniel  Keefe,  produced  a  second  time. 

Knows  John  Butler ;  saw  him  in  October,  1764 ;  did  not  see  him  on  the  28th  or 
29th  October,  1764. 

Richard  Travers,  Sworn. 

Knew  Thomas  Magrath  in  October,  1764 ;  saw  him  the  28th  at  witnesse's  father's 
house  [in  Clogheen]  and  from  about  eight  at  night  till  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  on 
Sunday ;  was  drinking  all  the  time  in  the  company ;  knows  not  whether  he  went  out ; 
did  not  stay  out  an  hour  at  the  time ;  knows  not  where  English  lives ;  Shanbally  about 
four  miles  from  Clogheen. 

Edmund  Callaghan. 

Knows  Shanbally ;  knew  it  in  October,  1764,  and  lived  there  seventeen  years ;  no 
one  of  the  name  of  English  in  Shanbally  since  he  knew  it 

Cross-examined.— Knows  Glyn  Callaghan ;  some  English  live  above  Glyn  Callaghan, 
on  a  purchase  made  by  Counsellor  Callaghan,  and  joins  Shanbally;  where  English 
lives  is  about  one-eight  of  a  mile  from  Shanbally. 

A  notable  part  of  the  defence  is  yet  to  follow — namely,  that  it  was 
probable  that  Bridge  was  still  alive.  There  were  rumours  that  Bridge  was 
murdered,  and  the  Grand  Jury  had  circulated  these  rumours  more  widely  by 
offering  a  reward  for  information  as  to  the  murder.  But  nothing  was  known 
for  certain.  Bridge  had  unquestionably  declared  his  intention  of  quitting  the 
country,  probablyJn  order  to  avoid  giving  evidence  against  the  Whiteboys  fy). 
Upon  this  point  the  following  witnesses  were  examined. 

(y)  **  The  fact  of  Bridge's  intention  to  go  abroad,  and  of  having  gone  to  certain  persons  to  take 
leave  of  them  on  the  last  day  he  was  seen  livinj;,  is  unquestionable.  That  fact  is  within  the  knowledge 
of  persons  yet  in  existence." — Madden. 


History  of  Clonmel.  385 

John  Brien»  Swam. 

Lives  at  Shanbally ;  is  a  dancing-master ;  knew  John  Bridge ;  believes  him  alive ; 
never  saw  him  since  the  24th  of  October,  1764,  nor  was  he  in  the  country  since; 
met  him  in  a  forge  the  24th  at  Bumcourt ;  he  called  for  the  sledge,  and  turned  some 
shoes ;  called  witness  aside,  and  desired  that  he  would  keep  what  he  told  him  secret, 
for  that  he  was  going  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  if  he  returned  he  would  return  his 
favour. 

Laurence  Hanglin,  Swam. 

Knew  John  Bridge ;  saw  him  at  Anglesborough  in  the  county  of  Limerick,  28th  of 
October,  1764,  about  eleven  miles  from  Clogheen ;  was  surprised  at  his  knocking  at  his 
door  three  hours  before  day ;  he  said  he  was  going  to  sea  to  avoid  the  light-horse ;  went 
with  him  through  Mitchelstown ;  parted  from  him  beyond  the  town ;  he  could  read  and 
write  but  he  never  wrote  to  him  or  to  any  one  that  he  could  hear ;  told  him  he  would  go 
to  Cork  or  Kinsale,  to  Cork  for  a  ship;  believes  Mr.  Beere  is  to  be  believed  on  his  oath. 

Having  convicted  Meehan  on  this  evidence,  a  new  jury  was  impannelled 
for  the  trial  of  Father  Sheehy.  Toohy,  Lonergan  and  "  Mrs,  Mary  Brady  " 
were  again  put  forward  to  prosecute.  While  on  the  part  of  the  defence 
several  witnesses  appeared,  as  before,  in  order  to  prove  the  incredibility  of 
the  story  told  by  Toohy  and  his  partners.  Father  Sheehy  declined  numerous 
offers  made  by  others.  His  defence  was  a  simple  one,  but  it  was  effective. 
It  was  merely  to  account  for  his  whole  movements  during  the  period  when 
the  murder  was  alleged  to  have  taken  place.  It  will  be  remembered  that  from 
the  Spring  Assizes  of  Clonmel  in  1764,  Father  Sheehy  "was  upon  his  keeping." 
As  the  authorities  could  easily  locate  him  in  Tipperary,  much  of  his  time  was 
spent  with  some  kinsmen  at  Appletown,  near  Newcastle  West  Here,  it 
would  appear,  he  spent  the  week  preceding  the  28th  October,  1764,  returning 
to  his  priestly  duties  at  Carrickvisteale,  Sunday  28th.  That  evening  he  again 
left  and  passed  the  night  at  the  house  of  Robert  Keating  of  Knockagh,  three 
miles  east  of  Cahir.  To  establish  these  facts,  he  was  able  to  produce 
witnesses  of  unexceptionable  character. 

The  Keatings  in  wealth  and  influence  stood  almost  at  the  head  of  the 
Catholics  of  Tipperary.  One  of  them,  John  of  Garranlea,  is  described  by 
Arthur  Young  as  "  the  largest  fanner  that  ever  was  "  (ej.  The  other,  Robert 
Keating  of  Knockagh,  held  under  Lord  Cahir  an  immense  district  extending 
some  three  miles  east  and  west  of  Cahir.  This  was  the  gentleman  at  whose 
house  Father  Sheehy  had  spent  the  night  of  28th  October,  1764,  and  whom 
he  now  proposed  to  call  in  testimony  of  the  fact  But  the  priest  and  his 
advisers  little  knew  the  men  they  had  to  reckon  with. 


fg)  See  particulars  in  Chapter  VIII.  They  were  fanners  merely,  and  not  landowners,  for  the 
reason  that  being  Catholics  they  could  acquire  no  greater  interest  than  31  years'  lease,  and  this  at  a 
rack-rent. 

A  I 


386  History  of  Clonmel. 

During  his  trial  Mr.  Keating,  a  person  of  known  property  and  credit  in  that  country, 
having  given  the  clearest  and  fullest  evidence,  that  during  the  whole  night  of  the 
supposed  murder  of  Bridge,  the  prisoner,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  had  lain  in  his  house,  that 
he  could  not  have  left  it  in  the  night  time  without  his  knowledge,  and  consequently 
that  he  could  not  have  been  present  at  the  murder.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Hewetson, 
an  active  manager  in  these  trials,  stood  up,  and  after  looking  on  a  paper  he 
held  in  his  hand,  informed  the  court  that  he  had  Mr.  Keating's  name  on  his  list  as  one 
of  those  that  were  concerned  in  the  killing  of  the  corporal  and  sergeant  [at  Newmarket, 
Kilkenny]  in  a  former  rescue  of  some  of  these  levellers.  Upon  which  he  was  immediately 
hurried  away  to  Kilkenny  jail,  where  he  lay  for  some  time,  loaded  with  irons  in  a  dark 
loathsome  dungeon :  by  this  proceeding  not  only  his  evidence  was  rendered  useless  to 
Sheehy,  but  also  that  of  many  others  was  prevented,  who  came  on  purpose  to  testify 
the  same  thing,  but  instantly  withdrew  themselves,  for  fe;ar  of  meeting  the  same  treat- 
ment. Mr.  Keating  was  afterwards  tried  for  this  pretended  murder  at  the  assizes  of 
Kilkenny,  but  was  honourably  acquitted ;  too  late  however  to  be  of  any  service  to  poor 
Sheehy,  who  was  hanged  and  quartered  some  time  before  Mr.  Keating's  acquittal  (aa). 

Another  of  Father  Sheehy's  witnesses  was  disposed  of  by  a  similar 
method.  James  Herbert,  a  farmer  in  the  County  Limerick,  came  to  give 
evidence  as  to  the  priest's  whereabouts  up  to  the  28th  October,  the  supposed 
date  of  the  murder.  He  was  forthwith  put  under  arrest,  and  he  himself 
charged  as  an  accomplice  in  the  murder.  The  following  naive  account  of 
this  episode  appears  in  Exshav/s : — 

Mr.  Herbert  came  to  the  assizes  of  Clonmell  in  order  to  give  evidence  in  favour  of 
Father  Sheehy  but  his  arrival  being  made  known  to  the  grand  jury  (who  before  had 
found  bills  of  high  treason  against  him)  they  had  not  an  opportunity  before  of  having 
him  taken,  as  they  knew  not  his  person  [bb).  They  sent  for  Toohy  who  said  he  knew 
him  very  well  and  would  assist  to  take  him.  Upon  this  William  Bagnell  Esq.  attended 
Toohy  with  some  of  the  light-horse,  went  in  pursuit  of  him  and  soon  took  him.  Being 
told  on  what  occasion  he  was  secured,  said  that  if  accepted  of  he  would  make  a  full 
confession,  would  discover  the  rise  and  meetings  of  the  Whiteboys  and  their  intentions, 
acknowledged  himself  guilty  of  what  he  was  accused  and  had  no  reason  to  expect  mercy 
from  the  Government  but  in  doing  all  in  his  power  to  serve  it.  To  this  he  was  led 
by  the  appearance  of  Toohy  whom  he  knew  able  to  convict  him  of  the  murder  of  John 
Bridge.  The  taking  up  of  this  accomplice  gave  room  to  some  to  report  that  the 
evidences  in  favour  of  Father  Sheehy  were  intimidated  and  that  he  was  deprived  of  the 


(aa)  A  Candid  Inquiry,  etc.,  Dublin,  1766.  "  On  the  trial,  Father  Sheehy  produced  Mr.  Keating 
of  Tubberett  (sic)  as  evidence  in  his  behalf,  who  before  he  quitted  the  court  was  by  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice's  order  taken  into  custody  being  charged  with  the  murder  of  a  sergeant  and  corporal  in  the 
county  of  Kilkenny."— Sco/s'  Magazine,  March,  1766,  p.  65.  "  Last  Wednesday  the  genUemen 
transmitted  from  Clonmel  for  the  murder  at  Newmarket  were  acquitted.  Yesterday  Twohey  was 
sent  to  Clonmel.  Messrs.  Mahony  (alias  Doherty)  and  Keating  are  now  enlarged." — Letter  from 
Kilkenny,  5th  April,  1766 — Freeman's  Journal.  The  Hon.  Martin  French,  who  was  Resident 
Magistrate  in  Tipperary  sixty  years  ago,  took  a  deep  interest  in  Father  Sheehy's  case.  His 
account  obtained,  it  would  appear,  from  the  Keatings  of  Garranlea,  was — *'  Madden  and  Curry  are 
wrong  in  stating  that  at  the  trial  in  Clonmel  Robert  Keating  of  Knocka,  was  examined  for  the 
defence.  When  it  became  known  that  he  and  James  Nagle  of  Garnevilla,  could  clearly  prove  an 
alibi  J  they  were,  before  they  could  give  evidence,  arrested  and  hurried  off  to  Kilkenny  gaol  on  a  false 
charge  of  murder." — Bellevue,  Blackrock,  Co.  Dublin,  30th  December,  1889. 

(bb)  There  is  no  trace  among  the  Crown  Records  of  Tipperary  of  these  "  bills  of  high  treason." 


History  of  CXonmel.  387 

means  to  defend  himself  and  show  his  innocence.  Never  had  prisoners  more  indulgence, 
everything  being  allowed  by  which  they  could  advantage;  but  sure  it  must  not  be 
insinuated  that  the  securing  of  an  accomplice  is  depriving  a  prisoner  of  an  evidence  {cc). 

When  men  of  the  standing  of  Keating  and  Herbert  were  dealt  with  in 
this  way,  to  put  forward  humbler  folk  as  witnesses  was  only  to  expose  them 
to  ruin.  Accordingly  no  further  evidence  was  given  in  behalf  of  the  doomed 
priest. 

His  counsel  urged  that  though  Bridge's  body  "  was  carefully  sought  for 
in  the  two  different  places  in  which  the  witnesses  had  sworn  it  was  deposited ; 
and  though  the  particular  circumstances  of  his  cleft  skull  which  the  same 
witnesses  swore  was  the  cause  of  his  death,  would  have  guided  the  search 
and  distinguished  his  from  every  other  body  in  the  place,  the  body  was  never 
found."  But  all  to  no  purpose ;  the  jury  did  not  want  legal  proof,  and  the 
judge  in  the  words  of  Griffith  "instructed  the  prosecutors  and  pieced 
together  the  zig-zag  evidence."  At  length  after  a  hearing  of  five  hours, 
a  verdict  of  guilty  was  brought  in.  "Father  Sheehy's  mind"  writes  Griffith 
"  was  prepared  for  the  awful  verdict,  which  excited  the  huzzas  of  some  in  the 
court,  and  the  tears  of  others;  and  he  afterwards  declared,  such  was  his 
resignation,  that  his  principal  uneasiness  at  the  moment  was,  lest  the  noise 
and  confusion  the  verdict  occasioned,  might  furnish  an  opportunity  for. 
falling  on  the  people,  under  a  pretence  that  a  rescue  was  attempted.  Nor 
were  his  fears  visionary,  for  the  military  were  absolutely  encouraged  to 
outrage,  insomuch  that  it  was  perilous  to  go  near  the  court "  fddj. 

fee)  The  manufacture  of  evidence  by  the  managers  of  the  prosecution,  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
case  of  this  person  Herl>ert.  Upon  the  condemnation  of  Father  Sheehy,  the  other  prominent  men 
accused  of  the  murder  were  visited  in  prison  by  Hewetson,  Broderick,  Bagnell,  Bagwell,  Bunbury 
and  others,  and  offered  their  freedom  on  condition  they  would  corrotwrate  the  testimony  of  Toohy 
as  to  the  Popish  conspiracy.  They  refused  to  perjure  themselves.  Herbert  also  held  out  with  the 
rest.  The  statement  by  Exshaw  that  immediately  on  his  arrest  he  volunteered  to  support  Toohy's 
evidence,  is  simply  untrue.  A  process  of  intimidation  had  to  be  carried  on  against  the  wretched  man. 
For  this  purpose,  on  30th  of  March,  a  fortnight  after  the  execution  of  Father  Sheehy,  Twohy  swore 
informations  before  Hewetson,  that  James  Hert>ert  was  a  French  officer,  that  he  had  enlisted  men 
for  the  French  service  in  1756,  and  that  he  subsequently  l>ecame  a  White-t)oy.  (Crown  Records, 
Tipperary).  One  is  not  surprised,  therefore,  that  when  Herl>ert  appeared  in  the  witness  box  on  9th 
April  against  Edmund  Sheehy,  he  told  a  story  of  greater  breadth  and  picturesqueness  than  Toohy's. 
"  On  Sunday  the  28th  of  Octot>er,  1764,  he  was  called  upon  by  Roger  Sheehy  who  was  then  on 
horseback  and  l>ehind  whom  he  rode  to  a  meeting  of  about  twenty  or  thirty  persons  assembled  on 
the  lands  of  Shanbally  where  they  were  sworn  by  their  priest.  Father  Sheehy,  to  murder  John 
Bridge,  John  Bagwell,  William  Bagnell,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hewetson  and  every  other  person  who  should 
oppose  them;  that  they  should  be  faithful  to  the  French  king,  conquer  Ireland  and  make  it  their 

own Edmund  Meehan  took  a  bill-hook  from  under  his  coat  with  which  he  struck  Bridge 

on  the  back  part  of  the  head  which  so  cleft  his  skull  that  he  instantly  expired;  that  the  priest  was 
then  present  and  so  near  as  to  be  within  the  distance  of  two  yards  with  a  book  in  his  hand."  At  the 
trials  of  Meehan  and  Father  Sheehy  three  weeks  before,  the  name  of  this  "  French  Officer,"  Herbert, 
will  be  sought  in  vain  in  the  elaborate  list  furnished  by  Toohy  of  those  present  at  the  murder. 

(dd)  "  The  priest  confessed  he  had  t)een  guilty  of  crimes  for  which  he  deserved  death,  both  at 
the  time  of  his  condemnation  and  that  of  his  sentence,  but  the  crime  for  which  he  was  to  suffer  he 
declared  himself  innocent  of;  he  said  but  little  at  the  gallows." — Exshaw. 


388  History  of  Clonmel. 

He  was  now  brought  back  to  the  old  jail  in  Lough  Street,  where  he  was 
to  spend  the  few  hours  of  existence  that  remained  to  him.  It  is  said  by  some 
that  he  was  denied*  even  the  ministration  of  a  clergyman,  but  the  fact  appears 
to  be  that  he  was  attended  in  his  last  hours  by  his  friend  and  neighbour, 
Father  Doyle,  parish  priest  of  Ardfinnan.  It  would  appear  also  that  the 
actual  murderer  of  Bridge,  communicated  with  him  in  the  interval,  moved 
probably  with  horror  and  remorse  (ee).  The  following  day  Friday,  Toler 
the  high  sheriff,  together  with  several  members  of  the  grand  jury,  visited  the 
condemned  priest.  The  object  of  the  visit  is  not  quite  clear;  some  went 
probably  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  information  about  "the  Popish  plot" 
others,  inspired  by  idle  curiosity.  Father  Sheehy  bore  himself  with  dignity 
and  composure,  simply  asserting  his  innocence  of  the  crime  for  which  he 
was  condemned.  On  Saturday  morning,  March  15th,  1766,  the  end  came. 
Curry  has  described  the  closing  scene. 

On  the  morning  of  that  day,  just  before  he  was  brought  forth  to  execution,  he,  in 
the  presence  of  the  sub-sheriff  [Francis  Butler]  and  a  clergyman  who  attended  him 
[Father  Doyle],  again  declared  his  innocence  of  the  murder;  solemnly  protesting  at 
the  same  time,  as  he  was  a  dying  man,  just  going  to  appear  before  the  most  awful 
of  tribunals,  that  he  never  had  engaged  any  of  the  rioters  in  the  service  of  the 
French  king,  by  tendering  them  oaths,  or  otherwise;  that  he  never  had  distributed 
money  among  them  on  that  account,  nor  had  ever  received  money  from  France,  or  any 
•other  foreign  court,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  for  any  such  purpose;  that  he 
never  knew  of  any  French  or  other  foreign  officers  being  among  these  rioters ;  or  of  any 
Roman  Catholics  of  property  or  note,  being  concerned  with  them. 

The  gallows  was  erected  in  the  street,  in  front  of  the  gaol  and  facing  the 
entrance  of  the  present  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's  Church.  When  the  priest  was 
placed  on  the  scaffold  in  view  of  the  assembled  multitude,  he  prayed  that 
God  might  spare  those  who  had  sworn  his  life  away  (ff)j  adding 

He  never  heard  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  any  foreign  prince  proposed  or  administered 
in  his  life-time;  nor  ever  knew  anything  of  the  murder  of  Bridge,  until  he  heard 
it  publicly  talked  of;  nor  did  he  know  that  there  ever  was  any  such  design  on  foot  (gg), 

A  moment  later  the  bolt  was  drawn  and  Father  Sheehy  was  in  eternity  fhhj. 

The  Apostle  St.  Paul,  accounts  amongst  his  greatest  trials  "  perils  from 

false  brethren,"  and  the  bitterest  ingredient  in  the  cup  which  the  unfortunate 


(ee)  Letter  to  Major  Sirr  infra  in  which  the  priest  disclosed  the  fact  of  Bridge's  murder,  by 
consent  of  the  actual  perpetrator. 

(ff)  A  Xt\At\\e  ni  'foutnt^A  f  AojAt  ^ax>a  cusac, — Ita  tradition. 

ffi^)  Curry. 

(hh)  The  name  of  the  executioner  was  Darby  Brahan.  "  Eternal  vengeance  "  writes  Griffith 
"  seems  to  have  pursued  him;  he  was  stoned  to  death  some  time  after  in  the  County  Kilkenny." 


History  of  Clonmel.  389 

priest  had  to  drink,  was  the  condemnation  of  his  fellow  priests.  There 
is  a  story  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time,  told  indeed  by  his  murderers, 
certainly  untrue,  but  resting  on  some  substratum  of  fact. 

An  authentic  Anecdote  relative  to  Father  Sheehy  lately  executed  at  Clonmell. 

During  the  residence  of  Lord  Halifax  in  quality  of  Chief  Governor  of  this  kingdom, 
the  Titular  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  Father  Sheehy  had  a  parish,  received 
information  that  Sheehy  had  constantly  assembled  with,  and  frequently  headed  the 
Whiteboys  in  committing  outrages.  Upon  which  intelligence  he  sent  for  Sheehy, 
acquainted  him  with  his  information,  represented  the  injury  he  had  done  the  public  in 
general  and  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  particular,  and  dismissed  him  with  an 
injunction  to  forbear  those  assemblies  in  the  future.  Sheehy  nevertheless  continued 
his  former  behaviour  so  long  and  in  such  a  manner  that  the  bishop  deprived  him  of  his 
benefice  and  office,  and  at  the  same  time  wrote  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  a  full  account 
of  what  he  knew  of  the  insurrection  of  the  Whiteboys,  and  also  of  what  he  had  done  to 
Sheehy,  and  further  offered  if  it  should  please  his  Excellency,  to  have  Sheehy  seized  and 
prosecuted  to  conviction  of  what  he  alleged  against  him.  Lord  Halifax  answered  the 
Titular  bishop  with  his  own  hand,  thanked  him  very  graciously  for  what  he  had  done, 
but  declined  any  further  prosecution  of  Sheehy,  who  finding  he  might  act  with  impunity, 
continued  to  assemble  constantly  with  the  Whiteboys,  and  at  length  heard  the  purport 
of  Lord  Halifax's  letter  to  his  bishop,  from  which  he  was  encouraged  to  appeal  to  the 
titular  Archbishop  of  Cashel  and  by  means  of  friends  whom  he  had  made  among  the 
Whiteboys  and  elsewhere,  procured  the  restitution  of  his  office  and  benefice  to  himself. 

This  fact  was  related  in  Dublin  a  year  after  it  passed  by  that  very  titular  bishop 
who  degraded  Sheehy,  to  a  gentleman  of  undoubted  truth  and  character  (ff). 

While  this  story  is  in  every  sentence  of  it  a  fabrication,  there  is  no 
question  that  the  relations  of  Father  Sheehy  with  his  bishop.  Dr.  Creagh, 
were  strained.  The  bishop  was  an  old  man ;  he  had  borne  the  penal  yoke 
for  thirty  years ;  and  sorely  bruised,  he  was  glad,  like  the  lower  creatures,  to 
be  allowed  to  remain  in  his  hiding  and  die  in  peace.  Though  in  1762  he  had 
written  a  pastoral  against  the  Whiteboys,  and  had  forbidden  his  priests  to 
absolve  them,  though  he  had  been  prompt  to  furnish  information  about  them 
to  Government  O7V,  yet  even  he  himself  was  marked  out  by  some  of  the 
approvers  as  a  French  agent.  At  best  he  was  not  of  the  stuff  of  which  martyrs 
are  made ;  and  when  Father  Sheehy  flung  himself  between  the  poor  and 
their  oppressors,  the  bishop  could  only  regard  the  act  as  wanton  foolhardiness^ 
and  a  dangerous  compromising  of  the  whole  clerical  order.  The  priests 
themselves,  fearing  that  at  any  moment  the  guillotine  of  the  penal  laws 
might  fall  upon  them,  showed  to  the  unhappy  Sheehy  scant  sympathy. 
Rev.  William  Egan,  parish  priest  of  Clonmel,  a  man  of  much  influence, 
firmly  declined  to  intervene  in  his  behalf.    And  it  was  remembered  for  him ; 

(ii)  Exshaw's  Magazine. 

(jj)  "  The  superiors  of  the  Catholic  Clergy  in  that  province  (Munster)  were  edifyingly  active  in 
pressing  the  duty  of  obedience  and  loyalty  on  their  people.  This  is  well  known.  He  of  Waterford 
exerted  himself  by  giving  the  government  the  best  and  earliest  intelligence  he  could  get,  of  the 
intentions  and  motions  of  these  miscreants." — Observations  on  Ireland  by  Nicholas  Lord  Taaffe, 
Dublin,  1766,  p.  20. 


390  History  of  Clonmel. 

for  as  the  body  of  the  murdered  priest  was  borne  past  the  house  in  the 
Irishtown,  on  the  way  to  Shanrahan,  the  blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  door- 
post (kk).    In  the  Irish  dirge  it  was  said — 

Bagwell  and  Maude  pierced  you  in  the  heart, 

but  more  bitterly  it  was  added — 

Egan  and  Creagh  sold  you  (//). 

Father  Sheehy's  body  rests  in  Shanrahan  among  the  people  for  whom 

he  died. 

Here  lieth  the  remains  of  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Sheehy, 

Parish  Priest  of  Shandraghan,  Ballysheehan  and  Templeteny. 

He  died  March  15th  1766.    Aged  38  Years. 

Erected  by  his  sister  Catherine  Burke,  alias  Sheehy. 

And  there  is  a  special  fitness  in  the  place.  A  few  yards  away  is  the 
O'Callaghan  vault  where  he,  a  hunted  man,  had  hidden  thirteen  months 
before.  In  the  other  corner  of  the  graveyard  is  the  house  of  the  friendly 
Protestant,  Griffith,  into  which  he  crept  from  the  vault  at  night.  And  to 
Shanrahan  now  he  came  for  his  last  rest  and  shelter. 

"His  and  Meehan's  head,"  reports  Exshaw's  Magazine^  "were  spiked 
upon  the  gaol  of  Clonmel  the  25th  of  last  month  [March]  where  they  remain 
a  shocking  spectacle  "  (mm). 

Having  tasted  blood,  the  prosecutors  should  now  sate  themselves.  Three 
weeks  after  Father  Sheehy's  execution,  9th  April,  a  Special  Commission 
opened  in  Clonmel  for  the  trial  of  the  others  charged  with  the  Whiteboy 
conspiracy  and  the  murder  of  John  Bridge.  Three  young  men  belonging  to 
the  Catholic  gentry  class  were  put  forward— Edmund  Sheehy,  of  the  Lodge, 
James  Buxton,  of  Kilcoran  and  James  Farrell,  a  near  relative  of  Lord  Cahir. 
The  same  witnesses  were  again  produced.  The  three  were  hanged  together 
in  Clogheen,  3rd  May  (nn). 

(kk)  This  was  the  customary  way  at  the  period  of  bringing  home  to  the  accuser  or  prosecutor 
the  consequences  of  his  action.    Among  the  proclamations  in  the  Record  Office  may  be  seen  one  of 
1747  against  "the  Persons  who  assembled  before  the  house  of  William  I^fanu,  Merchant,  at 
St.  Stephen's  Green,  and  laid  a  Malefactor  executed  that  day  at  the  door  of  said  house." 
(II)  Thus — Bagwell  Ajuf  Maude  "oo  d^Ai'6  An  cttoi'oe  a^ac 

Egan  AStir  An  Cft^Ad  -00  -6101  tu— Rev.  P.  Loner gan  in  Irish  Eccl.  Record^  1896. 
(mm)  Mr.  William  Clarke,  editor  of  the  Clonmel  Chronicle^  heard  from  his  aunt  who  was  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Reazon,  keeper  of  Clonmel  gaol,  that  when  in  1786  the  new  prison  in  Richmond 
Street  was  being  opened,  a  great  multitude  gathered,  and  the  skull  of  Father  Sheehy  which  was 
spiked  over  the  gate  of  the  old  gaol  was  given  them.  They  formed  a  huge  funeral  procession  and 
carried  it  to  Shanraghan  for  interment. 

(nn)  Edmund  Sheehy  was  grandfather  of  the  celebrated  Countess  of  Blessington.     Within  the 
ruined  church  of  Kilronan  near  Clonmel,  may  be  seen  his  tomb  now  in  fragments. 

Here  lieth  the  Body  of  Mr.  Edm<l 

Sheehy  of  the  Lodge  in  the  County  of 

Tipperary  who  depart^*  this  Life  May 

The  acd  1766  Aged  33  years. 


History  of  Clonmel.  391 

The  law  being  now  vindicated  and  the  "  Protestant  interest "  secure, 
addresses  from  grand  juries,  corporations  and  trade  guilds,  poured  in  upon 
Lord  Carrick,  Hewetson,  Maude,  Bagwell  and  Bagnell.  The  newspapers  of 
the  time  contain  columns  of  them.  Lord  Carrick  in  reply,  heartily  joins  with 
the  Dublin  grand  jury  ''  in  thinking  that  the  late  troubles  in  the  southern  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  were  not  owing  to  the  pretended  grievances,  but  to  a  settled 
intention  of  overthrowing  our  present  happy  constitution  in  church  and 
state."  Hewetson  writes:  "My  only  merit  is  my  good  wishes  for  the 
Protestant  interest,  and  that  I  have  been  the  happy  instrument  of  executing 
with  fidelity  and  (thank  God)  with  some  success,  the  wise  and  spirited 
measures  advised  by  that  most  eminent  friend  to  his  king  and  country,  the 
Earl  of  Carrick."  John  Bagwell  writes  from  Kilmore  that  "  It  shall  constantly 
be  my  endeavours  to  support  the  Protestant  interest  of  this  kingdom ;  and  to 
bring  to  light  any  schemes  that  may  be  contrived  to  the  detriment  of  this  our 
happy  constitution  in  Church  and  State.  That  such  schemes  were  intended, 
I  believe  (at  this  day)  no  Protestant  in  Ireland,  is  in  doubt  of."  Maude  has 
the  "  greatest  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  to  find  that  my  endeavours  to  assist 
the  many  worthy  and  loyal  persons  in  the  County  of  Tipperary,  who  on  every 
occasion  have  appeared  in  defence  and  support  of  the  Constitution,  have 
been  honoured." 

And  so  on. 

Yet  one  may  detect  in  these  manifestos  a  hollow  ring ;  and  no  amount 
of  party  profession  could  hide  away  the  fact  that  a  great  crime  had  been 
committed,  and  five  men  judicially  murdered.  The  whole  world  knew  the 
causes  and  springs  of  Whiteboyism.  What  was  the  truth  with  regard  to 
Bridge  ? 

Father  Sheehy  on  the  evening  before  his  execution,  lifted  a  comer  of 
the  curtain. 

To  Joseph  Sirr,  Esq.,  Dublin. 

Clonmel,  Friday  morning,  March  I4,  1766. 
Dear  Sir, 

To  morrow  I  am  to  be  executed,  thanks  be  to  the  Almighty  Gkxi,  with  whom  I 
hope  to  be  for  evermore ;  I  would  not  change  my  lot  with  the  highest  now  in  the 
kingdom.  I  die  innocent  of  the  facts  for  which  I  am  sentenced.  The  Lord  have  mercy 
on  my  soul.  I  beseech  the  great  Creator  that  for  your  benevolence  to  me  he  will  grant 
you  grace  to  make  such  use  of  your  time  here  that  you  may  see  and  enjoy  him  here- 
after. Remember  me  to  Mr.  Waite,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Speaker,  and  the  Judges 
of  the  King's  Bench.  May  God  bless  them  I  Recommend  to  them  all  under  the  same 
charge  with  me ;  they  are  innocent  of  the  murder ;  the  prosecutors  swore  wrongfully 
and  falsely.  God  forgive  them.  The  accusers  and  the  accused  are  equally  ignorant  of 
the  fact,  as  I  have  been  informed,  but  after  such  a  manner  I  received  the  information 
that  I  cannot  make  use  of  it  for  my  own  preservation.  The  fact  is  that  John  Bridge 
was  destroyed  by  two  alone,  who  strangled  him  on  Wednesday  night,  the  24th  October, 
1764.    I  was  then  from  home  and  only  returned  home  the  28th  and  heard  that  he  had 


392  History  of  CXonmel. 

disappeared.  Various  were  the  reports  which  to  believe  I  could  not  pretend  to,  until  in 
the  discharge  of  my  duty  one  accused  himself  of  the  said  fact.  May  Gkxl  grant  the 
guilty  true  repentance  and  preserve  the  innocent  I  I  recommend  them  to  your  care.  I 
have  relied  very  much  on  Mr.  Waite's  promise.  I  hope  no  more  priests  will  be 
distressed  for  their  religion,  and  that  the  Roman  Catholics  of  this  kingdom,  will  be 
countenanced  by  the  Government,  as  I  was  promised  by  Mr.  Waite  would  be  the  case, 
if  I  proved  my  innocence.  I  am  now  to  appear  before  the  divine  tribunal,  and  declare 
that  I  was  unacquainted  with  Mary  Butler  alias  Casey  and  John  Toohy,  never  having 
spoken  to  or  seen  either  of  them  to  the  best  of  my  memory  before  I  saw  them  in  the 
King's  Bench  last  February.  May  God  forgive  them  and  bless  them,  you  and  all 
mankind,  are  the  earnest  and  fervent  prayers  of 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obliged  humble  serviant, 

Nicholas  Sheehy  (ao). 

Sometime  before  Bridge  disappeared  he  spoke  to  several  persons  of  his 
intended  emigration  to  Newfoundland  fppK  Evidence  of  this  was  given  at 
the  trial  of  Father  Sheehy.  By  many  it  was  believed  that  he  actually 
emigrated,  and  stories  of  his  having  been  seen  there  were  circulated.  The 
two  earliest  accounts  of  the  Sheehy  case — Curry's  in  1766,  and  Griffith's  in 
1787 — ^record  the  popular  belief  that  Bridge  emigrated  to  Newfoundland. 
Though  both  had  seen  Sheehy's  letter  to  Sirr,  they  were  of  opinion  that  the 
confession  of  the  murder  made  to  him  was  simply  a  snare  to  catch  the 
unwary  priest  (qqj.  Yet  the  truth  is  as  Father  Sheehy  stated.  Sixty  years 
ago  Dr.  Madden  obtained  particulars  of  the  murder  from  inquiries  in  the 
locality.    The  facts  came  to  the  present  writer  from  an  unexpected  quarter. 


(ooj  Exs/uiw's  Magazine.  To  the  proofs  of  authenticity  given  by  Madden  of  the  above  document 
the  following  may  be  added,  "Corke  March  24th.  Extract  from  a  letter  from  Youghal,  March 
2ist,  1766. 

There  is  a  most  false  and  scandalous  Paper  handed  about  this  town  and  the  like  is  commonly 
said  to  be  shown  in  your  City  and  no  doubt  is  dispersed  in  every  City  and  Town  in  the  kingdom. 
It  is  a  Declaration  made  by  or  in  the  name  of  Nicholas  Sheehy,  Popish  Priest  lately  executed  at 
Clonmell.  This  piece  contains  inded  a  confession  of  much  guilt  but  pleads  Innocence  of  the  Crime 
for  which  he  died,  and  also  asserts  the  Innocence  of  others  charged  with  the  same  murder.  This 
kind  of  Reasoning  from  him  is  easily  understood.  And  it  may  also  be  readily  believed  as  the  Paper 
relates  that  in  some  time  after  John  Bridge  was  murdered  that  Fact  came  to  his  knowledge  or  was 
related  to  him  in  the  way  of  Confession  and  that  he  thought  himself  not  at  Liberty  to  reveal  it. 
Some  of  the  parties  concerned  with  him  in  the  Murder  may  be  naturally  supposed  to  have  confessed 
to  him  and  to  have  had  Forgivness  from  him  and  we  may  readily  credit  this  without  believing  in  the 
least  that  he  was  not  concerned  in  the  Murder.  That  he  did  not  think  himself  at  Liberty  to  reveal 
his  knowledge  is  indubitable,  for  had  he  informed  he  must  have  surrendered  to  the  mercy  and 
justice  of  the  laws,  have  betrayed  the  wretched  Cause  he  had  zealously  engaged  in  and  brought  his 
Accomplices  to  that  End  they  justly  deserve.  On  the  whole  the  paper  in  question  is  wrote 
in  so  equivocal  a  Manner  and  the  Evidence  was  delivered  with  such  Perspicuity  and  Circumstance 
of  Truth  that  there  can  be  no  Doubt  of  Sheehy's  Guilt  while  his  Paper  must  appear  calculated  only 
to  deceive  the  Unwary  and  support  the  Nefarious  Principles  of  his  old  Associates." — Freeman's 
Journal  1766,  No  59-— March  25th— 9. 

(PP)  At  this  period  there  was  considerable  emigration  from  Waterford  and  Cork  to  the  CAt^ih 
At)  lAfs,  "  The  Land  of  the  Fish,"  as  it  was  termed. 

(qq)  Some  instances  of  a  similar  snare  will  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  Titus  Oates*  Plot.  As 
late  as  1867,  Talbot,  a  Protestant  spy  on  the  Fenians  of  Carrick-on-Suir,  employed  the  same  artiBce. 


History  of  Clonmel.  303 

Amongst  the  oldest  of  the  Irish  gentry  are  the  Wyses,  of  the  Manor  of 
St  John,  Waterford.  They  have  been  prominent  in  official  life  from  Sir 
William  Wyse,  "esquire  of  the  King's  body  "  in  1533,  to  Sir  Thomas  Wyse, 
statesman  of  the  days  of  Peel.  Amidst  all  the  wars  and  confiscations,  they 
contrived  to  save  a  portion  at  least  of  their  estates.  The  head  of  the  family 
in  Father  Sheehy's  time  was  Thomas  Wyse  fitz  Francis.  As  a  Catholic  of 
property  and  position,  he  fell  in  due  course  under  the  suspicion  of  the  leader 
of  "the  Protestant  interest."  When  James  Buxton,  of  Kilcoran,  was  in 
Kilkenny  gaol  awaiting  trial  for  the  "  battle  of  Newmarket,"  he  was  visited 
by  Rev.  John  Hewetson  and  Rev.  Lawrence  Brodrick,  with  a  view  to  his 
becoming  an  approver  against  "  Squire  Wyse."  Eight  years  later  Wyse  in 
making  his  will  recounts  the  difficulties  he  had  in  preserving  his  property. 

Whereas  the  abandoned  Reprobate  my  youngest  son  did  in  the  year  1763,  conform 
in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  said  Popery  Laws,  and  distress  me,  which  he  has  done 
in  a  very  feeling  and  sensible  manner  [i.e.  in  a  way  which  I  have  felt  and  am  sensible 
of]  however  without  success  in  his  attempt  to  make  me  Tenant  for  life  and  prevent  me 
from  selling. 

And  whereas  an  Atrocious  and  Sanguinary  Plott  was  forged  in  the  year  1763, 
commonly  called  Heweson's  Plott  (in  whidi  he  had  many  accomplishes)  (rr)  an  Obscure 
Country  Curate  in  the  County  of  Kilkenny  who  wanted  to  advance  and  recommend 
himself  for  preferment  in  the  Church  tho'  at  the  expence  of  Innocent  Blood,  and  had 
accordingly  corrupted  and  suborned  several  Infamous  Wretches  in  Different  Gaols  for 
felony  or  other  Capital.ofifences  to  Swear  away  the  lives  of  Several  Roman  Catholic 
Gentlemen  of  Property  in  the  Province  of  Munster  and  Leinster  and  Confiscate  their 
Estates.  The  unlawful  assemblage  of  the  White  Boys  at  that  time  in  Great  Numbers 
who  Committed  many  Disorders  and  out  Rages  was  Considered  and  laid  Hold  of  as  a 
favourable  Circumstance  to  propagate  the  report  (industriously  uttered)  of  an  Intended 
french  Invasion,  as  a  sanction  and  prelude  to  the  Execution  of  that  Execrable  Plott. 
Which  was  providentially  discovered  by  Edmond  Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  Brodrick  and 
Farrell  (ss),  who  had  been  tampered  with  by  the  said  Hewetson,  Broderick  a  clergyman 
also,  and  others,  to  swear  high  treason  against  such  persons  (set  forth  in  a  List  put  into 
their  hands  for  that  purpose)  as  they  had  proscribed  for  distruction.  And  notwith- 
standing the  promised  Reward  of  Pardon  (then  under  Sentence  of  Death  for  the 
Murther  of  one  John  Bridge,  of  which  they  were  afterwards  prooved  Innocent  by  the 
last  dying  speech  of  one  D^er  who  was  concerned  in  the  said  Murther)  if  they  would 


frr)  Added  subsequently  "  because  he  was  the  most  active  in  prosecuting  and  procuring  false 
witnesses  to  swear  against  thenn,  but  particularly  in  attempting  to  suborne  one  James  Bu^on  to 
swe;ir  against  me  that  I  bad  distributed  french  money  to  the  White  Boys  in  order  to  Engage  their 
attachment  and  allegiance  to  the  King  of  ffrance  and  sent  amongs  "  (sic). 

(ss)  "  One  Brodrick  a  Fellow  under  Rule  of  Transportation,  when  they  were  taking  him  with 
other  prisoners  transmitted  about  ten  days  ago  to  Limerick  in  order  to  t>e  transported  stopped  at  the 
great  door  of  Clonmel  Gaol  and  harangued  the  people  present  and  told  them  of  the  wicked  methods 
which  were  taking  to  prevail  upon  several  of  the  prisoners  to  swear  against  innocent  people, 
particularly  upon  himself  who  had  always  been  bred  a  Protestant.      He  named  the  persons  that 

attacked  him  particularly  the  R — d.  Mr.  D ^s,  the  R— d.  Mr.  M e." — Curry's  Enquiry.    The 

Rev.  Mr.  Dennis  and  Rev.  Mr.  Moore  wrote  to  the  Freeman  September  25th,  1766,  denying  they 
"  knew  the  person  of  the  infamous  Brodrick,  nor  ever  held  conversation  with  him  nor  with  any 
other  prisoner  to  the  base  purpose  suggested,  and  that  he  did  not  profess  the  Protestant  religion 
while  in  jail.*'    The  contradiction  does  not,  as  the  French  would  say,  arrive. 


394  History  of  Clonmel. 

swear  the  several  facts  (which  are  set  forth  in  their  last  dying  Speeches  delivered  to  the 
Sheriff)  and  thereby  corroborate  the  testimony  of  one  Toohy  a  Notorious  ofifender  and 
then  in  Jail  for  Horse  Stealing.  Yet  they  had  the  virtue  and  grace  to  withstand  that 
Temptation  Rather  than  spill  the  Blood  of  Innocent  people  of  whom  I  was  one  the 
unhappy  victims  set  down  in  the  said  Black  List  delivered  for  distruction  {tt)  tho'  at 
that  time  in  England  and  a  sojourner  there  for  two  years  before  for  the  Benefit  of  my 
health. 

Wherefore  in  the  first  place  to  prevent  the  operation  of  the  popery  Laws  on  my 
Real  Estate.  Secondly  to  save  and  preserve  a  Remnant  of  my  family  from  the 
Dazzling  temptations  to  perversion  (uu),  and  purchase  a  settlement  in  some  other 
Inhabitted  part  of  the  Globe  free  from  the  cruelty  and  oppression  of  the  popery  Laws, 
where  they  may  Enjoy  the  Legal  Exercise  of  their  Religion  with  every  other  advantage 
and  blessing  in  Common  with  the  natives  and  subjects  of  whatever  country  such 
settlement  may  be  found.  And  lastly  to  Remove  it  out  of  the  like  Danger  of  Conspiracy 
against  their  lives  and  property  to  which  Every  Roman  Catholic  who  has  any,  is  here 
exposed  to,  notwithstanding  his  Loyalty  and  a  professed  Allegiance  from  a  Religious 
principle  to  the  present  Royall  family  on  the  Throne.  For  which  and  many  other 
motives  I  say,  it  has  been  my  purpose  for  some  time  to  sell  my  Estate,  of  which  I  have 
already  made  a  beginning  and  hope  God  will  be  pleased  to  spare  my  life  to  dispose  of 
the  Remainder,  and  Enable  me  to  carry  my  purpose  into  due  Execution  but  in  case  any 
part  of  it  should  remain  unsold  at  the  time  of  my  decease,  my  will  is  that,  etc  (w). 

This  piece  of  autobiography  of  an  old  Catholic  gentleman  throws,  as  it 
were,  a  search-light  on  the  whole  case,  but  it  is  particularly  valuable  as  it 
afforded  a  clue  to  the  true  facts  of  Bridge's  murder.  The  writer  was  in  hopes 
that  a  copy  of  "  the  last  dying  speech  "  of  Dwyer  might  be  found  among 
the  Wyse  papers.  An  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  late  Major  Wyse 
enabled  a  search  to  be  made  through  the  voluminous  papers  at  the  Manor 
house  of  St.  John's,  Waterford,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  Several  news- 
paper files  from  1766-1775  were  also  consulted,  but  unavailingly.  At 
length,  by  accident,  the  document  came  to  light.  The  late  W.  J.  Fitzpatrick, 
Barrister-at-Law,  the  well  known  author  of  "  Ireland  Before  the  Union,"  and 
other  works,  obtained  many  years  ago  a  considerable  portion  of  the  papers 
of  the  Kemmis  family,  who  for  generations  had  been  Crown  and  Treasury 
solicitors.  Amongst  these  was  found  a  document,  duly  witnessed,  and 
bearing  all  the  evidences  of  being  the  authentic  "  Dying  Declaration  "  of 
Dwyer  himself  with  his  mark  upon  it.    The  following  is  a  copy. 

(ttj  Subsequently  added  "  And  whereas  Id  been  represented  by  a  sett  ol  evil  minded  persons 
to  Government  as  a  person  Disaffected  (tho'  I  had  Given  the  stronger  proof  of  my  Allegiance  and 
Fidelity  to  the  present  Royall  family  on  the  Throne)  and  in  consequence  thereof  my  house  was 
surrounded  and  insulted  by  a  whole  Regiment  on  the  false  and  Industrious  rumour  of  an  Intended 
Invasion,  in  search  of  French  officers." 

(uu)  Added  **  And  whereas  I  have  most  sensibly  felt  some  of  the  Baneful  and  unhappy  effects 
of  some  of  these  said  popery  Laws  (Deservedly  called  Crewel,  Inhuman  and  sanguinary  by  the  late 
Earl  of  Clanbrassil  a  zealous  and  Conscientious  protestant)  from  the  conformity  of  an  abandoned 
reprobate  Youngest  son  to  distress  and  make  me  Tenant  for  life.  For  which  and  many  other  cogent 
motives  tho'  not  without  the  most  mortification  that  an  estate  that  the  greatest  part  of  which  has 
been  in  the  family  upwards  of  500  years,  but  I  have  had  on  purpose  for  some  time  to  sell  in  order 
to  save  a  Remnant  of  the  Family  "  (sic). 

(w)  Will  of  Thomas  Wyse  fitz  Francis  dated  4th  January,  1775. — Prerogative  Wills,  Public 
Record  Office. 


History  of  Clonmel.  595 

The  last  speech  and  dying  words  of  Dennis  Dwyer  who  was  executed  in  Nag  [query  Knock] 

y  25^^  day  of  April,  1768. 

Declares  on  the  last  words  of  a  dying  man  that  Sir  Thomas  Maud,  John  Bagwell, 
Ambrose  Power,  and  Mathew  Bombary  Esq"  with  Parson  Heuston  came  to  him  several 
times,  repeating  how  happy  they  would  make  him  if  he  wou'd  prosecute  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Sheehy,  Ned  Meaghan,  James  Buxton  and  James  Farrell.  I  declare  in  the  presence 
of  my  Creator  before  whome  I  am  shortly  to  appear  that  I  never  did,  nor  cou'd  in  justice 
prosecute,  either  separately  or  together  them  Gentlemen ;  the  answer  I  made  Sir  Thomas 
Maude,  and  the  others  concerned  with  them  was,  since  I  cou'd  not  serve  them  that 
I  wou'd  receive  no  bribes,  no  longer  receive  the  substence  money  which  they  allow'd  me, 
being  nine  and  nine  pence  f^  week,  and  I  further  declare  as  a  dying  man,  that  each  and 
every  of  the  above  Gentlemen,  that  were  executed  at  Clonmel,  had  neither  act  nor  part, 
directly  or  indirectly  in  the  murther  of  John  Bridge,  who  was  strangled  by  two  men  in 
the  County  of  Cork,  one  of  them  went  to  the  American  Plantations,  the  other  is  still  in 
this  Kingdom,  I  cant  tell  where,  as  I  did  not  see  him  since  last  July.  I  further  declare 
on  the  word  of  a  dying  man  that  I  had  neither  act  or  part  in  the  murther  of  John 
Bridge  but  that  I  was  unfortunate  to  myself  present;  and  as  a  further  proof  of 
their  design  to  spill  the  blood  of  the  Innocent,  and  seeing  that  they  could  extort  nothing 
from  me,  who  in  Justice  and  truth  had  nothing  to  say  against  them  they  confin'd  me  in 
the  Barracks  of  Clonmell  with  a  double  guard  where  no  person  was  allow^  to 
see  me  or  to  spake  to  me,  except  the  Guards  themselves  and  kept  me  there  from 
S^  Stevens  day  was  twelve  month  till  the  assizes  following,  ofifering  me  Bribes  and 
money,  and  declaring  they  would  provide  for  me  and  Family  if  I  would  prosecute 
the  Gentlemen  who  were  to  be  tryed  soon  after,  and  after  all  Efforts  to  make  me 
prosecute  the  Gentlemen  then  confined,  failed  them  as  in  the  presence  of  God  I 
had  nothing  to  prove  against  them,  they  out  of  revenge,  made  three  of  the  light 
horse  make  affidavid  before  a  Magistrate  that  I  was  enlisting  men  for  the  King  of 
France"  service  and  then  committed  me  a  Prisoner  out  of  the  Barracks  to  the 
County  Gaol  of  Clonmell ;  Sir  Thomas  Maude  and  the  rest  know  the  truth  of  all  this,  I 
pray  G**  forgive  them,  as  I  heartily  do  and  all  my  Prosecutors. 

Present  John  Barry,  Town  Clerk  his 

John  Dunlavin  Dennis  X  Dwyer. 

Joseph  Braughel  mark  fwwj. 

The  inquiries  carried  on  by  Dr.  Madden  in  Clogheen  between  sixty  and 
seventy  years  ago,  are  singularly  verified  by  the  foregoing  document.  The 
additional  details  which  he  obtained  as  to  the  circumstances  of  the  murder, 
may  therefore  be  relied  on,  but  the  motive  of  the  murder — whether 
Whiteboyism,  robbery,  or  private  enmity — will  probably  never  be  known. 

Bridge  was  advised  to  leave  the  country ;  and  at  length  he  made  preparations  to 
do  so.  On  their  completion  he  took  leave  of  his  acquaintances ;  and  the  last  time  he 
was  seen  by  them,  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  house  of  an  old  friend  of  his,  Francis  Bier, 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  leave  of  him.  It  was  known  that  he  intended  calling  on 
another  of  his  acquaintances,  named  Timothy  Sullivan,  a  slater.  Sullivan  and  a  man 
of  the  name  of  Michael  Mahony  better  known  in  the  neighbourhood  by  the  name  in 
Irish  for  "  wicked  Michael "  lived  at  Knockaughrim  bridge ;  he  fell  into  their  hands 
and  was  murdered  by  them.  No  other  human  being  had  act  or  part  in  this  foul  deed. 
Mahony  fled  the  country ;  Sullivan  remained,  and  lived  and  died  unsuspected  by  the 
authorities.    Sullivan  was  a  Protestant ;  Mahony  a  Catholic 

fww)  Written  under  the  names  of  the  witnesses,  in  a  different  hand,  are  the  words  '*  Three 
Protestants." 


306  History  of  Clonmel. 

Such  are  the  facts  of  Bridge's  murder.  That  they  were  known  to  many 
at  the  time  of  Father  Sheehy's  execution  is  certain.  Nay,  more.  That  the 
truth  was  known  even  to  the  prosecutors  themselves  there  is  strong  reason  to 
suspect.  For  only  a  few  days  later,  the  efforts  they  were  making  to  convince 
the  world  that  the  priest  was  justly  hanged,  were  simply  frantic.  While 
Edmund  Sheehy  was  awaiting  trial  in  Kilkenny  for  "  the  battle  of  New- 
market," he  was  visited  by  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Brodrick  and  Rev.  John 
Hewetson  who  promised  to  procure  his  pardon  if  he  would  make  useful 
discoveries,  and  especially  prove  ''that  the  priest  died  with  a  lie  in  his 
mouth."  The  same  offer  was  renewed  by  Mathew  Bunbury  and  Sir  William 
Barker's  son  the  day  after  Sheehy's  condemnation  (xx).  The  inference  is 
inevitable. 

And  at  this  awful  time  when  the  lives  of  innocent  men  were  at  the  mercy 
of  felons,  prostitutes  and  corner-boys,  when  the  hunting  of  one's  fellow- 
creatures  became,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Charlemont,  a  fashionable  pastime, 
when  ministers  of  religion  darkening  counsel,  imbrued  their  hands  in  blood, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  people  looked  for  the  opening  of  the  heavens  and  awaited 
the  avenging  hand  of  God. 

Lecky  the  historian,  in  his  account  of  the  Sheehy  case  (yy)  writes : 
"  Stories  were  collected  and  believed  of  how  all  the  chief  parties  connected 
with  the  tragedy  came  to  an  unhappy  end."  The  historian  is  here  at  fault 
That  most  if  not  all  of  them  came  to  a  bad  end  is  not,  as  he  suggested, 
superstitious  report  or  old  wives'  talk,  but  a  fact  notorious  and  demonstrable. 
This  is  clear  from  a  pamphlet  discussion  carried  on  in  1787,  twenty-one  years 
after  Sheehy's  execution.  In  that  year  Arthur  O'Leary,  the  well-known  friar, 
published  a  sort  of  apologia  fzzj  in  which  the  following  remarks  occurred. 

That  unfortunate  man  (Father  Sheehy)  was  tried  before  the  Court  of  King's  Bench 
for  Whiteboyism  and  acquitted.  Sheehy,  whose  blood  his  enemies  thirsted  for,  is  at 
last  indicted  for  the  murder  of  one  Bridges,  a  man  of  no  good  character,  whose  dead 
body  could  not  be  found,  but  whose  living  body,  if  report  be  true,  was  afterwards  seen 
in  Newfoundland.  The  dead  bodies  of  rogues  who  had  been  murdered  in  one  kingdom 
have  been  afterwards  seen  living  bodies  in  another  as  so  many  enchanted  dragons 
watching  the  Hesperian  Gardens  of  the  temple  of  Venus,  alias  bullies  to  a  brothel. 
That  this  was  Bridge's  case  I  cannot  afirm  but  for  the  rest  the  history  of  the  kingdom 
is  my  voucher. 

Daniel  Toler  of  Grague,  who  had  been  high  sheriff  of  Tipperary  in 
1766,  the  year  of  Father  Sheehy's  execution,  and  was  now  member  of 
parliament  for  the  county,  felt  himself  called  upon  to  reply,  which  he  did  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  Tuesday,  March  13th,  1787. 

(xx)  Declaration  itifra. 

(yy)  History  of  Ireland  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  II.,  pp.  42  seq. 

fu)  Defence  Vindicating  His  Conduct  and  Writing  during  the  Late  Disturbances  in  Munster. — 
Dublin,  P.  Byrne,  1787. 


History  of  Clonmel.  -sov 

He  thought  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  rise  to  take  notice  of  a  calumny  that  had 
been  thrown  upon  the  gentlemen  of  that  part  of  the  country  in  which  he  lived,  by  a 
Mr.  O'Leary  who  had  presumed  to  stigmatize  some  of  the  best  characters  by  alleging 
that  Bridges,  the  person  for  whose  murder  one  Father  Sheehy  had  been  hanged,  was  still 
alive.  He  had  the  honour  to  be  high  sheriff  of  the  county  when  Sheehy  suffered,  and 
had  taken  care  to  impannel  a  most  respectable  jury ;  that  Sheehy  was  convicted  on  the 
iFullest  and  clearest  evidence ;  that  he  with  some  other  gentlemen  afterwards  visited  the 
convict  in  gaol,  who  confessed  that  Bridges  was  murdered  but  denied  that  he  himself 
was  a  Whiteboy  or  that  he  had  any  hand  in  the  murder ;  yet  the  next  day  at  the  place 
of  execution,  he  told  the  deluded  multitude  that  Bridges  was  alive  and  would  appear 
amongst  them  in  two  months.  He  (Toler)  thought  it  necessary  to  state  this,  to  detect 
such  agitators  as  Mr.  O'Leary  in  their  falsehood ;  and  he  concluded  with  saying  that 
a  cause  that  required  such  advocates  and  such  means  of  support  must  be  desperate 
indeed  (a). 

The  part  of  the  statement  as  to  Sheehy *s  declaration  at  the  place  of 
execution  is  a  gloss  on  the  words  "  he  (Sheehy)  did  not  know  there  was  any 
design  on  Bridge."  But  Toler's  observations  led  to  a  very  remarkable  letter, 
addressed  to  him  by  one  Amyas  Griffith  who  had  been  Inspector  General  of 
Excise  in  Munster  (b).  In  this  letter  Griffith  reviewed  the  whole  Sheehy  case, 
and  incidentally  referred  to  the  deaths  of  the  several  persons  connected  with 
the  prosecution,  as  facts  known  and  incontestable. 

Sir, — As  you  were  high  sheriff  of  the  County  Tipperary  when  the  unfortunate  Mr. 
Sheehy  suffered,  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  this  letter  to  you  on  the  subject 
to  which  I  am  more  particularly  led  in  consequence  of  your  declaration  some  time  since 
in  the  senate  of  the  nation,  relative  to  the  justice  of  his  fate.  However  I  would  not 
wish  you  would  conceive  the  most  distant  idea  that  I  intend  to  cast  any  reflection 
whatever  on  your  character.  Your  existence,  Sir,  at  this  day  is  perhaps  the  best  proof 
of  your  innocence  of  his  blood,  for  indeed  I  might  now  truly  say  that  out  of  all  his 
persecutors  there  is  not  an  individual  but  has  visited  that  bourne  from  whence 
no  traveller  returns.  Be  assured,  Sir,  no  man  can  be  less  superstitious  than  I  am, 
though  I  firmly  believe  a  Superior  Being  regards  the  actions  of  men.  But  as  the 
finger  of  Gkxi  is  so  frequently  legible,  we  trace  proofs  in  its  progress  of  His  existence 
and  attributes  not  less  demonstrative  than  those  of  Sacred  writ  or  the  universal  voice  of 

nature. 

Out  of  all  those  who  were  so  active  in  spilling  his  blood  is  there  an  individual  living 
this  day,  Mr.  Toler  ?  Will  you  account  me  superstitious  for  saying  that  this  might  be 
a  judgment  of  God?  The  judge  Who  tried  him,  instructed  his  prosecutors  and  connected 
their  zig-zag  evidence.  That  judge  is  now  no  more.  Sir  Thomas  Maude  was  the  man 
who  impannelled  the  jury  (who  ever  since  were  proverbially  partial),  need  I  tell  you  of 
the  manner  of  his  death — that  his  eyes  dropped  out  of  their  sockets,  that  he  died  with 
execrations  in  his  mouth,  that  the  stench  in  his  room  was  insupportable  ?  (c)  Need  I 
tell  you  the  fate  of  William  Bagnell  (d),  of  John  Bagwell  (e).  Lord  Carrick  ?  (f)    Need  I 

(a)  Parliamentary  Debates,  1787^ VII.,  p.  342. 

(b)  A  Letter  to  Daniel  Toler,  Esq.,  Relative  to  the  Death  of  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  etc. 
Dublin,  1788.    See  Chapter  XVII.  for  some  account  of  Griffith. 

fc)  Sir  Thomas  Maude  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  de  Montalt  four  months  after  the 
execution  of  Father  Sheehy.     He  died  17th  May,  1777. 

(d)  He  died  in  October,  1780. 

(e)  He  died  a  maniac,  it  is  said,  August,  1784.  "  The  unhappy  Bagwell  who  for  some  years 
before  his  death  conceited  that  he  always  saw  that  poor  victim  of  party,  the  headless  Sheehy,  at  his 
elbow." — Amyas  Griffith  to  Dominick  Trant,  Esq. 

(fj  He  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Butler,  chaplain  to  the  army  in  Flanders,  Created  Earl  of 
Carrick  in  1748.    Died  15th  April,  1774. 


398  History  of  Clonmel. 

point  out  the  many  who  fell  victims  to  the  Herodian  distemper  ?  Recollect,  Mr.  Toler, 
the  names  of  the  petit  jurors  and  the  manner  of  their  deaths.  Jonathan  Willington  of 
Castle  Willington,  was  one  of  them  as  well  as  I  can  recollect  He  was  a  particular 
acquaintance  of  yours ;  do  you  remember  he  dropt  dead  in  a  necessary  ?  Sandy  Hoops 
was  another;  he  was  drowned  in  a  ford  over  which  his  servant  passed  with  ease  (g). 
Robert  Going  died  suddenly  {hh  Edward  Dawson  was  killed  by  his  horse.  An  assistant 
in  the  cavalry  (I  forget  his  name)  was  thrown  by  his  horse  and  dragged  dead  into  the 
town  of  Nenagh  with  his  leg  fastened  in  the  stirrup — a  spectacle  of  horror.  In  short, 
Mr.  Toler,  all  the  jury  are  dead,  and  what  is  more  extraordinary,  they  all  got  sudden 
deaths. 

To  these  strange  particulars  Dr.  Madden  has  added  several  others. 

One  of  the  jury,  named  Tuthill,  cut  his  throat ;  another  named  Shaw,  was  choked ; 
another  named  Alexander  Hoops  was  drowned  ;  the  last  survivor  of  them  was  said  to 
have  been  accidentally  shot  by  Mr,  Sheehy  Keating  in  Rehill-wood,  on  a  sporting 
excursion.  Ferris  died  mad.  One  of  them  dropped  dead  at  his  own  door.  Another 
at  a  gentleman's  house  where  he  had  spent  the  night,  was  found  dead  in  a  privy. 
Dumvill  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  was  frightfully  disfigured.  Minchin  was  reduced  to 
beggary,  and  of  all  I  have  heard  only  of  one,  named  Dunmead,  who  died  a  natural 
death. 

THe  brochure  of  Griffith  was  fiercely  resented,  but  no  attempt  whatever 
was  made  to  challenge  his  statements.  The  most  skilful  pamphleteer  of  the 
day,  Patrick  Duigenan,  Advocate-General  and  Privy  Councillor,  in  a  reply 
written  under  the  name  of  "  Theophilus,"  feebly  remarks  : — 

Indeed  Amyas,  on  that  subject  [of  Father  Sheehy]  you  have  earned  strangulation. 
You  have  opened  wounds  which  the  lenient  hand  of  time  had  closed.  You  say  those 
who  were  concerned  in  the  death  of  that  man  a  visible  judgment  pursued,  and  that  they 
all  died  in  undescribable  misery.  May  their  relations  not  forgive  you  such  transceiidant 
impiety.  May  they  pursue  you  till  you  meet  with  a  similar  fate  I  Not  content  with 
reprobating  the  most  sacred  living  characters  you  open  the  tombs  of  the  dead  with 
your  unhallowed  hands,  and  hold  up  ashes  to  obloquy  which  can  no  more  defend  than 
ofifend.  The  relations  of  those  who  slumber  in  the  dust  should  whet  daggers  for  your 
bosom,  and  drag  you  like  another  Cacus  from  your  den  into  daylight  there  to  inflict 
tortures  on  you  who  have  ever  gloried  in  inflicting  them  on  others  (i). 

Griffith,  in  a  further  letter  to  Toler,  returned  to  the  charge. 

Several  of  the  surviving  friends  of  those  who  thirsted  most  for  Sheehy's  blood 
extorted  from  me  a  promise  that  I  would  not,  to  use  the  language  of  Theophilus, 
"  open  their  graves."  The  frankness  with  which  I  always  disclose  my  sentiments  and 
which  was  not  to  be  shaken  even  by  the  idea  of  self-preservation,  struck  with  terror 
those  concerned  for  their  fame.  But  though  I  promised  to  avoid  personalities,  I 
declared  that  I  would,  as  you  rose  up  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  defend  their  memory, 
throw  such  a  light  on  the  subject  as  would  prevent  anything  that  fell  from  you  hereafter, 
have  any  weight  whatever  in  the  public  estimation 

(g)  "  Clonmel  20th  November,  1780.  Last  Tuesday  evening  as  Alexander  Hoops  of  Tipperary, 
Esq.,  was  crossing  the  ford  of  Ballyhooley  (near  Fermoy  in  the  Co.  Cork)  on  the  river  BlackWatcr, 
his  horse  having  stumbled  and  fell,  he  was  unfortunately  drowned.  Every  search  has  been  made 
for  his  body  but  hitherto  without  effect."— ///ft^rwiaw  Magazine,  December  1780. 

(h)  In  1779. 

(0  Observations  on  Tithes,  Theophilus,  Dublin,  1788. 


History  of  Clonmel.  390 

You  Sir,  are  happy  in  one  respect  their  blood  lies  not  on  your  head.  As  an 
executive  officer  you  did  but  your  duty — painful  however  must  be  the  remembrance.of 
that  duty  be  to  you  on  reflection — for  I  know  you  are  not  destitute  of  feeling. 

In  the  whole  province  of  Munster  there  was  not  one  moderate  man  at  the  time  of 
Sheehy's  death  who  would  be  certain  of  his  own  life,  such  great  rewards  were  promised 
to  good  swearers.  How  many  have  been  hanged  attesting  their  innocence  in  the  awful 
moment  of  launching  into  eternity!  Why  then  Mr.  Toler  6.6  you  blame  me  of 
contributing  my  mite  towards  raising  my  countrymen  beyond  the  influence  of  similar 
prejudices! 

Where  are  the  powerful  leaders  of  all  the  prosecutions  at  Clonmel,  Kilkenny,  etc., 
all — all  long  since  sleeping  in  death.  Can  you  contradict  this  fact  ?  You  dare  not  for 
your  honour.  If  there  be  a  Gkxi  ruling  all  the  orbs  of  the  vast  inane,  and  that  there  is, 
all  nature  cries  aloud,  ere  this,  they  have  repented  of  their  bloody  deeds.  Silent  in  the 
dust  they  lie,  recollected  by  mankind  with  execrations  for  the  mischief  of  their 
lives  (j). 

The  reader  has  now  all  the  contemporary  evidence  upon  the  case.  For 
a  long  time  the  hanging  of  Father  Sheehy  was  the  subject  of  angry 
controversy.  Few  at  this  day  will  question  Lecky's  judgment  as  to  the 
infamous  partiality  that  characterized  the  proceedings  against  him  (k).  The 
issue  really  tried  was  not  the  murder  of  Bridge ;  it  was  a  wider  and  more 
passionate  one.  John  Hampden  was  not  more  the  representative  of  English 
resistance  to  despotism,  than  Nicholas  Sheehy  the  champion  of  a  persecuted 
creed  and  an  oppressed  people.  For  this  he  was  hanged,  and  for  this  the 
hearts  of  the  people  have  gone  out  to  him. 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  documents  illustrate  the  process  of  manufacturing  evidence 
by  the  managers  of  the  prosecution.  In  the  examination  of  Toohy  it  will  be 
noticed  that  there  is  not  a  single  reference  to  the  murder  of  Bridge,  or  of  the 
Whiteboy  meeting  at  which  it  was  supposed  to  be  perpetrated.  That  piece 
of  evidence  had  not  been  yet  evolved. 


(j)  Griffith  to  Toler,  23  Clarendon  Street,  April  20lh,  1789.  "  The  condemnation  of  Mr.  Sheehy 
occasioned  great  dissatisfaction  and  complaint  amongst  the  Roman  Catholics  in  general ;  and  the 
proceedings  on  his  trial  (which  lasted  about  ten  hours)  became  the  subject  of  much  animadversion. 
It  has  been  asserted  that  amongst  the  twelve  persons  of  whom  the  Jury  on  this  tripl  consisted,  not 
one  of  them  died  naturally.  The  fact  is  not  true  in  general,  but  it  is  known  that  some  of  them  met 
with  an  untimely  end.  However  it  does  not  seenfi  that  any  inference  can  be  reasonably  drawn  from 
that  circumstance." — Collectanea  Politica,  William  W.  Seward,  I.,  p.  158.     II.  Dublin,  1801. 

(k)  There  is  one — that  paragon  of  historians,"  Froude.  He  states  "  an  escort  of  troops  carrying 
a  prisoner  to  Clonmel  Jail  was  set  upon  near  Sheehy's  house  and  several  soldiers  killed.  He  was 
suspected  of  being  concerned  in  the  rescue,"  etc.  This  is  the  historian's  account  of  the  affray  at 
Xewmarket.     Ex  feiU  Herculcm . 


400  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  information  of  John  Twohy  now  Prisoner  in  his  Majesties  Goal  of  Clonmell  in 

s<*  County. 
TVw...^  /,/•  n^^^^ii      Who  being  duly  Examined  and  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists 
and  Deposeth  and  saith  that  sometime  in  the  month  of  8««- 1762  James 

Countv  of  TiDt*y      Buxton  of  Killroe  Farmer  and  James  Farrell  otherwise  Buck 
To  wit  Farrell  of  Rehill  Farmer  both  in  said  County  became  acquainted 

with  the  Informant  in  the  Town  of  Tipperary  and  inticed  him  to 
go  home  with  them  and  that  as  the  informant  played  on  the  fiddle  the  s^  Buxton  and 
Farrell  would  engage  to  get  him  a  livelyhood  in  their  Neighbourhood,  inform*  saith  that 
about  3  or  4  days  after  he  had  gon  to  Buxton's  house  the  s<*  Buxton  and  Farrell  together 
with  Edm**  Butler  of  Killroe  afores**  John  Hickey  of  Curraghtour  James  Herbert  a 
French  officer  who  frequently  lived  with  James  Hilan  of  Lisfunshion  all  in  s**  County 
compelled  inform*  to  take  an  oath  to  be  true  to  Shevan  ne  Meskill  and  her  children 
during  inform*'  life,  and  to  be  ready  on  all  occasions  that  the  society  may  at  any  time 
want  him  for.    Saith  that  some  time  after  the  above  swearing  Nicholas  Sheehy  Popish 
Priest  of  the  Parish  of  Shanrahan,  Edmond  Sheehy  otherwise  Buck  Sheehy  of  the 
Lodge,  Thomas  Beere  of  Burgess,  Robert  Keating  of  Knocka,  John  Burk  of  Rouska, 
James  Hickey  of  Frehans,  James  Hilan  of  Lisfunshion,  Tho*  Magrath  of  Cloheen 
woolcomber,  Edm^  Mehan  of  Cloheen  also  called  the  Bracked  Bailiff,  James  Green  and 
Michael  Green  of  Cappagh,  Edmond  Prendergast,  the  said  Buxton  and  Farrell  all  in 
the  s<*  County  together  with  several  other  persons  unknown  to  this  informant  met  at 
night  on  the  lands  of  Drumloman  in  s^  County  all  or  most  of  them  dressed  in  white, 
white  Bandages  and  cockades  in  their  hats  and  several  of  them  armed  with  swords 
guns  and  pistols  and  that  the  aforesaid  persons  acted  as  officers  and  drew  up  the  rest 
of  the  party  in  Ranks  and  exercised  them  as  soldiers  and  that  inform*  played  the  fiddle 
for  them.    Saith  that  on  the  Eve  of  Christmas  following,  the  s<*  James  Buxton,  James 
Farrell,  Tho«  Magrath,  Edm<*  Butler,  John  Hickey,  John  Burk,  Edm<*  Prendergast, 
Edm<*  Sheehy  otherwise  Buck  Sheehy,  James  Herbert,  James  Hilan  and  one  Nathaniel 
Carew  and  several  others  with  whom  the  inform*  was  in  Company  feloniously  set  fire 
to  and  burned  a  Haggard  of  com  the  property  of  Joseph  Tinnison  on  the  lands  of 
Killdonogy  in  s**  County,  informant  further  saith  that  about  Shrovetide  in  the  year 
1763  the  white  boys  met  at  Cashell  from  the  different  parts  of  the  Country  headed  by 
John  Purcell  of  Thurles  Gent,  W"  Ryan  of  Mealive,  Mathew  Thomson  of  Monroe, 
Edw<*  Doherty  of  Roxborough,  John  Baldwin  of  Cahir,  Robert  Keating  of  Knocka, 
Edm<*  Prendergast  who  sometimes  lives  at  Thos  Butler's  of  Monroe,  Tho*  Beere  of 
Burgess,  John  Burk  of  Rouska,  James  Buxton  afores***  James  Farrell,  Edm**  Sheehy 
otherwise  Buck  Sheehy,  Edm**  Butler  and  John  Hickey  afores**  with  several  other  gentle- 
men whom  informant  cannot  at  present  recollect ;  and  that  the  s<*  persons  ordered  their 
different  parties  to  levell  the  wall  about  the  Rock  of  Cashell  and  that  as  soon  as  the  wall 
was  levelled  the  afores**  Officers  distributed  money  to  eadi  of  the  parties  who  assisted 
in  levelling  the  wall.    Informant  further  saith  that  most  of  the  afores^  persons  with 
several  others  frequently  assembled  at  night  at  different  times  but  parted  without  doing 
any  mischief,  saith  that  on  the  night  of  the  3«*  of  September  last  the  s**  James  Buxton, 
James  Farrell,  John  Burk,  Edm<*  Sheehy,  Nicholas  Sheehy  the  Priest,  Edm<*  Prendergast, 
James  Hilan,  James  Herbert  and  several  others  met  on  the  Green  of  Ardfinan  in  s**  county 
to  consult  about  some  business  they  were  to  undertake  and  further  that  on  the  night  of 
the  Eleventh  or  thereabout  of  September  aforesaid  the  s**  persons  met  again  at  the  same 
place  and  collected  or  made  up  among  them  four  guineas  which  they  gave  to  the 
informant  in  order  to  purchase  what  quantity  of  arms  of  any  kind  he  could  and  that 
he  came  to  Clonmell  with  intent  to  purchase  s**  arms  but  was  robed  and  the  money 
taken  from  him  ;  inform*  further  saith  that  about  the  l6**»  or  17***  of  September  aforesaid 
at  night  the  s**  James  Buxton,  James  Farrell,  James  Herbert,  Edm**  Butler,  John  Hickey 
and  the  inform*  went  into  a  field  belonging  to  Edm<*  Kent  of  Castlegrace  in  s**  county 
and  catched  a  horse  belonging  to  s**  Kent  and  the  s**  Buxton  and  Farrell  cut  off  the  ears 
of  the  s<*  horse  close  to  his  skull  while  the  s**  Butler  held  the  horse  with  a  grin  by  the 
nose  which  horse  the  infor.  has  since  heard  is  dead. 
John  twohey. 
Truely  read  to  inform*-    Taken  sworn  and  by  me  W™  Bagnell    acknowledged 
before  me  %^'  26*»»  1765. 
In  I>orso. 
I  believe  this  is  exactly  the  same  t\^  what  you  gave  me  in  Court  this  morning, 


History  of  Clonmel.  ^oi 

Counts  of  KUbennv      ^^^  information  of  Mary  Butler  Prisoner  in  his  Majesty's  goal 
to  wit  ^^  ^**  County  who  being  duly  sworn  and  examined  deposeth  and 

saith  that  many  times  in  or  about  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1762  she  saw  John  Butler,  Ed  Meehan  and  Tho»  Magrath  of  Cloheens  in  the  CoxxuXy 
of  Tipperary,  James  Buxton  of  Kilcooran,  Roger  Sheehy  of  Ballyporeen  otherwise  call'd 
Red  Roger — one  Brian  of  Ballyporeen,  James  and  Tho"  Couglan  both  of  Ballyporeen, 
John  Coughlan  of  Cranagh  Phisician,  Ed  Prendergast  of  Tullough,  Ed  Sheehy  of  the 
Lodge  commonly  called  Buck  Sheehy,  John  Burk  of  Rowskagh,  Ed  Burk  of  Tullagh, 
James  Hilan  of  Rosaclinane,  James  Neagle  of  Garrynavalla,  James  Hickey  of  Frehans, 
Tho*  Beere  of  Burgess,  all  in  s**  County  that  often  about  s**  time  she  saw  above  named 
persons  at  several  meetings  of  the  White  Boys  aiding  and  assisting  them  under  the 
direction  of  Nic*  Sheahy  of  Shanrahan  Popish  Priest  in  several  treasonable  practices 
all  which  Dep*  swears  to  be  true  and  further  saith  not.  i^gj. 

Sworn  before  us  March  !■*  1765.  Mary  X  Butler. 

Carrick  Her*  Langrishe.  mark 

(In  Dorso) 
Mary  Butler's  Information. 
Received  from  Lord  Carrick 

4  March  1765. 

r^,.,t»  ^f  J6%7fc^^««      The  Information  of  Mary  Butler  Prisoner  in  his  Majesty's  goal 
to  wi  ^^^  ^^^  ^"^y  ^^^"^  l^^  ®^^  ^  ^^^^  deposeth  and  saith  that  in 

or  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1762  she  has  frequently  seen 
Tho*  Brofy  of  Callan  Carrier  deliver  and  carry  Letters  backwards  and  forwards  between 
Nic*  Sheehy  Popish  Priest  and  the  white  boys  of  Callan  and  that  he  was  present  at 
several  of  their  Treasonable  meetings  near  Cloheen— and  that  W"  Scully  near  Callan 
in  s<*  County  Farmer,  Pat  Cantwel  of  Callan  Carrier,  and  one  who  was  call'd  the  Gen*  of 
Callan  whose  name  Dep*  does  not  know,  but  would  know  him  if  she  were  to  see  him, 
were  aiding  and  assisting  the  white  boys  in  their  Treasonable  practices  all  which 
Dep'  swears  to  be  true  and  further  saith  not.  I^gj. 

Sworn  before  us  l»'  day  of  March  Mary  X  Butler. 

1765.  mark 

Carrick  Her*  Langrishe. 

In  Dorso 
Mary  Butler's  Information. 
Rtc^  from  Lord  Carrick 
4  March  1765. 

IRELAND. 

The  Information  of  Mary  Butler  Prisoner  in  Kilkenny  goal  who  being  duly  sworn  on 
the  Holy  Evangelists  deposeth  and  saith  that  she  was  three  several  times  between  the  first 
of  October  last  and  Christmas  day  in  company  at  Clogheen  in  the  County  of  Tipperary 
with  a  person  now  confined  in  Waterford  goal  who  went  sometimes  by  the  name  of  John 
Meahan  and  sometimes  by  the  name  of  Maghedan,  and  sometimes  by  the  name  of  Magan, 
that  there  were  also  present  Nicholas  Sheehy  Popish  Priest,  John  Butler  her  brother, 
Michael  Mahony  Countryman,  James  Butler,  Timothy  Malone  and  John  Driscal  all 
reputed  French  Officers  and  one  Read  another  reputed  French  Officer  and  that  at  all  these 
times  the  said  Magan  or  Maghedan  and  the  above  named  persons  were  consulting  about 
raising  men  in  order  to  join  French  forces  who  were  expected  to  invade  the  kingdom  and 
that  at  one  of  the  said  Meetings  said  Magan  gave  nine  guineas  to  said  Sheehy  in  order  to 
pay  the  inlested  men  and  that  Sheehy  gave  two  of  the  said  guineas  to  her  brother  John 
Butler  and  put  the  other  seven  in  his  pocket  and  said  many  mouths  were  calling  for  it 
and  said  Mary  Butler  farther  says  that  at  sundry  other  particulars  she  refers  to  her 
examination  given  before  the  L**  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench  at  his  house  in 
Dublin  and  further  saith  not.  ^^j. 

Sworn  before  me  this  Mary  X  Butler. 

14th  day  of  March.  1765.  mark 

Carrick. 

B  I 


^02  History  of  Clonmel. 

"  The  Dying  Declaration  of  Mr,  Edmund  Sheehy : — 

"As  I  am  shortly  to  appear  before  the  great  tribunal  of  Gkxi,  where  I  expect, 
through  the  passion  and  sufferings  of  my  Redeemer,  to  be  forgiven  the  many  crimes 
and  offences,  which  I  have  committed  against  so  great  and  merciful  a  Gkxi,  I  sincerely 
forgive  the  world,  I  forgive  my  judges,  jury,  prosecutors,  and  every  other  who  had  a 
hand  in  spilling  my  innocent  blood ;  may  the  great  God  forgive  them,  bless  them,  and 
may  they  never  leave  this  world,  without  sincerely  repenting,  and  meriting  that  felicity 
which  I  hope,  through  the  wounds  of  Christ,  soon  to  enjoy. 

"  I  think  it  incumbent,  as  well  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  public,  as  the  ease  of  my 
own  mind,  to  declare  the  truth  of  every  crime  with  which  I  was  impeached,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  day  of  my  conviction. 

"  First.  The  meeting  at  Kilcoran,  sworn  by  James  Herbert,  and  the  murder  of  John 
Bridge,  sworn  to  by  him,  and  the  rest  of  the  informers. 

"  Second.  The  meeting  at  Ardfinan,  swore  by  Guinan  in  October,  1763,  and  several 
other  meetings  and  treasonable  practices,  at  all  which  I  was  sworn  to  be  present  as  the 
principal  acting  person. 

"  Third,  That  I  had  a  hand  in  burning  John  Fearise's  turf,  and  extirpating  his 
orchard,  taking  arms  from  soldiers,  burning  Joseph  Tennison's  corn,  levelling  walls,  and 
many  other  atrocious  crimes  against  the  peace  and  tranquility  of  the  present  happy 
constitution. 

"  First.  I  now  solemnly  declare,  that  I  did  not  see  a  Whiteboy,  since  the  year  1762, 
and  then  but  once  or  twice ;  and  that  I  never  was  present  at  the  levelling  at  the  Rock 
of  Cashel,  or  any  other  wall  or  commons  in  my  life,  nor  even  gave  counsel  or  advice  to 
have  it  done,  or  ever  had  any  previous  knowledge  of  such  intentions,  nor  do  I  know  to 
this  minute  any  one  man  that  was  at  the  levelling  of  the  said  wall. 

"2ndly.  I  declare  that  I  never  saw  Herbert  until  the  day  of  my  trial,  and  that  I 
never  was  at  a  meeting  at  Kilcoran ;  never  heard  an  oath  of  allegiance  proposed  nor 
administered  in  my  life  to  any  sovereign  king  or  prince ;  never  knew  any  thing  of  the 
murder  of  Bridge,  until  I  heard  it  publicly  mentioned ;  nor  did  I  know  there  was  any 
such  design  on  foot,  and  if  I  had  I  would  have  hindered  it,  if  in  my  power. 

"  3rdly.  The  battle  of  Newmarket,  for  which  I  was  tried — I  declare  I  never  was  at 
Newmarket,  nor  do  I  know  there  was  a  rescue  intended ;  nor  do  I  believe  did  any  man 
in  the  county  of  Tipperary. 

"4thly.  I  declare  that  I  never  meant  or  intended  rebellion,  high  treason,  or 
massacre,  or  ever  heard  any  such  wicked  scheme  mentioned  or  proposed,  nor  do  I  believe 
there  was  any  such  matters  in  view,  and  if  there  was,  that  I  am  wholly  ignorant  of  them. 

"5thly.  I  declare  that  I  never  knew  of  either  French  or  Spanish  officers, 
commissions,  or  money  paid  to  those  poor  ignorant  fools  called  Whiteboys,  or  a  man 
held  in  the  light  of  a  gentleman  connected  with  them. 

"  I  was  often  attacked,  during  my  confinement  in  Kilkenny,  by  the  Rev.  Lawrence 
Brodrick  (/)  and  the  Rev.  John  Hewson,  to  make  useful  discoveries,  by  bringing  in  men 
of  weight  and  fortune,  that  there  was  an  intended  rebellion  and  massacre,  French  officers, 
commissions,  and  money  paid,  and  by  so  doing,  that  would  procure  my  pardon,  difficult 
as  it  was. 

"  The  day  after  my  trial,  Edmund  Bagnell  came  to  me  from  the  grand  jury,  and 
told  me  if  I  would  put  those  matters  in  a  clear  light,  that  I  would  get  my  pardon.  I 
made  answer,  that  I  would  declare  the  truth,  which  would  not  be  heard.  Sir  William 
Barker^s  son  and  Mr.  Matthew  Bunbury  came  to  me  the  same  evening,  with  words  to 
the  same  purpose,  to  which  I  replied  as  before.  Nothing  on  this  occasion  would  give 
sufficient  content,  without  my  proving  the  above,  and  that  the  priest  died  with  a  lie  in 
his  mouth,  which  was  the  phrase  Mr.  Hewson  (Hewetson)  made  use  of.  I  sent  for  Sir 
Thomas  Maude  the  day  of  my  sentence,  and  declared  to  him  the  meeting  at  Drum- 
lemmon,  where  I  saw  nothing  remarkable,  but  two  or  three  fellows,  who  stole  hay  from 


(I J  Broderick  was  rector  of  Newcastle.     His  enmity  to  Father  Sheehy  arose,  it  would  appear, 
out  of  the  latter's  opposition  to  Churcii  Kates. 


History  of  Clonmel.  403 

Mr.  John  Keating,  were  whipped,  and  sworn  never  to  steal  to  the  value  of  a  shilling  during 
life.  I  saw  Thomas  Bier  there,  which  I  told  Sir  Thomas  and  Mr.  Buhbury,  and  begged  of 
them  never  to  give  credit  to  Herbert,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  matter  except  what  Bier 
knew. 

"  I  do  declare  I  saw  Bier  take  a  voluntary  oath  more  than  once,  in  the  gaol  of 
Clonmel,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  murder ;  nor  do  I  believe  he  did.  May  God  forgive 
him,  and  the  rest  of  those  unhappy  informers,  and  all  those  who  had  a  hand  in 
encouraging  them  to  swear  away  innocent  lives. 

"  I  further  declare,  that  I  have  endeavoured,  as  much  as  was  in  my  power,  to 
suppress  this  spirit  of  the  Whiteboys,  where  I  thought  or  suspected  the  least  spark  of 
it  to  remain. 

"  The  above  is  a  sincere  and  honest  declaration,  as  I  expect  to  see  God ;  nor  would 
I  make  any  other  for  the  universe,  which  must  be  clear  to  the  gentlemen  who  offered  me 
my  life  if  I  would  comply.  May  the  great  God  forgive  them,  and  incline  their  hearts  to 
truth,  and  suffer  them  not  to  be  biassed,  nor  hurried  on  by  party  or  particular  prejudices, 
to  persevere  any  longer  in  falsely  representing  those  matters  to  the  best  of  kings,  and 
to  the  humanest  and  best  of  governments,  which  I  pray  God  may  long  continue. 

"  I  die,  in  the  33ni  year  of  my  age,  an  unworthy  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome ; 
the  Lord  have  mercy  on  my  soul  I— Amen !    Amen ! 

"  I  was  informed  that  Mr.  Tennison's  com  was  burnt  by  one  of  his  own  servants, 
but  accidentally,  and  that  since  my  confinement ;  I  thought  so  always. 

"  Signed  by  me  this  2nd  of  May,  1766. 

"  Edmund  Sheehy. 

"  Present—James  Buxton,  James  Farrell." 


"  A   Copy  of  the  Dying  Declaration  of  James  Buxton,  of  Kilcoran,  in  the  County  of 
Tipperary, 

for  the  murder  of  one  John  Bridge ;  John  Toohy,  and  Thomas  Bier,  prosecutors ;  God 
forgive  them.  Whereas  I,  the  said  James  Buxton,  was  arraigned  at  my  trial,  for  having 
aided  and  assisted,  and  committed  many  flagrant  crimes  against  his  Majesty's  law  and 
government  since  the  rise  of  the  Whiteboys,  upon  the  information  of  Michael  Guinan 
and  John  Toohy.  I  thought  it  proper  to  disabuse  the  public,  by  this  declaration,  which 
I  make  to  God  and  the  world  concerning  my  knowledge  of  these  matters. 

"First,  as  to  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  I  solemnly  declare  in  the  presence  of  Gkxi, 
before  whose  holy  tribunal  I  shortly  expect  to  appear,  that  I  neither  consulted  nor 
advised,  aided  nor  abbetted,  nor  had  I  the  least  notion  of  any  one  that  did,  to  the  killing 
of  John  Bridge ;  nor  did  my  prosecutor,  John  Toohy,  ever  serve  me  an  hour  since  I  was 
bom ;  neither  did  I  ever,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  lay  my  eyes  on  him  but  one 
night,  on  the  l8th  September  last,  when  he  lay  at  my  house  and  went  by  the  name  of 
Lucius  O'Brien.  He  was  pursued  next  moming  by  one  William  O'Brien,  of  Clonmel, 
whom  he  robbed  of  some  clothes  two  days  before,  and  was  taken  in  Clogheen  for  the 
same  robbery,  and  said  O'Brien's  clothes  and  other  things  were  found  upon  him,  for 
which  he  was  committed  to  gaol  and  then  tumed  approver. 

"  As  to  every  other  thing  that  Michael  Guinan  and  said  Toohy  swore  against  me,  I 
further  solemnly  declare,  in  the  presence  of  my  great  Gkxi,  that  I  neither  did  any  such 
thing,  nor  was  at  any  such  meeting  or  levelling  as  they  swore  against  me,  except 
Dmmlemmbn,  and  upon  the  word  of  a  dying  man,  neither  of  them  was  there.  Nor  was 
any  man,  upon  the  same  word  of  a  dying  man,  that  was  yet  apprehended  or  suffered, 
in  my  belief  concemed  in  the  murder  of  Bridge ;  and  that  I  verily  believe  and  am 
persuaded  that  no  prosecutor  that  yet  appeared  was  present,  or  any  way  concemed  in 
that  murder,  though  Thomas  Bier,  God  forgive  him,  swore  that  he  and  I  were  within 
two  yards  of  John  Bridge  when  he  was  murdered  by  Edmund  Meehan  with  a  stroke  of 
a  bill-hook. 

"  Secondly,  I  solemnly  declare  and  protest  in  the  presence  of  my  great  God,  that  I 
never  heard  nor  ever  learned  of  a  rebellion  intended  in  this  kingdom,  nor  never  heard  of 


404  History  of  Clonmel. 

nor  ever  saw  any  French  officers,  or  French  money  coming  into  this  country,  nor  ever 
heard  that  any  merchants  supplied  or  intended  to  supply  any  money  for  the  Whiteboys, 
or  for  any  other  purpose  ;  nor  ever  saw,  heard,  or  could  discover,  that  any  allegiance 
was  sworn  to  any  prince  or  potentate  in  the  world,  but  to  his  present  majesty 
King  George  the  Third ;  and  I  further  declare,  on  my  dying  words,  that  I  never  knew 
nor  discovered,  nor  even  imagined,  that  any  massacre  whatsoever  was  intended  against 
any  person  or  persons  in  this  kingdom.  And  I  declare,  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God, 
that  I  positively  believe  and  am  persuaded,  that  if  any  of  the  foregoing  treacherous  or 
treasonable  combinations  were  to  be  carried  on,  I  would  have  learned  or  heard  something 
of  them. 

"  Thirdly.  That  last  Lent  Assizes,  in  Kilkenny,  where  I  stood  indicted  and  was 
arraigned  for  the  battle  of  Newmarket,  that  the  Rev.  John  Hewetson  and  Rev.  Lawrence 
Broderick  tampered  with  me  for  six  hours  and  more,  setting  forth  the  little  chance  I  had 
for  my  life  there  at  Kilkenny  ;  and  though  I  should,  that  I  would  have  none  at  all  in 
Clonmel,  but  that  they  would  write  Lord  Carrick  immediately  to  procure  my  freedom, 
if  I  would  turn  approver,  and  swear  to  an  intended  rebellion,  treasonable  conspiracies, 
and  a  massacre  against  the  principal  Popish  clergy  and  gentlemen  of  my  county,  whose 
names  they  have  set  down  in  a  long  piece  of  paper ;  but  wanted  me  particularly  to  swear 
against  Squire  Wyse,  Philip  Long,  Dominick  Farrell,  Martin  Murphy,  Doctor  Creagh, 
and  Michael  Lee,  and  that  I  should  also  swear  the  Priest  Sheehy  died  with  a  lie  in  his 
mouth.  Likewise,  that  I  was  at  the  battle  of  Newmarket  and  received  a  letter  from  one 
Edmund  Tobin  to  be  at  said  battle,  and  this  in  order  to  corroborate  the  informer  Toohy's 
oath  and  the  oaths  of  three  of  the  light  horse,  who  swore  they  saw  me  there.  One  in 
particular  swore  he  broke  his  firelock  on  my  head.  Now,  as  I  expect  salvation  from  the 
hands  of  God,  I  neither  received  a  message  or  letter,  nor  heard  or  discovered  that  this 
battle  of  Newmarket  was  to  occur,  nor  any  circumstance  regarding  it  until  it  was 
advertised.  And  I  further  declare  in  the  presence  of  my  great  God,  that  I  never  was 
nearer  this  place  they  call  Newmarket  than  the  turnpike  road  that  leads  from  Dublin 
to  Cork,  for  I  never  was  two  yards  eastwards  of  that  road.  As  to  the  schemes  of  the 
Whiteboys,  as  far  I  could  find  out  in  the  parish  of  Tubrid,  where  I  lived,  I  most  solemnly 
declare  before  Almighty  God  nothing  more  was  meant  than  the  detection  of  thieves  and 
rogues,  which  the  said  parish  was  of  late  remarkable  for ;  an  agreement  to  deal  for 
tithes  with  none  but  the  dean  or  minister  whose  tithe  was  of  his  or  their  immediate 
living ;  as  to  levelling,  that  I  never  found  out  any  such  thing  to  have  been  committed  in 
said  parish  of  any  consequence  but  one  ditch  belonging  to  John  Griffin,  of  Kilcoran ;  nor 
was  I  ever  privy  to  any  wall  or  ditch  that  ever  was  levelled  by  Whiteboys  in  the  county 
of  Tipperary  or  any  other  county. 

"  I  also  declare,  that  I  never  approved  of  the  proceedings  of  levellers,  and  that  my 
constant  admonition  to  every  person  whom  I  thought  concerned  in  such  vile  practices 
was  to  desist,  for  that  the  innocent  would  suffer  for  the  guilty. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  this  2nd  day  of  May,  and  the  year  1766. 

"James  Buxton. 

**  Present— -Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Farrell." 


The  Declaration  of  James  Farrell. 

"  As  I  am  shortly  to  appear  before  the  great  God,  where  I  expect,  through  the 
passion  of  our  dear  Redeemer,  to  be  forgiven  the  many  crimes  and  oflfences  which  I 
have  committed  against  so  great  and  just  a  God,  I  now  sincerely  forgive  the  world  in 
general,  and  in  particular  them  that  have  been  the  cause  of  wrongfully  spilling  my 
blood. 

"  1st,  The  crime  for  which  I  am  to  die,  is  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  and  swearing 
at  Kilcoran. 

"  2ndly,  The  burning  of  Joseph  Tennison's  corn,  John  Fearise's  turf,  and  all  other 
things  that  belonged  to  the  Whiteboys. 


History  of  Clonmel.  405 

"  3rdly,  The  battle  of  Newmarket,  which  I  stood  a  trial  for  in  Kilkenny  ; — I  now 
declare  to  the  great  tribunal,  that  I  am  as  innocent  of  all  the  aforesaid  facts  which  I 
have  been  impeached  with,  as  the  child  unborn,  in  either  counsel,  aiding,  assisting,  or 
knowledge  of  said  facts.  I  therefore  think  it  conscionable  to  declare  what  the  following 
gentlemen  wanted  me  to  do,  in  order  to  spill  innocent  blood,  which  was  not  in  the 
power  of  any  man  in  the  world  to  perform. 

"  These  are  the  gentlemen  as  follow :  The  Revd.  John  Hewetson,  John  Bagwell, 
Matthew  Bunbury,  Mr.  Toler,  William  Bagnell,  Edmund  Bagnell,  and  some  of  the  light 
horse  officers.  The  day  I  was  condemned  they  came  along  with  me  from  the  court- 
house to  the  gaol,  where  they  carried  me  into  a  room,  and  told  me  it  was  in  my  power 
to  save  my  life.  I  asked  them  how  ?  If  I  swore  against  the  following  persons,  they 
told  me  they  could  get  my  pardon. 

"  The  people  are  as  follows  :  Martin  Murphy  and  Philip  Long,  both  of  Waterford, 
and  some  other  merchants  of  Cork ;  likewise  Bishop  Creagh  and  Lord  Dunboyne's 
brother,  and  a  good  many  other  clergymen ;  likewise  James  Nagle,  Robert  Keating, 
John  Purcell,  Thomas  I>oherty,  Thomas  Long,  John  Baldwin,  Thomas  Butler  of 
Grange,  and  Nicholas  Lee,  with  a  great  many  others  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  county 
and  responsible  farmers,  to  be  encouraging  French  officers,  enlisting  men  for  the  French 
service,  to  raise  a  rebellion  in  this  kingdom,  and  to  distribute  French  money. 

4thly,  If  in  case  they  should  get  a  person  to  do  all  these  things,  it  would  not  do 
without  swearing  to  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  to  corroborate  with  the  rest  of  the 
informers,  and  strengthen  their  evidence. 

"  Sthly,  I  solemnly  declare  to  his  Divine  Majesty,  I  was  never  present  at  the  levelling 
of  a  ditch  or  wall  in  my  life,  nor  never  was  at  a  meeting  belonging  to  Whiteboys  in  my 
life. 

"6thly,  I  likewise  declare,  that  I  had  neither  hand,  act,  nor  part,  in  bringing  James 
Herbert  from  the  county  of  Limerick,  and  also  declare,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  he 
swore  not  one  word  of  truth,  and,  in  particular,  what  he  swore  against  me  was 
undoubtedly  false. 

"  The  great  God  bless  all  my  prosecutors,  and  all  other  persons  that  had  hand,  act, 
or  part,  in  spilling  my  blood  innocently,  which  the  Divine  tribunal  knows  to  be  so. 

"  Given  under  my  hand,  this  30th  day  of  April,  1766. 

"James  Farrell. 

"  They  also  wanted  me  to  swear  against  Thomas  Butler,  of  Ballyknock,  Edmund 
Doherty,  and  Philip  Hacket. 

"  In  the  presence  of  us :— Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  Catherine  Farrell "  (w). 


(m)  The  informations  of  Toohy  and  Mary  Butler  are  in  the  Records  of  the  King's  Bench  P.K.O. 
The  dying  declarations  were  printed  in  Exshaw's  Magazine. 


"  OUR  LADYE  OF  YNISLAUNAGHT." 

CHE  Suir  pictures  in  its  waters  the  ruins  of  many  a  castle  and  abbey, 
yet  of  these,  few  in  this  day  were  more  remarkable  for  age  and  beauty 
(sive  vetustatem  sive  venustatem  species,  says  Ware)  than  the  abbey  of 
Innislounaght.  It  stood  about  two  miles  west  of  Clonmel,  where  the 
river  gives  a  sharp  turn  to  the  north,  and  from  its  situation  was  called 
"  De  Surio  **  by  the  Latin  annalists.  The  Irish  name,  Inif  teAtiin-A6cA  "Holme 
of  the  new  milk,"  is  a  word-picture  of  the  place — the  slope,  sunny  and  verdant, 
dipping  down  to  the  river,  and  dotted  over  with  numerous  cattle.  The 
situation  is  charming,  for  the  monks  of  old  as  keenly  appreciated  the  beauties 
of  nature  as  of  art.  Yet  the  elements  of  beauty — mountain,  wood  and  water — 
were  the  very  conditions  of  their  vocation.  The  mountain  gave  isolation 
from  the  world,  "trees  and  stones  could  teach  them  what  they  could  not 
learn  from  masters  "  (St.  Bernard  to  Henry  Murdock),  and  from  the  river  they 
could  obtain  the  fish  which  formed  so  large  a  part  of  their  dietary. 

The  abbey,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  stood  about 
three  hundred  paces  north  of  the  river,  and  seemingly  occupied  the  western 
portion  of  the  present  graveyard.  An  attempt  was  made  in  August  1840,  by 
O'Donovan  and  others  of  the  Ordnance  Survey,  to  trace  the  foundations,  but 
it  was  wholly  unsuccessful.  The  letters  on  the  subject  in  the  Memoirs  (R.LA.) 
are  mostly  abusive  of  a  local  family,  and  seeing  that  an  arch  of  the  old  church 
was  standing  some  seventy  years  ago,  the  popular  story  is  not  improbable  that 
the  ruins  were  used  as  a  quarry  for  the  neighbouring  mills  and  mansions. 
There  is,  however,  incorporated  with  the  present  Protestant  church,  a 
Romanesque  doorway  of  four  orders,  the  columns  of  which  are  gone,  but  the 


History  of  Clonmel.  407 

scalloped  capitals  remain.  The  sharpness  of  the  stone  work  and  a  peculiar 
leaf  ornamentation  resembling  an  acanthus  make  it  improbable  that  this  is 
a  genuine  part  of  the  oldest  abbey  buildings.  Two  sepulchral  slabs  also 
survive,  one  of  which  is  inscribed  in  Lombardic  characters  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  but  there  is  no  further  vestige  of  departed  greatness.  At  the 
dissolution  of  the  monastries,  an  inquisition  held  in  Cashel  "  found "  the 
abbot  seized  in  fee  of  a  church  and  belfry,  a  hall,  dormitory,  four  rooms,  a 
cloister  containing  two  acres,  with  various  lands  and  houses. 

A  very  early  origin  has  been  assigned  to  the  abbey  of  Innislounaght. 
Colgan  conjectured,  and  Harris  and  Archdale — mere  compilers — affirmed  that 
Innislounaght  was  identical  with  Inif  X)-ATtile  where  St  Pulcherius  founded  a 
monastery  early  in  the  seventh  century.  Later  and  more  accurate  inquirers, 
amongst  them  O'Donovan,  our  master  topographer,  have  demonstrated  that 
the  monastery  of  Inisdamhle  was  in  "  Little  Island,"  below  Waterford  fnj. 
Apart  from  the  reference  in  the  34th  chapter  of  the  life  of  St.  Pulcherius, 
there  is  no  ground  for  the  statement  that  the  abbey  of  Suir  was  an  old  Irish 
monastic  establishment  Like  its  two  Cistercian  sisters  on  the  same  river — 
Holy  Cross  and  Dunbrody — it  belonged  to  the  second  period  of  Irish 
monasticism,  the  twelfth  century.  Its  exact  date,  however,  is  not  easy  to 
determine.  St  Bernard  fo)  tells  us  that  in  his  time  Mellifont  had  five 
"  daughters,"  one  of  these  being  "  Suir  "  (Suriense).  If  this  be  the  abbey  of 
Innislounaght,  as  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt,  it  must  have  been  founded 
between  1 142  and  1 148,  for  St  Malachy  who  died  in  the  latter  year,  visited 
Suriense  to  which  he  presented  its  first  lay-brother  fp).  The  then  abbot  was 
Congan,  whom  St  Bernard  styles  "  his  dear  friend,"  and  at  whose  request  the 
charming  Life  of  St  Malachy  was  undertaken.  Congan  seems  to  have  been 
a  practical  sort  of  man,  for  in  supplying  the  material  to  St  Bernard  he  says 
that  he  wants  not  style  but  matter  (non  eloquium  sed  narratio).  At  this  period, 
however,  it  would  appear  that  the  Cistercians  had  no  settled  establishment 
at  Innislounaght,  for  we  find  several  later  dates  assigned  for  the  foundation  (q). 
These  presumably  are  the  dates  of  the  endowments,  the  great  benefactors 
being  Malachy  OThelan,  lord  of  the  Decies,  and  Donald  O'Brien,  king  of 
Munster.  The  lands  given  by  each  would,  I  suppose,  be  roughly  estimated 
by  the  portions  of  the  parish  of  Innislounaght  lying  in  the  counties  of 


(n)  Coli^an  Acta,  295,  Chap.  II.;  Ware's  Annals,  ad  an  M84;  Archdall  at  Innislounaght; 
O'Donovan's  Works  passim, 

(0)  Life  of  St.  Malachy,  Chap.  VI.  and  IX.    Ed.  Messingham. 

(p)  Ibid. 

(q)  1 148,  MS.  Dunensis;  1159,  E.  3,  T.C.D.,  Liber  Stahitorum  Cist.  Hib.;  1184,  Harris;  1187, 
Ware. 


406  History  of  Clonmel. 

Waterford  and  Tipperary  respectively.  Part,  indeed,  of  OThelan's  territory 
lay  north  of  the  river,  for  his  residence,  X)un  Hi  p-AotAin,  west  of  the  abbey, 
was  pointed  out  in  Keating's  time  (r). 

For  many  years  subsequent  to  its  foundation  we  learn  little  of  the  history 
of  the  abbey.  It  is  probable  that  many  historic  personages  entered  its  portals 
from  time  to  time.  Henry  IL  on  his  way  from  Lismore  to  Cashel,  would 
cross  the  Suir  at  a  ford  hard  by ;  and  Cambrensis  tells  us  that  Donald  O'Brien, 
the  great  benefactor  of  Innislounaght,  came  to  the  water  of  the  Suir  to  sue 
the  king  for  peace.  King  John  enfeoffed  the  abbot  and  convent,  in 
frankalmoign,  of  a  meadow  in  Glannewaydan/'jA  a  return  probably  for 
hospitality  received  while  in  the  neighbourhood,  monasteries  being  the  hotels 
of  the  period.  Hither  also  came  in  1236  to  lay  his  bones  amongst  the 
Cistercians,  whose  habit  he  had  put  on,  Archbishop  Malmaire  O'Brien,  who 
gave  Cashel  its  corporate  existence  (t).  But  the  prayers  and  labours  of  the 
good  monks  were  often  disturbed  by  other  causes  than  the  advent  of  an  Irish 
chief  or  Norman  baron.  It  was  a  time  of  trouble,  and  the  monks  had  their 
share.  In  1227  the  king  found  it  necessary  to  write  to  the  Justiciary  granting 
protection  to  the  abbot,  his  tenants,  chattels,  and  possessions,  and  help  to 
recover  what  had  been  plundered  (n).  It  is  not  improbable  that* some  of  the 
troubles  arose  from  grants  of  the  lands  of  neighbouring  chiefs  being  made 
by  the  English  to  the  abbey.  This  at  least  is  certain,  that  the  disputes  were 
accompanied  by  violence  and  bloodshed,  for  in  1230  a  statute  passed  at  a 
General  Chapter  in  Citeaux  enjoined  the  abbots  of  England,  Scotland,  Wales 
and  Ireland,  "  with  lighted  candles  on  the  days  when  a  sermon  is  preached 
in  the  Chapter,"  to  denounce  as  excommunicated  the  murderers  and  their 
abettors  of  the  abbot  of  Fermoy  and  a  monk  of  Innislounaght  Nor  did  the 
monks  fare  better  in  their  legal  contests.  The  abbot  went  to  law  with  the 
abbot  of  Dunbrody,  the  result  being  that  he  was  sentenced  at  a  general 
Chapter  of  the  Order  in  1234  to  be  excommunicated,  and  deposed  if  it  should 
appear  the  action  was  illegal  (v).  Likely  enough  the  abbot  proved  refractory, 
for  a  colony  of  English  Cistercians  from  Furness  was  introduced  in  1240,  and 
nine  years  later,  by  a  formal  act  of  the  General  Chapter  at  Citeaux, 
Innislounaght,  with  three  other  houses,  were  transferred  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  Mellifont  to  that  of  Furness. 

For  many  years  subsequent  to  this,  as  far  as  can  be  gleaned,  the  monks 

of  Innislounaght  followed  their  vocation  in  peace ;  the  only  notices  we  get  of 

— . ^ 

(r)  History,  275. 

(s)  State  Papers. 

(i)  Ware's  Bishops. 

(it)  State  Papers. 

(v)  Capit.  of  St.  Mary's  Dublin. 


History  of  Clonmel.  *09 

them  are  when  they  appear  in  the  king's  courts  to  protect  their  property.  On 
May  9th,  1283,  they  complained  to  the  king  that  his  bailiffs  were  distraining 
the  lands  of  Tachkerach  which  had  been  held  from  time  immemorial,  quit  of 
all  suit  Again,  a  few  years  later,  they  prayed  the  king  for  a  special  order 
to  his  escheator  restoring  them  their  meadow  in  Glannewaydan  which  one  of 
their  abbots  originally  leased  to  the  le  Poers.  They  did  not  always  appear 
as  plaintiffs.  In  1311  Michael  de  Lanstafford,  as  son  and  heir  of  William, 
sued  the  abbot  for  9  acres  arable  and  4  turbary  in  Lithbalyfufue.  The  abbot 
pleaded  that  William  was  never  possessed  of  such  lands,  and  left  the  decision 
to  a  jury  (w).  This  same  abbot  was  sued  by  William  de  Mouner  for  the  sum 
of  ten  marks,  and  the  sheriff  was  ordered  to  arrest  the  abbot  and  produce  his 
body  in  court  (x).  The  default  may  be  explained  by  an  entry  which  occurs 
on  the  Patent  Roll  four  years  later,  1317  (y),  recording  the  payment  by  bond 
of  £255  to  Richard  Walsh  for  his  services  in  the  war  against  Edward  Bruce. 
The  bond  had  been  given  by  the  abbot  and  convent  of  Innislounaght  to 
the  "Merchants  of  the  Society  of  Ricards  de  Luca,"  from  whom  it  passed  to 
the  king.  The  abbey  must  have  been  in  financial  difficulties,  for  these 
merchants  were  the  money-lenders  of  the  time,  and  the  sum  was  more  than 
five  times  the  income,  which  appears  in  the  taxation  of  1306  as  £50. 

The  glimpses  we  catch  of  Innislounaght  during  the  next  two  centuries 
are  exceedingly  few.  In  1377  the  abbot  obtained  a  writ  of  protection  against 
his  rapacious  neighbours.  Twenty  years  later  an  event  is  chronicled  more  in 
keeping  with  the  peaceful  character  of  the  abbey.  "  On  the  Sunday  next 
before  the  Octave  of  St.  Michael,"  the  Earls  of  Desmond  and  Ormond  met  at 
Innislounaght  "  and  an  end  was  put  to  all  their  controversies  by  a  mutual 
engagement  to  preserve  a  strict  peace  and  amity  "  (z).  The  "  controversies," 
as  the  annalist  euphemistically  styles  the  murderous  cattle-lifting,  soon  broke 
out  worse  than  ever,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  during  this  century 
the  din  of  arms  was  often  heard  within  the  monastic  walls.  Moreover,  as 
the  English  power  contracted,  the  "Irishrie"  gained  admittance  into  the 
monasteries,  elected  abbots  of  their  own  nationality,  and  threw  off  the  yoke 
of  the  English  mother-houses.  Even  with  Mellifont  they  would  have  nothing 
to  do.  An  abbot  of  that  house  wrote  to  the  Pope  that  "  for  a  full  hundred 
years  none  from  the  remoter  districts  from  any  of  the  Irish  Cistercian  houses 
could  be  induced  by  promises,  or  threats,  or  friendship,  to  visit  their 
superior  (aaK 

(w)  Archdall. 

(x)  Ibid. 

(y)  II,  Ed.  II.,  p.  2,11.77. 

(i)  Lodge  Ed.  Archdale. 

(aa)  Theiner. 


410  History  of  Clonmel. 

Theiner  has  given  us  some  particulars  of  the  struggle  in  Innislounaght 
On  the  death  of  Abbot  Patrick  in  1462,  Richard  Loundres  had  himself  elected 
abbot.  An  Irish  claimant  appeared  in  the  person  of  Dermot  O'HefFernan,  a 
monk  of  Holy  Cross.  The  Pope  being  satisfied  that  Dermot  was  possessed 
of  zeal,  purity,  sanctity,  foresight  in  spirituals  and  tact  in  temporals,  referred 
the  case  to  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  Dermot  alleging  that  he  could  not 
expect  justice  in  the  diocese  of  Lismore  (super  praemissis  non  speret  in  civitate 
vel  diocesi  Lismorensi  posse  consequi  justitie  complementum).  The  archbishop 
who  lived  outside  the  Pale,  after  citing  Loundres  and  the  others  concerned, 
gave  judgment,  as  we  might  expect,  in  favour  of  O'Heff eman.  But  the  monks 
demurred,  and  one  of  them,  William  O'Dineen,  made  grave  charges  (excessus 
et  crhnina)  to  the  Holy  See  against  the  new  abbot.  These  charges  were 
probably  sustained  by  the  Bishop  of  Lismore,  for  apostolic  letters  were 
directed  to  that  prelate  empowering  him  to  remove  O'Heff  ernan  and  appoint 
O'Dineen.  Someone  "  peached,"  and  O'Heffernan  contrived  to  intercept  the 
letters  in  England,  but  none  the  less  was  cited  by  the  Bishop.  Thomas 
O'Flatwayn  (OTlavin),  Canon  of  Lismore,  by  delegation  tried  the  case, 
formally  deposed  O'Heffernan  and  appointed  Dineen.  O'Heffernan  appealed 
to  the  Pope,  but  ultimately  withdrew  the  appeal,  and  Paul  IL  on  2lst  January, 
1468,  confirmed  the  sentence  and  gave  peace  to  the  long  distracted  abbey. 
O'Dineen  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Ochael  who  was  provided  by  Innocent 
VIIL,  19th  May,  1492.  Walter  Butler  appears  as  abbot  in  1503  and  1509,  being 
succeeded  in  1510  by  James  Butler,  the  last  who  held  the  temporalities. 

The  abbey  had  now  become  completely  Irish ;  evidence  of  this  fact  is 
furnished  by  a  lease  made  by  this  James.  Instead  of  the  feudal  services  we 
find  coyne  and  livery,  the  abbot  being  transformed  into  a  chief,  the  tenants 
into  clansmen.  The  lease  was  executed  by  the  abbot  "  with  the  consent  of 
his  convent"  on  the  lOth  December,  15 19,  and  granted  to  Thomas  Butler,  a 
layman,  the  grange  of  Loughkyrraghe  for  the  term  of  sixty  years  on  condition 
that  the  said  Thomas  build  a  chapel  in  honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
pay  a  rent  of  13s.  4d.,  "  together  with  the  support  of  twenty-four  men  at  the 
feast  of  Christmas  or  6s.  8d.  instead,  of  sixteen  at  Easter  or  4s.  3d.,  and  all 
other  dues  which  are  included  under  the  name  of  coynaghy  "  (bb). 

The  Butler  family  who  now  obtained  control  of  the  abbey  appear  to  have 
been  a  branch  of  the  Cahir  house.  The  picture  of  Abbot  Butler  which  the 
lease  affords — setting  out  at  Christmas  and  Easter  to  "cosher"  on  his  tenants ; 
himself  and  his  twenty-four  followers  hunting  by  day,  eating  and  drinking 


(bb)  Record  Off.,  Dublin,  r  D.,  Inquis.  Tip.,  Chief  Rem.,  Hen.  VIII.,  No.  14. 


History  of  Clonmel.  4ii 

by  night — is  more  piquant  than  pious.  As  the  abbot,  so  the  community. 
We  look  in  vain  for  the  successors  of  Bernard  and  Malachy  of  Congan  and 
Malmaire.  Some  four  or  five  men,  calling  themselves  Cistercians,  monopolised 
the  thousands  of  acres  belonging  to  the  abbey.  They  lived  like  the  gentry 
around  them,  half  chiefs,  half  lords,  and  they  had  all  the  aristocratic  vices. 
Amid  the  hundreds  of  religious  houses  which  studded  the  country  at  the  time 
of  the  Reformation,  Innislounaght  stood  distinguished  and  alone  in  evil 
prominence  (ccj. 

On  the  3rd  February,  1538,  Henry  Vin.  in  pursuance  of  his  new 
ecclesiastical  policy,  commissioned  (ddj  Allen,  the  Chancellor,  Browne,  the 
royal  nominee  in  the  see  of  Dublin  and  others,  to  inquire  where  in  Ireland 
any  remarkable  images  or  relics  might  be  to  which  the  simple  people  repaired 
through  superstition,  or  through  the  circuit  of  which  they  used  go  as  pilgrims 
(ubi  infra  dictam  terram  Hibernie  alique  notdbiles  ymagines,  vel  reliquie  fuerunt 
ad  quas  simplices  popul  [  ]  superstitiose  convenire,  ac  tanquam  vagantes  peregrine 
ambulare  et  vagare  solebant).  The  commissioners  plied  their  business  well ; 
whatever  they  touched  turned  into  gold,  and  we  find  duly  recorded  "  £3  7s.  6d. 
for  the  price  of  divers  silver  or  holy  crosses  in  the  late  abbeys  of  Kilcooly 
and  Innislaunagh "  (ee).  They  were  further  empowered  on  7th  April  to 
receive  surrenders  of  the  religious  houses  from  abbots  and  other  superiors, 
and  to  grant  to  those  so  surrendering  licence  to  exchange  the  monastic  habit 
and  accept  benefices  from  the  king. 

Before  hanging  the  dog,  Henry  proceeded  to  give  him  a  bad  name. 
"  From  the  information  of  trustworthy  persons,  it  being  manifestly  apparent 
that  the  monasteries,  abbies,  priories,  and  other  places  of  religious  or  regulars 
in  Ireland  are  in  such  a  state  that  in  them  the  praise  of  God  and  the  welfare 
of  man  are  next  to  nothing  regarded  :  the  regulars  and  nuns  dwelling  there 
being  so  addicted,  partly  to  their  own  superstitious  ceremonies,  partly  to  the 
pernicious  worship  of  idols  and  to  the  pestiferous  doctrines  of  the  Romish 
pontiff,  that  unless  an  effectual  remedy,"  etc.  (JBf).  As  Henry's  main  object 
was  to  get  hold  of  the  monastic  property  (gg),  the  monks  had  their  revenge  by 


(cc)  The  jury  of  the  City  of  Watcrford  presented  inter  alia  to  the  King's  Commissioners  12th 
October,  1537  •— 

"  That  in  fhe  same  quarter  of  Tipperary  howc  James  Butler 'Abbot  of  Innislonaght  and  dcane  of 
lysmore,  hath  sundry  times  disol>eyed  the  king's  writ  and  is  a  man  of  odyous  lif,  taking  yerely  and 
daily  mennes  wifs  and  burges  daughters  and  kepeth  no  devyne  service  but  spendeth  the  goods  of  his 
churche  in  veluptuousytie  and  morgageth  the  lands  of  his  churche  and  so  the  house  is  all  decayed, 
and  useth  coygne  and  lyvery." 

This  is  confirmed  with  other  particulars  by  the  Clonmel  jury. 

(dii)  Rot.  Comp.,  Hen.  VIIl.,  ex  Pub.  Rcc.  Rep.,  1810-15,  Pi.  vi. 

(ee)  Mant.  1.,  161. 

iff)  Morrin  I.,  55. 

(gg)  For  this  see  Morrin  I.,  73,  84;  Mant  I.,  183;  State  Papers  II.,  130,  etc.,  etc. 


412  HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 

alienating  as  much  of  their  estates  as  they  could  (hh).  But  the  abbot  and 
brethren  of  Innislounaght  were  too  dutiful  subjects  to  do  anything  of  that 
kind,  and  on  the  6th  of  April,  1539,  they  voluntarily  surrendered  the  abbey 
and  its  possessions.  On  the  lOth  of  April  the  commissioners  *'for  the 
lymyting,  .appointing,  and  gyving  convenient  lyvings  or  pencons  unto  the 
heedes  or  governors  and  religious  persones  of  soche  houses,"  granted  to  the 
following  "conventual  persones,"  for  their  "lyfes  naturall,"  in  "lawffull 
money  of  Irelande,"  William  Cahill  40s.,  Mathew  Cahill  40s.,  Maurice  Keyny 
and  Edmund  Cahill  20s.,  issuing  out  of  Enislawnaght  (it).  The  abbot,  James 
Butler,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1540,  was  collated  to  the  vicarage  of  the  church 
of  St.  Patrick's  Well,  receiving  the  altarages  and  oblations  with  a  *'  pencon  " 
of  £5  6s.  8d.  (jj).  This  church  was  a  rectory  appropriate  to  the  abbey.  The 
abbot  survived  his  degradation  nine  years,  his  successor  in  the  vicarage,  Thady 
Conway,  being  presented  19th  September,  1549. 

Now  that  the  abbey  was  suppressed,  the  distribution  of  the  monastic 
inheritance  began.  Two  days  after  the  surrender  the  Lord  Deputy,  Grey, 
secured  a  lease  for  the  Tipperary  portion  of  the  estates,  whilst  the  Treasurer, 
Lord  James  Butler,  on  the  30th  June  was  granted  those  in  the  Co.  Waterford. 
The  latter  comprised  thousands  of  acres,  in  fact  the  whole  of  the  present 
parish  of  Innislounaght,  situated  in  the  Co.  Waterford— being  described  in 
the  lease  as  extending  from  "  the  bounds  of  Kilmanahan  Castle  on  the  west 
to  the  bounds  of  the  Clonmel  burgagery  lands  on  the  east."  So  little  was 
conscience  concerned  in  those  transactions  that  Catholics  freely  took  their 
share  in  the  plunder.  Grey  professed  himself  a  sincere  Catholic.  Amongst 
those  having  subordinate  interests  we  find  the  Brays,  Barrons,  andBrennocks 
of  Clonmel,  whose  faith  was  proved  later  on.  David  White  and  his  wife 
"  Sawerie  "  Burke,  nothing  loath,  made  their  abode  in  Grenane  Castle,  being 
succeeded  by  John  Aylward,  Omiond's  steward.  If  the  Catholics  had  any 
scruples,  they  were  set  at  rest  by  the  Bull  of  Paul  IV.  Besides,  the  grants  in 
many  instances  brought  the  same  profits  as  if  they  conveyed  so  much  real 
estate  in  the  moon.  For  the  Desmonds,  in  the  elegant  phraseology  of  Cox,  long 
"  played  the  devils  "  in  the  neighbourhood.  Mary,  the  wife  of  John  Aylward, 
wrote  to  Elizabeth  to  be  released  from  the  rents  as  the  lands  had  "  remained 
waste  above  three  years  in  consequence  of  the  troubles  there  by  undutiful 
subjects."  The  queen  granted  the  prayer  in  consideration  of  her  offer  "  to 
build  and  re-edify  the  castles,  houses  and  churches  upon  the  lands  which  the 


(Ml)  state  Papers,  p.  41- 

(ii)  Rec.  Off.,  Dublin,  14  Fianls  Hen.  Vlll.,  An.  xxxi.,  72. 

(jj)  Ibid,  No.  509. 


History  of  Clonmel,  413 

rebels  had  lately  burned  and  otherwise  spoiled  "  (kk).  Corniac  Mac  Teigue 
McCarthy,  "  the  rarest  man,"  says  Cox,  "  that  was  ever  born  of  the  frishry," 
got  for  his  services  against  the  Desmonds  a  grant  in  fee-farm  of  the  abbey 
and  lands.  He  held  them  just  four  years,  could  make  nothing  of  them 
presumably,  and  on  the  25th  October,  1 580,  alienated  them  to  Edward  Gough 
of  Clonmel.  Grough's  sons,  James  and  Thomas,  inherited  them  successively, 
but  they  were  forfeited  in  the  wars  of  1641  by  Patrick,  son  of  Thomas. 

Meanwhile,  like  ghosts  of  the  things  that  had  been,  the  Cistercians  still 
flitted  round  the  ruined  walls  of  Innislounaght.  They  had  an  abbot  too, 
Nicholas  Fagan,  the  son  of  a  distinguished  Waterford  citizen  who,  after 
reading  philosophy  at  home,  proceeded  to  Salamanca  and  Rome  where  he 
finished  his  theological  course.  Through  the  influence  of  Lombard,  his 
townsman,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Pope  abbot  of  Innislounaght.  His  life 
and  virtues,  like  the  sunset  rays,  shed  a  glamour  upon  the  decaying  abbey. 
He  died  in  1617.  Laurence  Fitzharris,  a  native  of  New  Ross,  was  consecrated 
abbot  in  Waterford  on  Trinity  Sunday,  1625,  by  Fleming,  Archbishop  of 
Dublin.  He  had  the  happiness  of  presiding  over  his  community  within  the 
old  abbey  from  1641-49,  and  was  present  at  the  historic  synod  of  Waterford 
1646.  On  the  collapse  of  the  Irish  cause  he  escaped  to  the  Continent, 
and  died  there  during  the  Cromwellian  rigxme.  With  him  passed  away 
Innislounaght  Abbey  de  jure  as  well  as  de  facto. 

Though  no  vestige  of  the  buildings  exists,  the  history  of  the  abbey  is 
written  indelibly  on  the  face  of  the  district.  The  Clonmel  citizen  takes  his 
boat  at  "  the  Island  "  (Uean  Tybraghevyne  of  the  leases),  once  part  of  the 
abbey  possessions,  rows  up  the  river,  passing  with  difficulty  the  monastery 
weirs  of  Grenane  and  Glenbane.  He  lands  at  Marlfield  on  soil  fertilized  by 
the  labours  of  twelve  generations  of  monks.  Hard  by  is  the  village  of 
"  Abbey,"  now  almost  a  name.  The  monks*  "  grange,"  or  "  outside  farm," 
is  not  far  off ;  their  "  territory  "  (Farranamanach)  and  their  t)Aile,  ville,  or 
homestead  (Monkstown),  survive  in  local  names.  Our  citizen  taking  a  circle 
of  a  mile  radius,  could  hardly  step  outside  the  abbey  estate.  The  acreage 
given  in  Archdall  and  the  Patent  Rolls  (II)  was  only  a  guess  (and  a  very  bad 


(kk)  Morrin,  Patent  Rolls,  Elizabeth. 

ill)  16  Jas.  I.,  LXIV.,  No,  28.  Grant  to  Sir  James  Gough,  Knt.,  loth  December,  1618:— 
The  site  ambit  or  precinct  of  the  late  abl>ey  of  Innislawnaght;  the  church  of  said  abbey; 
100  acres  arable  of  its  demesne  lands  of  Innislawnaght;  1000  acres  mountain,  wood,  underwood  and 
common  of  pasture  in  Waterford  county  parcel  of  demesne  lands;  7  messuages,  45  acres  arable, 
II  cottages,  2  water  mills,  3  eel  weirs,  i  salmon  weir,  a  small  island  containing  an  acre;  the  grange 
of  Innislawnaght;  one  messuage  with  garden,  60  acres  arable,  20  acres  pasture;  Ballyorcley  or 
Ballyorley,  120  acres  arable,  40  acres  pasture;  Kilmolash  60  acres  arable,  40  acres  pasture; 
Loghkeragh  alias  Loghtikeragh  60  acres  arable  and  40  acres  pasture;  Grangeharvey  60  acres 
arable,  40  acres  pasture;  Killmaveigh  alias  Kilmaire  60  acres  arable,  40  acres  pasture;  the  predial 


414  History  of  Clonmel. 

one)  at  the  actual  contents.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  estate,  the  glory  of  the 
abbey  and  its  danger,  comprised  almost  the  whole  of  the  present  parish  of 
Innislounaght,  some  8,993  acres.  If  it  had  not  been  so  extensive  it  were 
better  for  the  monks  themselves,  and  the  cupidity  of  the  powerful  would 
never  have  been  excited.  But  though  "the  cares  of  this  world  and  the 
deceitfulness  of  riches  "  choked  the  old  monastic  spirit,  yet  that  spirit  never 
dies.  Two  hundred  years  later,  there  came  again  from  sunny  France  another 
colony  of  Cistercians  to  begin  at  no  great  distance  off,  a  career  which  promises 
a  more  lasting  and  far-reaching  influence  for  good  than  that  of  Innislounaght. 


St.  Patrick's  Well. 

f  This  as  an  old  Celtic  sanctuary,  goes  back  to  a  period  long  prior  to  the 

'  great  Cistercian  foundation  which  afterwards  overshadowed  it.      As  stated 

^  in  Chapter  L,  there  are  good  grounds  for  believing  it  was  hallowed  by  the 

National  Apostle.  The  rude  stone  cross  which  stands  in  the  stream  is  of  the 
earliest  Irish  type,  and  cannot  belong  to  a  period  more  recent  than  the 
eleventh  century.  That  an  Irish  Romanesque  chapel  once  stood  in  the  place 
there  is  also  evidence.  Built  into  the  doorway  pier  of  the  existing  structure 
may  be  seen  a  fragment  of  the  earlier  work.  It  is  a  small  sandstone  coign, 
with  an  exceedingly  delicate  chevron  ornament.  The  chevron  is  formed  by 
a  shallow  bead  outside  which  is  a  row  of  pellets.  The  bead  encloses  a  flower 
evidently  reminiscent  of  the  Greek  anthemion,  the  whole  design  being  almost 
identical  with  that  in  the  inner  order  of  the  chancel  arch  of  the  "  Nun's 


personal  and  mixt  tithes  of  Killnaveigh ;  a  messuage  and  garden  in  Clonmel  at  the  East  Gate;  the 
rectory  of  Innislounaght,  and  the  tithes  of  hay  and  grain  of  the  towns  of  Innislounaght,  Grangeharvey, 
Grange,  Ballyorcley,  Kilmolash  and  Loghkeragh. 

Co.  Waterford.  The  manor  of  Killnemack,  60  acres  arable  and  pasture,  80  acres  wood;  the 
rectory  of  Glanwydan  with  predial,  personal  and  mixt  tithes;  the  castles,  lands,  etc.  of  Curraghne- 
managh,  Grenane,  Inismore,  Killmoghonie  alias  Killmocom,  Muic  Keanan,  Dromcure  alias 
Dromcouragh,  Knocknecurragh ;  the  marshall  lands  and  marshal  weirs  of  Glanbane  and  all  other 
lands  and  weirs  within  the  limits  of  the  castle  of  Kilmanehin  from  the  west,  to  the  bounds  of  the 
burgage  of  Clonmel  lying  in  length  on  the  east;  the  mill  field  alias  Gort  millen;  the  Dean's  field; 
Gortard;  and  the  field  of  Clonmel;  the  mill  of  Tipperheny,  Lemlisse  Molleran  alias  Killmereran  or 
Killvereran,  all  being  parcel  of  the  late  dissolved  abbey  of  Innislounaght,  Ballyorley,  St.  Patrick's, 
Monkstown  and  Killeneran  or  any  of  them.  To  hold  to  said  Sir  James  and  his  heirs  male,  remainder 
to  the  heir  male  of  the  body  of  Sir  Edward  Gough,  remainder  to  the  Crown. 

During  the  Cromwellian  regime,  in  pursuance  of  an  Order  in  Parliament  to  settle  lands  of  ;f200 
yearly  value  on  Colonel  Heirome  Sankey,  Governor  of  Clonmel  Precinct,  an  order  was  made  by  the 
Clonmel  Commissioners  granting  him  "  the  castle  of  Kilmanahan  and  the  farm  of  Grenane  with 
these  appurtenances  and  all  other  lands  reputed  to  belong  to  Innislounaght,  all  which  belonged  to 
Patrick  Gough  and  were  forfeited."  The  survey  was  made  by  Mr.  Thomas  Jackson  and  Mr.  Richard 
Osborne  and  is  dated  14th  November,  1653.  The  acreage  was,  Kilmanahan  317  ac,  Kilnamack 
334  ac,  Grenane  128  ac,  Abbey  Slenaght  (sic)  591  ac.  with  150  ac,  and  Garricane  52  ac.  In  all 
1424  acres  18  per.,  worth  in  1640,  2s.  6d.  per  ac,  meadow  8s.  per  ac— Council  Books,  Brit.  Mus. 


History  of  Clonmel.  415 

Church  "  at  Clonmacnoise  (mm).  It  would  appear  that  though  the  parish 
became  merged  in  Innislounaght  the  church  remained,  the  canonical  status  of 
a  rectory  appropriate  being  preserved.  For  on  the  dissolution  of  the  abbey 
the  former  abbot,  James  Butler,  was  presented  by  the  Crown  to  "  the  vicarage 
of  St.  Patrick's  Well."  In  the  Protestant  visitations  of  1588  and  1617  there 
is  no  mention  whatever  of  the  chapelry,  and  the  Catholics  seem  to  have 
re-possessed  themselves  of  the  place.  The  existing  structure  probably  dates 
back  to  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was  constructed  by  them  as  the  parish 
chapel  of  Abbey.  The  Franciscans,  it  would  appear,  served  the  parish, 
and  doubtless  at  their  instance  the  following  Papal  Bull  was  issued. 


Paulus  Quintus  universis  Christi  fidelibus  praesentes  litteras  inspecturis  salutem 
et  apostolicam  benedictionem.  Ad  augendam  fidelium  religionem  et  animarum  salutem, 
celestis  Ecclesiae  thesauris  pia  charitate  nitente  omnibus  utriusque  sexus  fidelibus  vere 
penitentibus  et  confessis  ac  Sacra  Communione  refectis  qui  ecclesiam  Sancti  Patricii 
Abbatias  de  Surio  Cisterciensis  Ordinis  Lismorensis  diocesis  in  Hibemiae  in  Pentecostes 
ac  ejusdem  Sancti  Patritii  festis  diebus  a  primis  vesperis  usque  ad  occasum  solis  dierum 
dictorum  singulis  annis  devote  visitaverint  et  ibi  pro  Christianorum  principum 
Concordia,  hasresiarum  extirpatione  ae  Sanctas  Matris  Ecclesias  exaltatione  pias  ad 
Deum  preces  efiuderint  quo  die  praedictorum  id  egerint  plenariam  omnium  peccatorum 
suorum  indulgentiam  ac  remissionem  misericorditerin  Domino  concedimus,  praesentibus 
ad  triginta  annos  valituris,  Volumus  autem  ut  si  aliis  Christi  fidelibus  dictam  ecclesiam 
visitantibus  aliquam  aliam  indulgentiam  perpetuam  vel  ad  tempus  nondum  elapsum 
duraturam  concesseriraus  praesentes  nullae  sint.  Datura  Romae  apud  Sanctam  Mariam 
Majorem  sub  annulo  piscatoris  die  sexto  Martis  anno  millessimo  sexcentessimo 
undevicessimo  pontificatus  nostri  anno  decimo  quarto. 


[  Translation.] 

Paul  the  Fifth  to  every  one  of  Christ's  faithful  who  shall  see  this  present  letter, 
greeting  and  apostolic  benediction.  For  the  increase  of  religion  and  the  good  of  souls, 
we  g^rant  through  our  pious  charity,  out  of  the  heavenly  treasures  of  the  church, 
mercifully  in  the  Lord,  full  indulgence  and  remission  of  the  temporal  punishment  of 
sin,  to  all  the  faithful  of  either  sex  who  truly  penitent,  having  gone  to  confession  and 
Holy  Communion,  visit  the  church  of  St.  Patrick  of  the  Abbey  of  Suir,  belonging  to  the 
Cistercian  Order  in  the  diocese  of  Lismore,  Ireland.  Such  visit  to  be  devoutly  made 
on  the  feast  of  Pentecost  or  the  feast  of  St.  Patrick,  any  time  from  First  Vespers  to 
Sunset  on  the  feast  day,  the  person  so  visiting  to  pray  for  peace  among  Christian  rulers, 
for  the  uprooting  of  heresies  and  the  exaltation  of  Holy  Mother  Church.  The  present 
grant  is  to  be  valid  for  thirty  years.  We  will  also  that  the  present  grant  be  null  and 
void  in  the  case  of  persons  to  whom  already  a  plenary  or  partial  indulgence  has  been 
granted  for  visiting  said  church.  Given  at  Rome  in  St.  Mary  Majors'  under  the  ring 
of  the  Fisherman  on  the  sixth  day  of  March  in  the  year  one  thousand,  six  hundred 
nineteen,  the  fourteenth  of  our  pontificate. 


(mm)  A  woodcut  by  Jewitt  will  be  found  at  p.  80  of  Miss  Stokes'  Early  Christian  Art  in  Ireland, 
wrongly  described  however,  as  "  Moulding  Tuaim  Greine. "  The  date  of  the  "  Nun's  Church  '*  is 
1 167. 


416  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  little  chapel  is  said  to  have  been  used  for  Catholic  worship  until  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  At  the  "  savage  period,"  as  Edmund  Burke 
describes  it,  1760-66,  returns  of  the  Protestant  and  Popish  families  were  made 
to  parliament.     Rev.  Joseph  Moore,  Vicar  of  Clonmel,  reported : — 

Like  return  for  the  Parish  of  Inislonaght  in  the  Diocese  of  Lismore  and  County  of 
Tipperary  by  the  said  Moore,  Curate. 

Number  of  Protestant  Families        ...       16 
Do.      „    Popish  do.  ...     202 

One  popish  priest  who  lives  in  and  has  the  parish  of  Clonmel,  One  Fryar  (««). 

The  friar  here  mentioned  was  probably  the  last  Catholic  vicar  of  St. 
Patrick's  Well  as  a  separate  parish  (00). 


(iin)  Parliamentary  Returns,  P.K.O. 

(00)  'Vhe  above  indulgence  does  not  afford,  it  will  be  observed,  any  waiTanty  for  the  "  thurrus  " 
made  at  the  well.  The  probability  is  that  the  latter  belonged  to  what  may  be  termed  pre-historic 
religion.  The  pilgrim  began  with  seven  Paters  and  Aves,  and  the  Creed.  Then  he  waded  the 
stream  to  the  cross  round  which  he  went,  saying  the  same  prayers  as  before.  Returning  to  the 
starting  place,  he  repeated  the  whole,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  the  chapel  where  the  seven  Paters 
and  Aves  with  the  Creed  were  said  for  the  third  time.  The  altar  was  kissed  three  times  in  honour 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  after  which  the  well  was  visited  and  three  Paters  and  Aves  said.  Seven 
Paters  and  Aves  with  the  Creed  were  now  recited  while  making  the  round  of  the  well.  This 
concluded  the  "  thurras." 


I 


DONOUGHMORE. 

CHURCHES  of  this  name  had  special  honour  amongst  the  holy  places 
of  early  Christian  Ireland.  Even  as  far  back  as  the  tenth  century 
we  find  them  regarded  with  all  the  reverence  due  to  hoary  antiquity ; 
legend  was  busy  about  them ;  they  were  associated  with  particular 
events  in  the  life  of  the  National  Apostle,  and  their  erection  assigned  to  him 
by  universal  tradition.  Their  name,  too,  formed  the  subject  of  curious 
etymological  speculation.  lA  pne  of  the  oldest  lives  of  St  Patrick  we  read : — 
"  He  stayed  in  the  district  of  Kennact  [Kennaght  barony,  Co.  Derry]  for 
seven  Sundays,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  seven  churches,  which  he 
accordingly  styled  Dominicas  "  (pp). 

Jocelyn,  a  monk  of  Furness,  wrote  in  the  twelfth  century  : — 
"  The  saint  was  accustomed  if  he  happened  to  found  a  church  where  he 
spent  a  Sunday,  to  call  it  Domnach,  that  is  Dominica  "  (qq). 
Again : — 

"Every    place    Patrick    used    to    remain    on    a    Sunday    is    called 
Domnach  Mor  "  (rr). 

Notwithstanding  the  venerable  authority  of  this  explanation,  and 
sanctioned  though  it  is  by  Reeves  and  O'Donovan,  we  are  constrained  to 
reject  it.  The  word  'oortinAfi  is  confessedly  the  low  Latin  Dominicum 
introduced  with  Christianity   into  Ireland.      Now,  at  the    period    of    its 


(pp)  Colgan  Trias  Thaum,  1.  ii.,  c.  119. 

(qq)  Ed.  Messingham,  Paris,  1629,  p.  42* 

(rr)  E.  3,  18,  T.C.D.,  quoted  by  Reeves,  Proc.  R.I. A.,  vii.,  488. 


CI 


418  History  of  Clonmel. 

introduction  it  is  certain  that  Dominicum  meant  "  the  Lord's  House  "  as  well 
as  "  the  Lord's  Day."  Many  proofs  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  works  of 
contemporary  Fathers.     St.  Jerome,  for  instance,  writes  : — 

"  In  Antiochia  Dominicum  quod  apellatur  Aureum  aedificari  coeptum  "  (ss). 

Indeed,  our  "  church  "  and  the  Scotch  "  kirk  "  are  kindred  terms  from  the 
Greek  "  kyriakon  " ;  while  the  German  "  Dom  "  is  the  direct  representative  of 
Dominicum,  The  distinctive  appellation  mdp  was  added,  as  it  would  seem, 
not  to  indicate  the  size,  but  rather  the  dignity  or  precedence  of  the  church. 

Though  it  is  probable  that  Donoughmore  was  a  Patrician  foundation,  it 
is  not  so  stated  in  any  of  the  numerous  lives  of  the  saint.  The  Tripartite,  and 
Jocelyn's  which  appears  to  be  mainly  based  on  it,  relate  St.  Patrick's  visit  to 
Magh  Feimhin,  as  the  part  of  Lismore  diocese  north  of  the  Suir  used  to  be 
called.  A  life  of  St.  Declan,  written  in  the  eleventh  century  (tt)  gives  a 
rather  circumstantial  account  of  the  visit,  and  the  meeting  of  the  two  saints  at 
lnt)eotn  x\a  n-T)6ip  now  Mullaghnony.  This,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
principal  church  of  the  locality  for  ages  was  Donoughmore,  affords  a 
reasonable  presumption  that  the  foundation  belonged  to  St.  Patrick.  Further, 
about  950,  we  find  mention  of  a  coarb  of  St  Patrick  in  connection  with  the 
church.  The  Liber  Kilkenniensis  in  Marsh's  Library  enumerates  some  twenty- 
three  saints  "  descended  from  the  family  of  St  Mida  "  [St  Ita  of  Kilmeaden], 
amongst  whom  is  "St.  Faranan  of  Donoughmore  in  Magh-Femin."  The 
pedigree  describes  him  as  the  *'  son  of  Ronan,  who  was  the  son  of  Fiach, 
who  was  the  son  of  Fintan  ....  Maclassius  ....  Carnech  .... 
Escleronius  ....  Nicbronius  ....  Brofinnius  ....  Eugenius 
....  Artcorb."  After  ruling  Donoughmore  for  some  years,  Bishop 
Farannan,  with  the  true  Irish  instinct  for  travel,  betook  himself  to  the 
Continent,  and  settled  at  Valcoidore,  now  Waser,  on  the  banks  of  the  Meuse. 
Here  he  passed  away,  30th  April,  982,  and  here  his  relics  are  still  venerated 
and  his  name  held  in  benediction  (uu).  At  the  synod  probably  of  Rathbresail 
in  1 1 15,  Donoughmore  was  merged  in  the  diocese  of  Lismore,  and  its  lands, 
like  those  of  the  other  ancient  monastic  Sees  of  Mothel  and  Ardmore,  piassed 
to  the  bishops  of  Lismore.  A  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum  of  the  year 
1544  states  that  the  bishop's  lands  of  Donoughmore  consist  of  two  and  a  half 
ploughlands  worth  four  pence  per  acre ;  that  a  manor  court  is  held  there  the 


(ss)  Chron.  Olymp.  276  Au. 

(tt)  Ussher  MSS.,  T.C.D.,  known  to  me  only  by  a  transcript,  made  in  1627,  by  Dr.  Thomas 
Arthur,  whose  "  Fee  Book"  was  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  R. S.A.I,  some  years  since. 

(uu)  Our  hagiologists  from  the  O'Clcrys  and  Ck)lgan  to  O'Hanlon,  have  laboured  to  connect  St. 
Faranan  with  the  See  of  Armagh.  But  the  fact  is  the  coarbship  of  Patrick  did  not  necessarily  imply 
the  tenure  of  the  archbishopric  of  Armagh.  For  instance,  a  succession  of  coarbs  of  Patrick  was  kept 
up  at  Trim,  a  church  founded  by  the  saint. 


History  of  Clonmel.  419 

"  pleas  and  perquisites  "  of  which  are  valued  at  eight  pounds  yearly.  At  the 
death  of  Patrick  Walsh  in  1578,  a  commission  was  issued  and  an  inquisition 
taken  at  Donoughmore  14th  April,  1579.  The  jurors  found  inter  alia  that 
"  the  aforesaid  bishop  in  right  of  his  bishopric  was  seized  in  demesne  as  of 
fee  of  the  town  of  Donoughmore  containing  twenty  acres  great  measure,  and 
that  Theobald  Butler  knight  [of  Cahir]  holds  the  town  aforesaid  for  a  term  of 
years  by  lease  of  the  bishop  subject  to  the  rent  of  four  marks  "  (w).  The  only 
other  vestige  of  former  eminence  which  Donoughmore  retained  was  that,  on 
the  creation  of  the  chapter  of  Lismore,  the  parish  was  constituted  one  of  the 
prebends.  The  right  of  presentation  was  vested  in  the  bishop,  for  in  1355, 
during  a  vacancy  in  the  see,  we  find  the  king  jure  devoluto  presenting 
Nicholas  de  Chedelyngtoun.  The  church  has  been  in  ruins  since  the 
Reformation,  if  not  before.  It  has,  however,  suffered  less  from  time  than 
from  vandalism.  Not  a  stone  of  the  triple  chancel  arch  is  now  to  be  found ; 
the  face  of  the  canopy  which  covered  the  west  doorway  has  been  completely 
torn  away,  together  with  the  outer  order  of  the  doorway  itself.  In  1883, 
under  the  National  Monuments  Act,  32  &  33  Vic,  c.  42,  the  Commissioners 
of  Public  Works  took  charge  of  the  ruin  and,  under  the  judicious  care  of 
Sir  Thomas  Deane,  such  repairs  were  effected  as  are  likely  to  preserve  it  for 
ages  to  come. 

Donoughmore  is  probably  one  of  the  best  existing  specimens  of  Irish- 
Romanesque.  Though  modest  in  its  proportions  and  character,  it  perfectly 
exhibits  that  combination  of  early  Irish  and  foreign  elements  which  has  given, 
rise  to  a  variety  of  Romanesque  distinctively  national.  Compare  it  for  example 
with  the  Church  of  St.  Laurence,  Bradford-on-Avon,  built  at  the  same  period. 
Both  are  about  the  same  size ;  both  consist  of  a  nave  and  chancel,  and  in  each, 
unlike  Continental  churches,  the  chancel  is  square-ended  not  apsidal  (ww). 
But  here  the  likeness  ends ;  the  Church  of  St  Laurence,  like  the  Romanesque 
churches  of  the  Continent,  has  a  low-pitched  roof,  that  of  Donoughmore  was 
lofty  and  acute  angled,  presenting  the  old  Irish  syriibol  of  the  ark,  so  striking  a 
feature  in  oratories  of  the  Gallarus  type.  Again,  the  doorway  and  windows  of 
Donoughmore  have  the  inclined  jambs  characteristic  of  earlier  or  "  cyclopean  " 
buildings,  while  the  openings  in  the  English  church  are  quite  perpendicular. 
The  detail  affords  evidence  of  the  same  combination  of  Irish  and  foreign 
elements.      Side  by  side  with  native  scroll  work  we  find  ornament  of 


(w)  At  the  disestablishment  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  1S69,  Donoughmore,  containing 
395  acres,  plantation  measure,  was  leased  to  Charles  Manners  St.  George  for  ^^307  in  perpetuity. 

(ww)  It  is  curious  that  in  the  case  of  Ck)rmac's  Chapel,  built  entirely  under  foreign  influence, 
there  are  some  features  which  go  to  show  that  the  builders  were  at  first  inclined  to  make  the  chancel 
apsidal. 


420  HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 

unmistakably  classic  origin.  The  only  attempt  at  decoration  in  St.  Laurence's 
Church  is  panelling  or  arcading,  in  all  respects  similar  to  that  found  in  the 
Romanesque  churches  of  France,  the  Rhine,  and  Italy.  The  masonry  in 
Donoughmore  is  excellent  rubble  throughout,  built  not  in  courses,  but  on  the 
dove-tail  system — the  stones  fitted  to  one  another.  The  doorway  and 
windows  are  of  the  best  close-jointed  ashlar,  much  superior  to  work  of  the 
same  period  found  in  England. 

In  accordance  with  the  custom  introduced  by  St.  Patrick,  which  became 
a  law  to  the  Irish,  the  church  is  of  diminutive  size.    Its  dimensions  are : — 
Nave,  39  ft.  6  in.  x  23  ft.  5  in.  internally. 
Chancel,  12  ft.  6  in.  x  8  ft.  6  in.  internally. 

In  accordance  also  with  the  primitive  custom  of  making  the  building  at 
once  a  church  and  a  cell  or  dwelling,  we  find  provision  for  the  resident 
ecclesiastic  over  the  chancel  (xx).  This  consisted  of  an  attic  entered  by  a 
doorway  immediately  over  the  chancel  arch,  and  lighted  by  a  narrow  window 
in  the  east  gable.  After  placing  the  door  of  the  church  against  the  stone 
jambs,  and  securing  it  on  the  inside  by  the  bocA  buitti^ — i.e.,  a  stout  ash 
pole,  the  ends  of  which  were  inserted  in  holes  in  opposite  sides  of  the  door- 
way (yy) — our  ecclesiastic,  Crusoe-like,  reached  his  habitation  by  a  ladder 
which  he  probably  pulled  up  after  him. 

The  chancel  is  somewhat  displaced ;  the  axis  af  the  junction  of  the  nave 
and  chancel  being  ^ix  inches  nearer  to  the  north  wall  of  the  nave  than  the 
true  axis.  This  displacement  is  not  accidental,  for  we  find  it  also  in  Cormac's 
Chapel,  with  the  difference  that  the  chancel  is  moved  south  instead  of  north. 
A  fanciful  antiquarian  suggests  that  the  church  was  intended  to  symbolize 
the  dying  Saviour,  the  nave  representing  the  body  and  the  chancel  the  head, 
inclined  to  one  side  in  the  manner  we  are  so  familiar  with.  This  guess  would  be 
better  than  none,  but  for  the  fact  that  in  all  contemporary  Celtic  manuscripts  and 
crosses  the  Saviour  is  represented  alive  with  head  erect.  A  further  peculiarity 
of  the  chancel  is  its  exceedingly  small  size,  the  ratio  of  the  lengths  of  the 
chancel  and  nave  being  as  2  to  6  nearly,  while  the  average  ratio  is  about  as 
2  to  3  (zz).  The  original  barrel  vault  still  remains  at  a  height  of  12  feet, 
measuring  from  the  apex  to  the  ground.    A  semi-circular  headed  window  in 


(xx)  For  this  custom  see  a  paper  on  St.  Dolough's  by  the  late  Dr.  Reeves,  read  before  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy,  April  1851,  where  the  subject  is  treated  with  all  the  thoroughness  characteristic  of 
the  writer. 

(yy)  The  holes  are  about  three  inches  square,  and  it  may  be  observed  that  this  is  still  the  usual 
method  of  securing  doors  adopted  by  the  peasantry. 

(sz)  In  some  churches,  however,  e.g.,  St.  Camin's,  Innisceltra;  Dysart,  Co.  Clare;  Innismain, 
Co.  Gal  way,  the  ratio  is  as  2  to  4. 


History  of  Clonmel.  421 

the  middle  of  the  east  wall  gave  light  to  the  interior.  This  window  is  very 
deeply  splayed,  its  external  dimensions  being  3  feet  2]^  inches,  by  10^  inches 
wide,  the  internal  are — height,  8  feet  3  inches ;  width,  4  feet,  diminishing  to 
3  feet  10  inches  at  the  spring  of  the  arch.  The  windows  of  the  nave  are 
similar  in  all  respects  but  somewhat  smaller. 

As  usual  in  Romanesque  churches  the  most  elaborate  feature  is  the  door- 
way. This,  after  the  manner  of  the  Irish,  is  placed  in  the  west  gable,  and  is. 
of  great  depth,  owing  partly  to  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  partly  to  the 
fronting  canopy,  and  piers  (a).  The  doorway  consisted  of  three  orders 
which  supported  an  outer  arch,  a  sub-arch,  and  a  tympanum,  respectively. 
The  outer  order  has  been  completely  denuded  of  its  carved  face,  and  would 
probably  have  fallen  ere  now  but  for  the  restorations  effected  in  1883.  The 
second  order  with  its  superincumbent  arch  is  perfect,  having  weathered  very 
slightly  because  of  the  great  depth  of  the  outer  order.  Portions  only  of  the 
inner  order  survive.  On  this  order  rested  the  tympanum,  beaiJng  what  was 
popularly  described  as  "  The  Cat  and  Two  Tails."  This  uncanny  thing  long 
baffled  research.  The  "  oldest  inhabitant "  thought  he  had  seen  it  when  a 
boy,  but  his  description  was  somewhat  nebulous.  O'Donovan  was  not  more 
satisfactory : — 

A  stone  inscribed  with  Cat  and  Two  Tails  was  said  to  be  put  over  the  door  by  the 
Gobban  Saor  and  the  stone  was  stolen  by  Cashel  carmen  and  brought  to  Holy 
Cross  (h). 

At  length  the  feline  monster  was  discovered  safe  and  sound  in  the  Codex 
Mailbrigte,  British  Museum.  This  manuscript,  written  at  Armagh  in  1 1 38,  by 
Mailbrigte  Hua  Mailunagh,  has,  like  other  Celtic  manuscripts  of  the  Gospels, 
representations  of  the  four  evangelists.  At  folio  60  is  the  figure  of  St.  Mark 
with  the  emblematic  lion,  "  made,"  as  the  catalogue  quaintly  says,  "  by  one 
who  never  saw  the  creature  "  (c).  The  lion,  according  to  the  old  tradition,  is 
born  dead,  and  remains  so  for  three  days  when  its  father  gives  it  life  by 


(a)  Like  orientation,  the  western  position  of  the  doorway  is  not  invariable.  In  addition  to 
Kilcash,  the  "  Priest's  House  "  at  Glendalough,  Teinplemurry,  at  Kilmacduagh,  and  several  others, 
might  be  mentioned  as  examples  of  the  contrary  practice. 

(b)  Ord.  Papers,  R.l.A. 

(c)  The  debasement  of  a  type  is  instructive,  as  evidenced  by  "  The  Cat  and  Two  Tails."  The 
original  came  from  Gaul  or  Northern  Italy,  where  there  was  more  or  less  knowledge  of  the  "creature." 
In  older  copies,  such  as  in  the  Book  of  Kells,  there  is  a  tolerable  representation  of  a  lion.  In  later 
MSS.  the  resemblance  is  rather  remote,  while  there  is  none  whatsoever  in  MSS.  of  the  I2th  century, 
such  as  the  Codex  referred  to.  The  climax  is  reached  in  the  confusion  of  tjT^e  and  antitype  in  the 
cumdach  of  St.  Molaise's  Gospels,  when  what  is  supposed  to  represent  the  head  of  a  lion  has  the 
legs  of  a  man  attached  to  it. 


422  History  of  Clonmel. 

breathing  on  it.  It  became,  accordingly,  the  symbol  of  the  Resurrection  in 
early  Christian  art.  That  this  tradition  was  not  unknown  to  the  Irish  is  clear 
from  a  passage  in  the  Leabhair  Breac  : — 

For  this  is  the  peculiarity  of  that  whelp  that  it  is  three  days  in  death  immediately 
after  its  birth,  and  the  male  lion  comes  to  it,  and  puts  his  breath  round  it,  and  roars 
over  it  with  a  great  voice,  and  then  raises  up  the  whelp  to  life,  thus  then  rose  Christ 
from  the  dead  through  the  might  of  the  Heavenly  Father  (d). 

The  tail  of  the  "  lion  "  being  bifurcated  and  each  end  tied,  Celtic  fashion, 
into  a  knot,  the  popular  "Cat  and  Two  Tails"  was  thus  made  intelligible. 

The  detail  of  the  doorway  exhibits  a  harmonious  blend  of  classic  and 
native  elements.  The  classic  neck,  bell  and  abacus  of  the  capital  are 
unmistakable.  At  first  sight  the  double  spiral  on  the  bell  looks  like  a 
degraded  form  of  the  Ionic  volute ;  but  on  closer  inspection  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  spirals  terminate  in  leaves,  and  spring  from  a  stalk  which  is  continued 
along  the  face  of  the  pier  to  the  bottom.  This  adaptation  of  the  blossoming 
sceptre — for  such  it  is — to  architectural  ornament,  is  indicative  probably  of 
the  dignity  of  a  church  belonging  to  a  coarb  of  Patrick.  But  whether 
symbolic  or  merely  decorative,  it  is  unique,  occurring  on  no  other  church 
known  to  the  writer,  native  or  foreign  fej.  On  the  abacus  is  interlaced  work 
of  the  pattern  called  the  double  true-lovers  knot. 

The  pier  has  a  demi-octagonal  column  at  the  corner,  adorned  with 
chevron  ribbons  pelleted,  the  face  of  the  pier  itself  showing  a  kind  of  chain 
work.  The  only  parallel  to  this  chain  work  is  at  Annaghdown,  Co.  Galway, 
where  diamonds  are  substituted  for  the  rings.  Coming  to  the  inner  order, 
we  find  in  addition  to  the  beautiful  cable  moulding  a  curious  triple-leaf 
ornament.  The  Celtic  character  of  this  I  doubted  from  the  first,  and  after  a  long 
search  on  crosses,  illuminated  manuscripts,  &c.,  I  am  satisfied  the  ornament  is 
foreign.  In  Westwood's  "  Paleographia  Sacra  "  is  figured  the  Church  of 
Laodicea  (Apoc.  c.  iii.)  taken  from  a  Visogothic  choral  book.  The  architecture 
of  the  church  is  Moorish,  and  along  the  pilasters  is  an  ornament  almost 
identical  with  that  of  Donoughmore,  the  only  difference  being  that  the 
bunches  have  four  leaves  instead  of  three,  and  are  separated  by  bars.  The 
exceedingly  delicate  work  on  the  soffit  of  the  arch  is  obviously  a  reminiscence 
of  the  classic  anthemion.  It  has  no  trace  whatever  of  the  geometrical  restraint 
peculiar  to  the  Irish,  and  though  conventional  is  clearly  founded  on  natural 
forms. 


fdj  I  am  indebted  to  Miss  Stokes'  book  on  "  Celtic  Art "  for  this  passage. 

(c)  The  blossoming  sceptre  (Numbers  XVII.)  is  a  mark  of  special  distinction  with  Irish  sculptors 
and  illuminators.  It  is  found  in  the  hands  of  Christ,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  angels  and 
occasionally  the  evangelists. 


History  of  Clonmel.  423 

The  chancel  piers,  like  those  of  the  doorway,  are  slightly  battering. 
The  outer  columns,  one  cylindrical,  the  other  octagonal,  are  semi- 
detached; the  inner  is  a  three-quarter  column.  Their  height  is  4  feet 
9^  inches ;  adding  to  this  20  inches  for  the  base  and  capital,  we  have  a  total 
height  of  6  feet  55^  inches  to  the  spring  of  the  arch.  The  bases  consist  of  a 
heavy  bulb  placed  on  a  shallow  plinth,  and  crowned  by  a  torus.  They  have 
nothing  distinctively  Irish  about  them,  the  stiff  flowers  at  the  angles  differing 
little  from  Romanesque  foliage  elsewhere. 

These  flowers,  or  griffes^  as  the  French  call  them,  afford  some  clue  to  the 
age  of  the  church.  "  C'est  vers  le  commencement  du  XL  siecle  qu'  Ton  voit 
apparaitre  les  premieres  griff  es  aux  angles  des  bases,"  says  M.Viollet  le  Duc^A 
Allowing  fifty  years  for  their  importation  into  Ireland,  this  would  give  about 
1050  for  the  date  of  the  church,  a  date  that  tallies  admirably  with  its  other 
architectural  peculiarities.  The  capitals  show  the  same  imitation  of  foreign, 
and  j( more  remotely)  classical  models.  The  idea  is  clearly  borrowed  from 
the  petals  and  stamens  of  some  flowers,  but  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the 
carver  copied  from  some  prototype  rather  than  directly  from  nature.  They 
differ  greatly  from  contemporary  Irish  capitals,  which  for  the  most  part 
consist  of  masks  at  the  angles  connected  by  ribbon  work  ;  the  only  approach 
to  them  are  the  capitals  at  St.  Camin's,  Innisceltra,  a  church,  according  to 
Keating,  erected  by  Brian  Boru. 

'  The  general  features,  therefore,  of  Donoughmore  may  be  summed  up — 
Romanesque  growths  engrafted  on  an  Irish  stock.  The  visitor  entering  the 
west  portal  with  its  overhanging  canopy,  was  reminded  of  continental 
churches ;  the  gloom  within,  brought  him  back  to  the  earlier  oratories,  and 
farther  still,  to  their  prototypes  in  the  Catacombs,  where  a  gens  lucifuga,  as 
Pliny  called  them,  gathered  together  to  celebrate  the  divine  mysteries.  The 
enduring  character  of  the  masonry  and  the  delicate  beauty  of  the  detail, 
would  extort  his  admiration.  He  would  probably  find  in  use  on  the  altar  a 
chalice  of  chaste  and  exquisite  workmanship,  such  as  the  Ardagh  chalice 
still  existing.  Everywhere  around  him  was  evidence  that  the  worshippers 
had  reached  a  point  of  culture  far  in  advance  of  neighbouring  peoples. 

Those  who  think  that  civilization  and  the  arts  reached  Ireland  with  the 
English,  should  study  Donoughmore  and  such  as  it.  "  The  sun,"  in  the  words 
of  Ruskin,  "was  risen  upon  the  earth  when  Lot  entered  into  Zoar"  (g). 


(f)  Diet,  de  I'Archit.  Franc.  II.,  133. 
»        (^)  Reprinted  from  a  paper,  with  illustrations  bv  the  writer,  in   Watafonl  Arduvol.  Journal^ 
Vol.  II.,  No.  I.  '  .  " 


THE  PALATINATE  OF  TIPPER ARY. 

HFTER  the  Anglo-Norman  invasion,  the  present  county  of  Tipperary 
with  the  baronies  of  Cianwilliam  and  Coonagh  in  Limerick  w)iich 
formed  part  of  it,  was  made  shire  ground.    The  king  regularly 
appointed  sheriffs,  coroners,   escheators  and  other  officers  who 
exercised  criminal,  civil  and  fiscal  jurisdiction.    This  state  of  things  lasted 
until  1328.    In  that  year  Edward  III.  issued  letters  patent  in  favour  of  James 
le  Botiller,  Earl  of  Ormond,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation. 

Edward  King  and  so  forth,  to  all  those  to  whom  and  so  forth.  Be  it  known  that 
on  account  of  the  good  service  which  James  le  Botiller  of  Ireland  (whom  we  have  made 
Earl  of  Ormond  in  Ireland)  has  rendered  to  Edward  late  king  of  England,  our  father, 
and  to  us,  in  order  that  he  may  support  the  dignity  and  honour  of  Earl  more  becomingly, 
We  have  given  and  granted  to  the  said  Earl  for  his  life,  the  royalty  and  other  liberties 
with  military  fees,  and  all  other  things  whatsoever,  we  are  possessed  of,  in  the  County 
of  Tipperary  in  Ireland,  (only  excepting  the  four  pleas,  viz.,  arson,  rape,  forestalling 
and  treasure-trove,  as  also  the  profits  of  the  cross  in  the  said  county  with  all  their 
appurtenances  which  we  wish  to  remain  with  us).  In  testimony  whereof  we  have  had 
these  letters  patent  issued.  Witness  myself,  at  Walyngford  on  the  ninth  day  of 
November  in  the  second  year  of  our  reign  (h). 

This  grant  originally  made  for  life,  was  by  a  new  patent,  5th  June,  1372, 
made  in  fee  to  James,  second  Earl,  and  his  heirs.  The  effect  of  the  grant 
was  to  divide  Tipperary  into  two  counties,  one  subject  to  the  Earls  of  Ormond 
and  known  as  the  "  Liberty  of  Tipperary  "  or  county  Palatine,  the  other  still 
subject  to  the  king  and  called  "  the  County  of  the  Cross  of  Tipperary,"  and 
the  most  curious  part  of  the  arrangement  was  that  the  two  counties  were 
inextricably  mixed  up.  All  lands  held  from  an  ecclesiastical  corporation, 
sole  or  aggregate — archbishop,  bishop,  chapter  or  monastery — formed  the 


(h)  Latin  original,  Carte's  Ormond,  Introduction  LXVI. 


History  of  Clonmel.  426 

"County  Cross."  Lands,  on  the  other  hand,  held  of  the  king  in  capite  or 
indirectly  through  others  by  infeudation,  belonged  to  the  Palatinate.  In 
practice,  therefore,  the  king's  sheriff  issued  writs  and  his  bailiffs  distrained 
in  one  townland,  while  in  the  adjoining  one  Ormond's  officials  alone  had 
jurisdiction  (i).  There  were,  however,  down  to  the  reign  -of  James  L  large 
districts  of  Tipperary  where  neither  the  earl's  nor  the  king's  writs  ran. 
Though  Arra  and  Kilnemanagh  are  described  in  a  State  Paper  of  1586  as 
belonging  to  Tipperary  (;V,  yet  the  latter  appears  in  the  Down  Survey  as  a 
**  territory  "  belonging  to  the  O'Dwyers,  not  as  a  barony.  The  legal  union 
of  Arra  with  the  County  Cross  Tipperary  was  effected  by  the  following 
document 

The  Unyon  of  Dugh  Arra  to  the  County  of  the  Cross  of  Typerary.  Whereas  oure 
sov'aigne  Lord  the  Kinges  moste  excellent  ma*'«  James  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of 
England  Scotland  ffraunc  and  Ireland  by  his  hignes  comission  under  his  greate  seale  of 
this  his  realme  of  Ireland  unto  us  directed  bearing  date  at  Mellefount  the  xx'*^  day  of 
July  and  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  most  prosperous  Raigne  of  England  ffraunc  and 
Ireland  and  of  Scotland  the  nyne  and  thirteeth  hath  ordeyred  dyrected  and  appointed 
that  the  Countrey  or  Territory  of  Dough  Arra  otherwise  called  M*=  Bryen  Arraes 
Countrey  lying  and  being  in  the  bords  and  confynes  of  the  sev'all  Counties  of  Clare 
Lym'ick  the  County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tiperary  and  the  County  of  the  Liberty  of  Tiperary 
being  hearetofore  doubtfull  and  uncertayne  whether  the  said  Countrey  of  Dough  Arra 
weare  parcell  if  enny  of  the  said  sev'all  counties  or  rather  a  place  exempt  and  seperate 
from  all  and  every  of  the  said  sev'all  Counties  by  reason  whereof  manny  treasones 
felonies  and  other  offences  comitted  within  the  said  Countrey  of  Dough  Arra  have  for 
manny  yeares  past  gon  unpunnished  because  the  inhabitaunts  of  the  said  Countrey 
have  not  beene  drawne  to  make  their  apparaunce  at  anny  sessions  within  enny  of  the 
said  sev'all  Countres  and  that  it  hath  beene  concey  ved  that  there  hath  beene  no  apt  and 
proper  place  of  triall  of  the  said  crymes  and  offences.  His  highnes  for  sundry  goode 
respectes  and  for  the  advauncement  of  justice  among  his  subjectes  have  thought  meete 
and  convenyent  to  annex  unite  and  joyne  the  said  Countrey  or  Territory  of  Dough  Arra 
and  the  sayd  County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tiperary  into  one  County  and  the  said  Countrey 
of  Dough  Arra  to  be  hencfoorth  reputed  accepted  and  taken  as  parcell  and  member  of 
the  said  County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tiperary.  Knowe  all  men  that  wee  for  the  perfourmanc 
of  his  highnes  dyrection  to  us  in  that  behalf  have  called  before  us  a  Jury  of  the  County 
of  the  Crosse  of  Tiperary  aforesaid  retoumed  by  the  Shierif  of  the  said  County  at 
Cashell  within  the  said  County  the  third  day  of  September  1606  whose  names  do  ensue 
vizt. :  Edmond  Butler  of  Mullenony  gent.,  Edmond  Butler  of  Clogcully  gent.,  John 
Phelane  of  ffitherd  burges,  John  Keating  of  Moorestown  gent,  Eustace  English  of 
Rahin  gent,  James  Prendergast  of  Rathogally  gent.,  Thomas  Stapleton  of  Leynestowne 
gent,  Geffrey  Mocler  of  Bally clerighane  gent.,  John  Hyffeman  of  Lattin  gent.,  James 
Meaghir  of  Burdensgrandg  gent,  James  Heden  of  flitherd  burges,  James  Woodlock  of 
the  same  burges,  Edmond  Mocler  of  Bwollvnattin  gent,  which  Juro's  being  swome  in 


(i)  On  i8th  October,  1355,  Andrew  Hackett  was  elected  sheriff  of  the  County  Cross  of  Tipperary. 
The  foUowing  were  his  sureties,  and  were  probably  the  principal  landowners  in  the  cross  at  the 
period: — John  Mauncell  knt.,  Richard  de  la  Kokell  knt.,  Andrew  Hackett,  Robert  Woodlock, 
Thomas  de  Valle  [Wall],  Simon  Cantwell,  James  Warner,  Thomas  Faunt,  William  Bryt,  Thomas 
Don,  Bernard  de  Valle  [Wall],  Thomas  Waleys  [Walsh],  Walter  Fitz  Raymond,  John  Mauclek 
[Mockler],  William  Sause,  John  Everhard,  Robert  Haket,  Mathew  de  Loundres  [Landers],  Walter 
Enyas  [Ennis],  Garret  Comerford,  Robert  Burton,  Adam  ^rittoll,  and  Thomas  de  Loundres  of 
Ballyclohan.— Pat.  Rot. 

(j)  State  Papers,  Eliz.,  ad  anth 


426  History  of  Clonmel. 

open  Court  uppon  the  Holy  Evangelist  to  present  the  meetes  meeres  and  bounds  of 
Dwgh  Arra  aforesaid  have  presented  as  followeth,  vidzt.  That  the  Countrey  or 
Territory  of  Dugh  Arra  lyeth  and  is  conteyned  and  meared  with  Portcrossy  by  the 
ryver  of  Synnane  in  the  North  West  point  with  the  cantred  of  Ownymulryan  in  the 
South  West  poynt  with  Upper  Ormond  all  by  South,  Mollin  logane  in  Lower  Ormond 
by  East,  and  by  the  smale  Ryver  from  Mollin  logane  to  Synnan  aforesaid  along  on  the 
North  syde  tending  to  Portcrossy  aforesaid,  and  is  one  hundreth  plowlandes  uppon  all 
which  presentment  we  have  by  force  of  pure  said  comision  founde  oute  the  lymites 
and  boundes  of  the  said  Countrey  of  Dugh  Arra.  And  do  lay  annex  unite  and  conjoy  ne 
the  said  Territory  or  Countrey  of  Ehigh  Arra  to  the  said  County  of  the  Crosse  of 
Tiperary  and  both  so  conjoined  together  to  be  called  the  County  of  the  Crosse  of 
Tiperary.  And  wee  do  likewyse  by  vertue  of  oure  said  comision  order  award  and  adjudg 
that  the  said  Countrey  or  Dough  Arra  shalbe  hencfoorth  for  ever  called  the  Barony  of 
Dugh  Arra  in  the  County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tiperary.  And  that  the  Shierifif  of  the 
County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tiperary  for  the  tyme  being  shall  and  may  exercise  his  offyce 
as  Shierif  by  himself  his  offycers  and  ministers  in  the  said  Barrony  of  Dugh  Arra  and 
in  every  part  and  parcell  thereof,  and  apoint  a  Bayliff  under  him  in  the  same  in  as 
lardg  and  ample  manner  as  he  doth  exercise  or  may  exercise  the  same  offyce  of  ShierifT 
in  enny  other  Barrony  part  or  member  of  the  said  County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tipperary. 
To  all  intentes  and  purposes  and  for  the  better  furtheraunce  of  his  Highnes  service  wee 
have  named  appointed  and  sworne  two  high  constables  in  the  said  Barrony  of  Dugh 
Arra,  Dated  at  Cashell  in  the  County  of  the  Crosse  of  Tipperary  the  sixt  day  of 
September  l6o6  and  in  the  fourth  yeare  of  the  raigne  of  oure  soverayn  Lord  King 
James  of  England  ffraunc  and  of  Ireland  and  of  Scotland  the  XLth. 

H.  Brouncker.  Fra,  Walshe. 

Jo.  Elyot  Dom.  Sarsfelde  ^itA 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  Palatinate  of  Tipperary  enjoyed  the  same 
measure  of  independence  as  did,  for  example,  the  counties  palatine  of  Chester 
and  Durham  in  England.  There  are  entries  in  the  Plea  Rolls  of  assizes  and 
gaol  deliveries  at  Clonmel  when  the  king's  judges  heard  causes  determinable 
by  Omiond's  charter  (I),  The  sheriflf  of  the  Liberty  was  regularly  summoned 
by  writ  to  return  members  to  parliament  (fn),  \Ytt  there  is  some  evidence  that 
the  Ormonds  claimed  and  exercised  a  royal  seignory.  The  Keatings 
" barons  of  Nicholastown,"  the  Purcell^  "barons of  Loughmoe,"  the  Butlers 
"barons  of  Ardmayle,"  the  Tobins  "barons  of  Compsy,"  will  be  sought  for 
in  vain  in  the  lists  of  those  attending  the  "  Commune  Concilium  "  of  the 
king  ;  the  true  explanation  of  such  honours  seems  to  be  that  they  were  barons 
of  the  Palatinate,  and  as  such  bound  to  give  counsel  and  aid  at  the  Earls' 
Court  in  Clonmel  (n).  More  advantageous,  however,  than  any  seignorial 
privileges  were  the  forfeitures  which  in  cases  of  treason  fell  to  the  Ormonds 
as  superior  lords.  J  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  Butlers 
were  of  comparatively  small  territorial   importance  in  Tipperary.     Two 

(k)  Public  Records,  Ireland,  5th  Keix)rt. 

(I)  For  example— 5  Ric.  II.,  6  Ed.  II.,  etc. 

(in)  Pat.  Rot.,  passim. 

(n)  Lynch  (Feudal  Dignities,  Ireland. — London,  1830)  maintains  that  such  barons  were  ancient 
peers  who  after  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  had  lost  their  parliamentary  dignity,  not  being  summoned 
for  the  reason  they  were  not  barons  by  tenure.  This  may  be  true  of  many,  as  for  example,  the 
Baron  of  Donhill,  but  certainly  not  in  the  cases  above  mentioned. 


History  of  Clonmel.  427 

centuries  later  they  had  spread  themselves  in  flourishing  families  from  the 
Shannon  to  the  Suir.  The  attainder  of  native  Celts  and  old  English  free- 
holders in  the  county  courts  had  doubtless  much  to  do  with  this. 

As  palatinate  lords  the  Ormonds  had  to  answer  for  the  delinquencies  of 
their  subjects.    The  following  is  from  the  Close  Rolls,  48  Edw.  IIL  (1374). 

Memorandum  that  on  Thursday  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension,  James  le  Botiller, 
Earl  of  Ormond,  lord  of  the  liberty  of  Tipperary,  and  Patrick  de  la  Freigne,  knight, 
seneschal  of  the  liberty  of  Kilkenny,  came  to  the  Chancery  in  Kilkenny,  and  there  before 
the  governor  and  council  (upon  the  complaints  made  between  the  counties  Tipperary 
and  Kilkenny)  the  said  Earl  delivered  up  Edmund  fitzEdmund  le  Botiller,  to  Stephen 
Bishop  of  Meath,  and  Brother  William  Tany,  Prior  of  St  John  of  Jerusalem,  Chancellor 
of  Ireland,  as  security  for  restitution  and  amends  to  be  made  for  transgressions  of  the 
Co.  Tipperary  people  against  those  of  County  Kilkenny,  according  as  the  said  Bishop 
and  Chancellor  shall  judge.  And  the  said  Patrick  delivered  up  Ralph  Freigne  as 
security  etc.  of  the  County  Kilkenny  people  against  those  of  Tipperary.  The 
securities  were  released  on  the  Earl  and  Freigne  entering  into  bonds  in  dE200  for  their 
appearance.  Subsequently  the  said  Earl  protests  that  he  will  not  answer  for  the  t 
delinquencies  of  the  nations  of  Tobins  and  Purcells  of  County  Tipperary.  ] 

The  history  of  Tipperary  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  has 
been  already  narrated.  The  numerous  square  towers  scattered  throughout 
the  country  are  stern  witnesses  to  the  lawlessness  of  the  period.  The 
Ormonds  quitting  Ireland,  delegated  their  palatinate  authority  to  their  several 
kinsmen.  These  kept  large  bodies  of  armed  retainers,  made  war  and  peace 
with  one  another,  plundering  and  degrading  the  freeholders,  Celtic  and  old 
English  alike,  into  pauperism.  Though  the  names  of  seneschals  and  other 
officers  are  met  with,  the  courts  of  *'  the  liberties  and  regalities  "  were  only 
a  shadow.  When  Mooney,  the  Franciscan,  visited  Clonmel  in  the  first  years 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  large  house  was  pointed  out  to  him.  Beyond 
the  fact  that  it  was  called  "  The  Earl's  Court,"  he  could  obtain  no  further 
information,  for  no  one  remembered  to  have  seen  justice  administered  there. 

As  the  country  became  more  peaceful,  the  palatinate  jurisdiction  was 
gradually  restored.  In  1621  however  James  L  in  pursuance  of  his  hostility 
to  Walter,  Earl  of  Ormond,  had  the  liberties  seized  by  "  Quo  Warranto." 
From  the  proceedings  we  gather  a  detailed  description  of  their  nature. 

Walter  Earl  of  Ormond  and  Ossory,  Sir  John  Everard,  knight,  and  Robert  Rooth, 
esquire  ....  exercise  and  use  divers  liberties,  privileges,  franchises  and 
jurisdictions  following. 

To  have  and  to  hold  within  the  county  of  Tipperary,  one  Curia  Cancellariae 
commonly  called  a  Chancery  Courte  and  to  make  appoint  and  constitute  one  Cancellarius 
or  officer  in  the  same  court,  commonly  called  a  Chancellor :  which  chancellor  under 
colour  of  such  his  office,  makes  and  causes  to  be  made  all  kinds  of  original  writs  and 
other  processes  in  all  actions  as  well  real  as  personal  and  mixed,  within  the  aforesaid 
county  arising  occurring  or  happening;  and  receives,  converts  and  disposes  the 
perquisites  and  profits  accruing  and  arising  therefrom  to  the  proper  use  of  the  afore- 
said Earl,  John  Everarde,  and  Robert  Rooth,  and  the  same  chancellor  under  colour 


428  History  of  Clonmel. 

aforesaid,  in  the  aforesaid  court,  hears  examines  discusses  and  determines  all  suits, 
causes,  complaints,  bills,  petitions  and  controversies,  by  whatever  persons  in  that  court 
before  him  brought  proposed  and  produced,  and  does  and  executes  all  other  things 
which  belong  to  the  office  of  Chancellor  to  be  done  and  executed. 

And  also  to  have  and  to  hold  within  the  aforesaid  county  another  Court  of  Pleas 
of  the  Crown  of  the  said  lord  the  new  king,  and  to  make  appoint  and  constitute  one 
other  officer  called  a  Seneschall  and  one  other  officer  called  a  Justice  to  hold  Pleas  of 
the  Crown  which  Seneschal  and  Justice  hear  treat  of  examine  discuss  and  determine 
all  and  singular  presentments  and  indictments  against  all  persons  whatsoever,  for  all 
treasons  and  misprisons  of  them,  also  for  all  other  transgressions  and  malfeasances 
committed  in  the  aforesaid  county  in  that  court  presented  or  indicted,  and  in  and  upon 
any  persons  convicted  or  attainted  of  any  such  treasons  or  felonies  and  other  offences, 
and  still  do  impose  and  inflict  all  and  all  manner  of  punishments  pecuniary  and  corporal, 
and  punishments  of  life  and  limbs,  to  such  delinquents  respectively.  And  do  and 
direct  to  be  done  all  other  things  which  belong  to  the  office  of  any  Justice  of  Pleas  of 
the  Crown  to  be  done  and  execute. 

And  to  have  and  to  hold  within  the  aforesaid  county  one  other  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  held  before  the  aforesaid  Seneschal  and  Justice  who  hear  examine  discuss  and 
determine  all  and  singular  suits  complaints  and  actions,  real  personal  and  mixed,  by 
whatsoever  persons  as  well  by  writ  as  by  bill  without  writ,  brought  produced  and 
depending.  And  the  same  Seneschal  and  Justice  take  and  receive  notes  and 
acknowledgments  of  all  persons  whatsoever  for  fines  of  any  lands  and  tenements  in 
the  aforesaid  County  to  be  levied  according  to  the  course  of  Common  Law  of  this 
Kingdom  of  Ireland. 

And  also,  yearly  to  nominate  and  constitute  in  the  same  county  one  other  officer, 
viz. :  one  Vicecomes  commonly  called  a  Sheriff  for  the  custody  of  the  said  county  who 
makes  execution  of  all  writs  precepts  mandates  warrants  and  processes  issuing  and 
directed  to  the  same  Sheriff  from  the  four  courts,  Dublin,  from  the  Justices  assigned  to 
take  the  assizes  in  the  County  Tipperary  as  well  as  from  the  aforesaid  Chancellor 
Justice  and  Seneschal  in  the  same  county.  And  he  holds  in  thesame  county  divers  courts 
of  Term,  Leet  and  County  Courts  and  converts  and  disposes  the  issues  and  profits  of 
such  courts  to  his  proper  use ;  and  does  and  executes  all  other  things  which  belong  to 
the  office  of  sheriff. 

And  moreover  to  have  the  power  of  granting  charters  of  Pardon  to  whatsoever 
persons  are  suspected  accused  indicted  convicted  outlawed  condemned  or  attained  of 
any  transgressions  felonies  and  treasons  and  misprisions  of  felonies  or  treasons  by  them 
within  the  said  county  committed,  and  by  their  charters  to  pardon  any  such  person  all 
and  singular  such  transgressions  felonies  treasons  and  misprisions,  also  all  and  singular 
convictions  outlawries  condemnations  judgments  attainders  corporal  punishments  of 
death  and  limbs  and  executions  of  the  same  against  any  such  person  in  the  aforesaid 
Court  of  Pleas  of  the  Crown  for  any  offence  above  recited  had  or  adjudicated.  And 
further  to  do  and  execute  within  said  County  all  other  things  whatsoever  which 
appertain  to  any  Earl  of  any  County  Palentine  {sic)  to  be  done  or  executed. 

And  also  to  appoint  and  constitute  in  said  county  divers  other  officers  viz. :  one  or 
more  Coroners  to  do  all  that  appertains  to  the  office  of  coroners  to  be  done ;  and  one 
Escheator  and  one  Feodary  to  do  all  that  appertains  to  the  offices  of  Escheator  and 
Feodary  respectively  to  be  done ;  and  one  Clerk  of  the  Markets ;  and  one  Subvicecomes 
commonly  called  a  subsheriffe  to  do,  etc. 

And  moreover  to  seize  and  to  the  proper  use  of  them,  the  earl,  John  Everarde  and 
Robert  Roothe,  to  convert  and  dispose  all  and  singular  goods  chattels  lands  and 
tenements  of  all  traitors  felons  convicted  attainted  or  in  anywise  condemned,  fugitives 
outlaws  waives  or  persons  put  in  exigent,  felons  of  themselves,  deodands,  treasure-trove, 
escheats  chattels  or  lands  forfeited,  customs  fines  amerciaments  and  other  profits  and 
royal  rights,  within  the  aforesaid  County  Tipperary  from  time  to  time  arising  happening 
or  occurring  (o). 

(o)  Public  Records,  Ireland,  5th  Rep.,  p.  34. 


History  of  Clonmel.  429 

Such  were  the  royal  rights — ^regalities  as  they  were  styled — exercised  by 
the  Earls  of  Ormond  within  the  County  Palatine  of  Tipperary.  That  they 
should  be  called  in  question  and  even  suspended  from  time  to  time  by  those 
responsible  for  the  king's  government,  was  only  to  be  expected.  At  a 
parliament  held  at  Drogheda  by  the  celebrated  Sir  Edward  Ponyngs  in  1494, 
Ormond's  independence  as  well  as  that  of  the  Irish  parliament  was  brought 
to  an  end.  An  act  was  passed  resuming  the  palatinate  grant  into  the  hands 
of  the  king.  Five  years  later,  however,  at  the  parliament  of  Castledermot 
held  before  the  Earl  of  Kildare  aad  the  Duke  of  York,  another  act  was  passed 
declaring  that  the  previous  one  should  not  be  prejudicial  or  detrimental  to 
the  Earl  of  Ormond.  But  this  would  seem  not  to  have  removed  all  doubts, 
for  on  nth  March,  1558,  a  new  grant  of  the  palatinate  jurisdiction  was  made 
in  which  the  previous  ones  were  recited  and  confirmed  (p).  Finally  in  1563 
the  Earl  of  Desmond  made  an  agreement  with  Elizabeth  recognizing 
Ormond's  right  to  the  liberties  of  Tipperary  according  to  the  judgment  of  the 
two  chief  justices.  Sir  Robert  Catlin  and  Sir  James  Dyer,  to  whom  the  queen 
had  referred  the  decision  of  the  case. 

At  this  period  the  manor  of  Kilfeacle  was  in  dispute  between  Ormond 
and  Desmond,  and  consequently  it  was  uncertain  whether  the  dependant 
lands  (comprising  a  considerable  part  of  Clanwilliam  barony)  belonged 
to  the  palatinate  or  not.  The  other  manors  of  Tipperary  were  Knockgraffon, 
Kilsheelan,  Killenaule,  Kiltinan,  Nenagh,  Roscrea,  Templemore  and  Thurles. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  freeholders  of  the  time : — 

The  Names  of  the  Gentlemen  inhabitinge  the  Cout  of  Tippary  with 
the  extent  of  their  Lands  by  estimacon  as  followeth : —      C^^CCi    (::>^o 

Lands  houlden  of  the  Maunors  of  Knockgraffen  and  Kilshielan. 

James  Tobin  and  his  kinsmen,  the  comsie  in  the  canthred  of 

Clonemell /'^y.   ...                ...  ...                ...                ...i5o£ 

Richard  Lount  his  lands        ....  ...                ...                ...    S£ 

William  Vale  his  lands  [Figlasl^rA  ...                ...                ...  4o£ 


(p)  Pat.  Rot.,  Morrin,  p.  387. 

iq)  The  name  Tobin  is  found  in  the  records  in  Latin  as  De  Sancto  Albino,  Anglo-Norman 
St.  Aubyn.  The  family  was  settled  in  Compsy  barony  early  in  the  thirteenth  century.  September 
19th,  1242,  Henry  III.  issued  a  mandate  to  Maurice  Fitz  Gerald,  justiciary,  to  clear  the  p«iss  of  Cumsy 
between  Fethard  and  the  borders  of  Ossory  by  cutting  the  wood  of  Thomas  de  St.  Albin.  In  1334 
John  Tobin  lord  of  Compsy  "  was  treacherously  slain  in  his  own  ch<ipel  by  the  sons  of  Walter 
Tobin  whom  he  had  trusted."  Two  years  later  "  a  duel  was  arranged  between  the  kinsmen  of  John 
and  the  sons  of  Walter  Tobin.  Both  parties  pledged  themselves  to  the  Justiciary  to  fight;  but  the 
sons  of  Waller  fearing  the  issue  of  their  treachery,  declined  the  contest." — Clyn. 

(r)  De  Valles  or  Walls  settled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carrick  from  the  English  invasion. 
Garret  Wall  of  Coolnamuck  was  one  of  the  few  of  the  old  proprietors  restored  after  the  Cromwellian 
conquest.    The  family  was  finally  uprooted  by  the  Encumbered  Estates  Court. 


430  History  of  Clonmel. 

Barnaby  O'Nele  ^5A               ...            ..  ...  ...  ...  40£ 

John  Nele  his  land$  [Ballinacluna]     ...  ...  ...  ...     8£ 

Donnell  O'Nele  [Maynestown]            ...  ...  ...     4£ 

Edmond  Vale          ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  ...     8£ 

William  Menydevle/'r/         ...            ...  ...  ...  ...  40£ 

Richard  Butler  and  his  kinsmen /"f/^  ...  ...  ..  ...  67£ 

James  Butler,  his  lands  [Poulakerry  ?]  ...  ...  ...  67£ 

William  fitz  Richard's  lands  (v)         ...  ...  ...    I3£  6s.  8d. 


^5^  A  branch  of  the  northern  O'Neills  called  Ui  Eo^han  Fionn,  settled  at  Ball>iieale  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  Hugh  O'Neale  "  Irish  Papist"  was  transplanted  to  Connaught  from  Ballyneale 
in  1654, 

(t)  It  is  said  that  the  Mandevilles  were  settled  at  Ballydine  from  the  time  of  King  John.  The 
earliest  reference  to  them  in  the  Patent  Rolls  is  1343.  '*The  King  prohibits  Maurice  htz  Thomas 
Earl  of  Desmond  from  hearing  the  cause  (in  virtue  of  a  brief  de  recto)  Richard  de  Rok^l  Knt.  %*ersus 
Walter  de  Maundevill  Knt.,  Thomas  fitz  Walter  de  Maundeville  Knt.  and  Thomas  fitz  David  Walsh 
in  the  matter  of  five  messuages  with  their  appurtenances  in  Rathronan  and  Ballybathan 
[ Bally vaughan].  Which  brief  was  surreptiously  obtained  while  the  said  holdings  were  in  the 
King's  hands."  When  the  Desmonds  purchased  the  manor  of  Kilsheelan  from  the  De  Grandisons 
in  1338  it  would  appear  the  Mandevilles  settled  there.  An  inquisition  held  at  Carrick,  2nd  April, 
1608,  before  Sir  Nicholas  Walsh,  described  the  manor  of  Kilsheelan  in  detail.  "  The  manor  house 
being  an  oulde  and  ruynous  buylding  and  one  water  myll  in  the  town  of  Kilsheelan,  3  messuages, 
2  gardens^  apd  1  acre  great  countrie  measure  in  said  town,  Lysnehary  10  acres  great  countn'e 
measure,  Sheskin  10  acres,  Ballyglissanbeg  5  acres.  The  chief  rents  payable  to  said  manor  are  out  of 
Ballyneale,  Molagh,  Ballinacloine,  Ballyquirkin,  Ballinamona  and  Killuan  £^  per  annum  and  suit 
of  court  to  said  manor  from  Edward  Mandeville  of  Ballydyn  for  i  burgage  in  his  possesion  in  the  town 
of  Kilsheelan.  7s.  4d.  per  annum  and  suit  of  court  from  Richard  Wall  for  i  burgage  in  Kilsheelan. 
I2d.  per  annum  and  suit  of  court  from  William  Butler  for  i  burgage  in  Kilsheelan,  i2d.  per  annum 
and  suit  of  court  from  Edward  Mandeville  for  Eustace  land,  2s.  per  annum  and  suit  of  court  for 
land  of  Monemihell,  2s.  per  annum  and  suit  of  court  for  Ballyglasbeenmore,  r2d.  per  annum  and 
suit  of  court  for  Knogloghty,"  etc.  How  the  Mandevilles  retained  portion  of  !he  estates  through  the 
Cromwellian  period,  appears  from  the  following  inquisition. 

An  inquisition  taken  before  us  Charles  Blount  and  Henry  Paris  Esqrs  at  Balliglisheen  within  the 
said  County  i  Sept.,  1656,  by  the  oaths  of  good  and  lawful  men  etc.  who  say  that  James  Mandeville 
of  Ballinrahy  in  said  county  Gent,  is  distracted  and  has  been  so  for  four  and  twenty  yeares  last  past 
without  enjoying  any  intervalls  of  understanding.  It  appearing  unto  them  by  the  testimony  of 
severall  witnesses  upon  oath  that  he  hath  within  the  said  time  made  severall  attempts  to  burn  his 
own  house,  to  bury  his  own  servant  alive  who  was  his  keeper  havinge  forced  another  whom  he  found 
digging  to  make  a  grave  for  that  purpose.  That  he  often  made  washing  balls  of  his  own  excrementa 
and  washed  his  face  therewith.  That  he  hath  sometimes  stricken  the  Mayors  of^Citties  and 
Corporations  and  other  civill  officers  and  comitted  severall  other  Lunatick  Acts  as  often  as  he 
got  loose.  That  in  all  the  time  aforesaid  he  has  not  the  use  so  much  reason  that  would  enable  him 
any  way  to  manage  his  Estate.  They  say  that  the  said  James  Mandeville  (as  his  Inheritance  from 
his  Ancestors  but  by  what  tenure  they  find  not)  held  the  Towns  and  lands  of  Ballidine,  one  colp; 
Butlerstown  three  quarters  of  a  colp;  Curraghdobbin  thirteen  acres  of  a  colp;  Cloghcorrigeen 
a  quarter  of  a  colp;  Eustace  Land  one  acre  of  a  colp;  Gerryers  land  half  an  acre  of  a  colp; 
Rathnemuckie  one  acre  of  a  colp;  all  the  said  greate  countrey  measure,  together  with  severall 
Houses,  Gardens  Tenements  and  parcells  of  Land  in  Kilshylane.  All  the  said  Estate  esteemed  to  be 
1400  plantation  acres  worth  by  the  year  ^^200  sterling,  which  land  they  find  to  be  in  possession 
of  John  Mandeville  by  Authority  of  major  Daniel  Redman  and  Vincent  Gookin  Esqrs  as  Guardians 
to  ye  said  James  Mandeville.  They  find  that  Edmund  Mandeville  is  the  son  and  heyre  of  the  said 
James  Mandeville  and  is  of  the  age  of  45  years  or  thereabout. 

At  the  Restoration,  Ormond  obtained  a  grant  of  a  considerable  portion,  while  the  remainder  in 
the  next  century  was  secured  by  the  notorious  John  Scott,  after  Earl  of  Clonmel. 

(u)  In  157 1  Pardon  to  Richard  riagh  Butler  of  Brittas  (Brenoghmore  and  Tullaghea).  He 
was  son  of  William  and  grandson  of  Theobald. — Fiants,  Eliz. 

(v)  Descended  from  the  Cahir  house.  James  Galdy,  father  of  James  Oge  (06.  1448),  father 
of  Pierce,  father  of  Richard  of  Glen,  father  of  William  supra. 


—  H 


History  of  Clonmel.  431 

Edmond  Butler's  lands ^w>    ...            ...             ..  ••  •.    $£ 

Philip  Wale,  his  lands  [Newtown  An  nor]       ...  ...  ...    $£ 

David  Welsh  [Rathronanl   ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  5o£ 

William  Poer  ^jr;     ...            ...             ..             ..  ...  ...  2o£ 

Patrick  Sherlock's  lands  ^3^;               ...              .  ..  ...  io£ 

Edmund  fitz  Richard  Butler               ...  ...  ...    5£ 

Theobald  Hackett,  his  lands              ...  ..  i3£  6s.  8d. 

Walter  Fitz  Thomas                            ...  ...  . . .  I0£ 

John  Corr  [Tubberaheena]    ...            ...            ...  •  ...  I0£ 

GeoflFry  White  [Milerstown]               ...            ...  ...  ...  2o£ 

John  Stritch  and  Henry  White  [Lawlestown  and  Burgagery]  ...  2o£ 

John  fitz  Piers,  his  lands      ...            ...            ...  ...  6£  13s.  4d. 

John  Monkclerke,  his  lands  [Coolmoyne]        ...  ...    6£ 

Thomas  Travers  and  his  kinsmen  [Mortellstown]  ...  ...  40£ 

Sir  Theobald  Butler,  his  lands  (z)      ...            ...  ...  35o£ 

Piers  English  and  his  kinsmen  [Rochestown]  ...  40£ 
Thomas  fitz  Theobald  [Butler]  and  his  kinsmen  [Knockgraffon]    3o£ 

Robert  Keating  and  his  kinsmen  [Loughloher]  ...  ...  30£ 

James  Prendergast  and  his  kinsmen  [Newcastle]  ...  I50£ 

Morris  English  and  his  kinsmen  [Rochestown]  ...  ...  20£ 

Edmund  English  and  his  kinsmen     ...            ...  ...  ...  3o£ 

John  Keating  and  his  kinsmen  [Nicholastown]  ...  ...  50£ 

Richard  Keating  and  his  kinsmen  [Moorestown]  ...  ...  40£ 

The  Bishop  of  Waterford  [Donoughmore]      ...          »  ...  ...  20£ 

Lands  houlden  of  the  Maunors  of  Nenaghe,  Roscre,  Templemore  and  Thurles.    C'^^Ctf    ( CTO 

The  White  Knight  and  his  lands  there  ...  -    ioo£   : 
Walter  Burke  and  his  kinsmen  (aa) 

John  Bourke  and  his  kinsmen             ...            ...  ...  loo£ 

Ouaght  by  the  yeare            ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 


(w)  John  Butler  of  Mulla^^hnony  vixK  1583,  father  of  Edmond,  Walter  and  Thomas  Butler. 

(x)  Of  Powerstown;  father  of  Richard,  sheriff  of  Tipperary,  and  ^grandfather  of  Alexander 
Power  who  built  the  house  of  Tickencorr  in  the  time  of  Jas.  I. 

(y)  1540,  20th  August  the  priory  of  St.  Catherines  "  by  Waterford  "  was  leased  to  James  Sherlock, 
Priorstown,  Blackrath,  etc.,  part  of  the  priory  possessions  passed  on  the  death  of  James,  1558,  to  his 
third  son  Patrick.  Patrick  was  a  protege  of  Ormond,  and  took  an  active  part  against  the 
Desmonds,  Ormond  appealed  to  Cecil  on  his  behalf  (State  Papers)  and  the  lease  was  renewed.  He 
married  Margaret  Blanchfield  leaving  a  son  John  who  married  EUice  Butler. 

(z)  Third  Baron  of  Cahir. 

(aa)  Cappagh.  These  were  the  junior  lineal  descendants  of  William  fitz  Adelm,  and  his  last 
representatives  in  the  district  to  which  he  gave  his  name,  C'anwilliam  1567,  Pardon  to  Walter 
^tz  John  de  Burgo  alias  Bourke  of  Cappagh,  Captain  of  Muskry  (Clanwilliami. 


432  HISTORY   OF   CLONMEL. 

Odowyre  and  his  kinsmen /'W           ...            ...  ...  2£  2s. 

The  Ryans,  theire  lands  (cc)               ...            ...  ...  i5o£ 

McBrien  are  his  lands  ^rfrf^  ...            ...            ...  ...  i5o£ 

O'CarroU  and  his  kinsmen  in  Ely /V^>              ...  ...  ...    4£ 

O'Meagher  and  his  kinsmen  in  Ykyrin  (/??      ...  ...  ioo£ 

Ormond  and  all  the  Kenedies  ^^y     ...  ...  ...    3£ 

O'Kahill,  his  lands  [Ballycahill]        . . .  20£ 

John  OTorgertie  and  his  kinsmen  (hh)            ...  ...  ...  4o£ 

Walter  Bourke  and  his  kinsmen  (ii)  ...            ...  ...  4o£ 

James  Ashbole  and  his  kinsmen  [Drom]          ...  ...  ...  5o£ 

I  Thomas  Purcell  and  his  kinsmen  (jj)               ...  ...  ioo£ 

Richard  reagh  Butler  [Brittas]            ...            ...  ...  . . .  20£ 

James  fitz  Richard  Butler  and  his  cosen          ...  ...  ...  3o£ 

Walter  Archer,  his  lands  [Archerstown]  (kk)  ...  ...  40£ 

Edmond  fitz  Thomas  Heding  and  his  kinsmen's  lands  (U)  ...  40£ 

Thomas  fitz  John  Butler  and  his  cosen  [Cabragh]         ...  ...  2o£ 

Myles  Cantwell,  his  lands  [Thurles]  (mm)  ...  ...  io£ 

(bb)  G'Dwyers  of  Kilnemanagh.  In  1578  on  the  recommendation  of  the  President  of  Munster 
Philip  G'Dvvyer  of  Dundrum  with  his  followers  were  pardoned  (Plants,  Elizabeth).  His  son 
John  O'Dwyer  married  Joan  daughter  of  Walter  Butler  of  Moyaliff,  fourth  son  of  James  the  ninth 
Earl  of  Ormond.  John  O'Dwyer  dying  in  1627,  left  Philip  (who  married  Gyles  McGrath  daughter 
of  the  notorious  Meiler  Magrath,  Archbishop  of  Cashel),  and  Donough,  the  Irish  commander  of 
Tipperary  in  the  wars  1641-52. 

(cc)  "Gwny  Mulryan."     1576,  2nd  April,  a  commission  was  issued  to  the  Earl  of  Thomond, 

Nicholas  Walph,  Walter  Archer,  Remund  Everet  and  others  to  survey Gwny  of 

MoUoran,  being  doubtful  to  what  shire  it  belongs,  and  to  add  it  to  existing  county. 

(dd)  1578,  8th  Feb.  G'Brien  of  Arra  received  a  commission  to  execute  martial  law  in  his 
country. 

(ee)  1 558, 23rd  Jan.  William  ower  G'Kearowell  granted  the  captaincy  as  well  of  those  of  his  own 
nation  as  of  all  others  dwelling  in  Ely— I.— Kearowell.  In  1558  he  surrendered  all  the  manors,  lands, 
rents  and  customs  in  the  country  of  Ely,  and  was  regranted  the  whole  by  the  service  of  one  knight's 
fee  and  a  rent  of  ^100 ;  discharged  from  cesses,  bonaght  etc.,  but  must  answer  hostings  with 
12  horsemen  and  20  footmen.  A  prolonged  dispute  between  Grmond  and  G' Carroll  as  to  whether 
Ely  belonged  to  the  Liberty  of  Tipperary,  was  terminated  in  favour  of  G'Carroll. 

(ff)  In  1567  Lord  Deputy  Sydney  wrote  to  Elizabeth:  "  Ikerwyn  called  G'Meagher's  country  all 
waste  and  uninhabited." 

(g^)  Lord  Esmond  writing  to  Lord  Dorchester  in  1630  states  "  both  the  Grmonds  (Upper  and 
Lower)  pay  a  chief  rent  called  the  Mart  Early  {Hibemice  the  Earl's  beef)  which  comes  to  about  jf  160/' 

(hh)  The  great  Tipperary  clan  of  the  G'Fogarthys  who  gave  their  name  to  the  barony  Eliogarthy, 
were  reduced  in  the  sixteenth  century  to  a  single  parish,  Inchifogarty,  comprising  the  townlands  of 
Dovea,  Gortanagh  and  Pobble  G'Fogarthy. 

(ii)  A  junior  branch  of  the  Clanwilliam  family,  who  held  the  "  territory  "  of  Ileagh  down  to  the 
Cromwellian  period. 

(jj)  The  descendants  of  the  Purcells,  barons  of  Loughmoe,  at  this  period  were:  Thomas,  who 
with  his  horsemen  and  kerns  was  pardoned  1549.  His  son  Thomas  married  Joan  Fitz  Patrick  and 
was  father  of  Richard,  baron  Loughmoe,  who  married  Mary  Plunkett.  Richard  took  sides  with  the 
Irish  in  1599,  and  was  estimated  by  the  English  to  bring  200  foot  and  60  horse  into  the  field.  He 
received  a  pardon,  however,  in  1602. 

(kk)  He  received  a  pardon  in  1586.  Again  in  1602  together  with  Piers  Archer.  They  were 
probably  a  Kilkenny  family. 

(II)  Moynard  in  barony  of  Eliogarty. 

(mm)  Pardon  to  Milo  Cantwell  of  Thurles,  Fine  £i.     1572. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


433 


Piers  Cantwell,  his  lands  [Moycarky] 
Piers  Butler's  lands  [Grallagh]  (nn)  .. 
The  archbishop  of  Cashell  [Camus]  .. 


30£ 
5o£ 
io£ 


Lands  houlden  of  the  Maunar  of  Kildenale  [Killenaule]   in  the  Barony  of 

Slievardaghe. 

James  Butler's  lands  [Ballyphilip] 

John  Cantwell  [Killins  and  Derrygare] 

Richard  Cantwell  [Clonhory] 

Richard  Cantwell  [Poynstown] 

Thomas  Stoke  [Coolquill]     ... 

James  Laff an  and  his  cousen  [Graystown] 

William  fitz  James  Butler     ... 

Thomas  Butler  and  his  kinsmen  [Crohane] 

Richard  Marvell  [Query  Mortellstown  ?] 

William  Fanning  [Ballingarry] 

William  Fanning  [Farrenrory] 

James  Morris  [Knockagh]    ... 

Lands  houlden  of  the  Maunor  of  Kiltinane. 

The  Baron  of  Dunboyne,  his  lands  [Kiltinan] 

John  Butler,  his  lands  [Ardmayle]  (oo) 

Theobald  Butler's  lands  [Derryluskan]  (pp) 

Robert  Saint  John's  lands  [St.  Johnstown] 

Richard  Saint  John's  lands  [Cooleagh] 

Richard  Vale  [Rathkenny ]  ... 

Piers  Oge  Butler's  lands 

William  Bryth,  his  lands  [Lismortagh]  (qq) 

John  Brithin,  his  lands  [Milltown] 

James  Brithin,  his  lands 

Edmond  Mouncklercke  [Mocklersland] 


...•6o£ 

...  I0£ 

...  I5£ 

...    6£ 

...  20£ 

...  30£ 

...    3£ 

...    8£ 

...  i5£ 

...  5o£ 

I3£  68.  8d. 

...    5£ 

...    3£ 

...  40£ 

...30£ 

...  40£ 

...  io£ 

I3£  6s.  8d. 

...  io£ 

...    6£ 

6£  13s.  4d. 

6£  13s.  4d. 

...  40£ 

(nn)  Piers  Butler  of  Grallagh,  the  second  son  of  Edmund  Butler,  knt.,  was  married  to  Elinor 
Grace  and  had  issue. 

(00)  The  Butlers  of  Ardmayle  were  amongst  the  first  families  of  the  name  settled  in  Tipperary. 
Theobald  Butler,  third  son  of  Hervey  Walter  (and  brother  of  the  Ormond  ancestor),  married  Margery, 
daughter  of  Richard  de  Burgo,  justiciary  of  Ireland,  receiving  as  her  portion  the  manors  of  Ardmaile 
and  Killmorarkill. 

(fp)  Theobald  was  the  third  son  of  James,  second  Lord  Dunboyne. 

(qq)  The  De  Bretts  were  among  the  original  Anglo-Norman  grantees  of  Tipperary. 

D  I 


434 


HISTORY    OF  CLONMEL. 


Edmond  Comen  and  his  kinsmen  [Killbragh]  (rr)  ...  ...  30£ 

James  Comen,  his  lands        ...            ...            ...  ...  ...    $£ 

Melaghlin  O'Carran  [Mobarnane]  (ss)              ...  ...  ...  io£ 

The  Archbisshopp  of  Cashell             ...            ...  ...  ...  40£ 

Richard  Sail,  his  lands  [Meldrum]      ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

Patrick  Hackett  [Dualla]  (tt)              ...            ...  ...  . . .  io£ 

Piers  Hackett  [Ballyhenebry]             ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

John  Hackett          ...            ...            ...            ...  ...  ...    8£ 

Edmond  Hackett  [Ballysheehan]       ...            ...  ...  ...  I5£ 

Edmond  Comen  and  his  kinsmen  [Tullaghmaine]  ...  ...  3o£ 

Redmond  Aylward  [Query  Everard  ?  Knockelly]  ...  ...  3o£ 

Richard  Hackett     ...            ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

Thomas  Vyn  [Slynestown]  ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  !$£ 

Robert  Sawce  [Sawcestown]              ...            ...  ...  ...  2o£ 

Theobald  Fitz  Thomas  Butler            ...            ...  ...  ...    8£ 

Thomas  Fitz  Theobald  Butler            ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

John  Bremingham,  his  land                ...            ...  ...  ...    $£ 

William  Moncell  [Ballycategan]       ...            ...  ...  ...    8£ 

Darby  O'Carran  [Mobarnane]            ...            ...  ...  ...    6£ 

O'Kearney,  his  land  [Ballyduagh]  (uu)           ...  ...  ...  io£ 

John  Kearney,  his  land         ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

Theobald  Ashpole                ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

Andrew  Hackett     ...            ...            ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

James  Fleming,  his  land  (w)              ...            ...  ...  ...  io£ 

This  rough  valuation  of  the  estates  of  Tipperary  was  made  towards  the 
end  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  It  was  made,  it  would  seem,  to  aid  the  Crown 
lawyers  in  their  efforts  to  suppress  the  Palatinate.  For  the  official  view  of 
Ormond's  privileges  is  well  set  forth  in  the  words  of  the  poet  Spenser. 


To  have  a  County  Palatine  is,  in  effect,  to  have  a  privilege  to  spoil  the  enemies' 
borders  adjoining.  And  surely  so  it  is  used  at  this  day,  as  a  privilege  place  of  spoils 
and  stealths ;  for  the  county  of  Tipperary,  which  is  now  the  only  County  Palatine  in 


(rr)  The  De  Comyns  were  Anglo-Norman  grantees. 

(ss)  The  well-known  seventeenth  century  writer,  Thomas  Carve,  military  chaplain,  etc., 
belonged  to  this  family. 

(tt)  The  Hacketts  figure  prominently  in  the  Patent  Rolls  in  Tipperary  history  from  the  Norman 
invasion. 

(hu)  The  O' Kearneys  were  hereditary  custodians  of  the  pastoral  staff  of  Cashell  traditionally 
said  to  date  to  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  The  small  portion  still  existing  is  in  the  museum  of  St. 
Patrick's  College,  Thurles.  Like  the  Myers  of  Armagh,  they  were  endowed  with  lands  for  the 
maintenance  of  their  high  office. 

(w)  The  foregoing  was  published  in  the  Annuary  for  1870  of  the  Irish  Antiquarian  Society.  The 
localities,  however,  and  notes  are  supplied  mainly  from  the  Fiants,  Elizabeth. 


History  of  Clonmel.  435 

Ireland,  is  by  abuse  of  some  bad  ones  made  a  receptacle  to  rob  the  rest  of  the  counties 
about  it,  by  means  of  whose  privileges  none  will  follow  their  stealths ;  so  as  it,  being 
situate  in  the  very  lap  of  all  the  land,  is  made  now  a  border ;  which  how  inconvenient 
it  is  let  every  man  judge.  And  though  that  right  noble  man— that  is,  the  lord  of  the 
liberty  [Thomas  tenth  Earl  of  Ormond]— do  pain  himself  all  he  may  to  yield  equal 
justice  unto  all,  yet  can  there  not  but  great  abuses  lurk  in  so  inward  and  absolute  a 
privilege,  the  consideration  whereof  is  to  be  respected  carefully  for  the  next 
succession  (ww). 

At  the  next  succession,  that  of  Walter,  Earl  of  Ormond,  the  Palatinate 
was  suppressed  by  Quo  Warranto  in  1621.  The  circumstances  are  detailed 
by  an  old  retainer  of  the  house. 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham  looking  with  an  envious  eye  on  the  splendour  and 
greatness  of  that  ancient  and  noble  house  of  Ormond  and  more  particularly  for  their 
Palatinate  of  Tipperary,  and  observing  the  Earl  to  be  an  easy  man,  told  king  James 
that  he  had  now  an  opportunity  to  make  his  kingdom  of  Ireland  secure  and  quiet,  and 
free  from  those  frequent  rebellions  which  had  disturbed  the  reigns  of  his  predecessors, 
and  were  occasioned  by  the  ancient  and  great  families  of  that  kingdom  who  had  large 
territories  of  land,  and  numerous  relations  and  dependencies,  instancing  in  the  Earls  of 
Desmond,  Tyrone  and  Tyrconnell,  and  adding  that  His  Majesty  had  then  an  opportunity 
of  so  depressing  the  House  of  Ormond  that  it  should  never  hereafter  be  in  a  condition 
of  raising  disturbance  in  the  kingdom  (xx). 

When  at  the  Restoration  in  1660  the  fortunes  of  the  Ormonds  returned 
at  full  flood,  the  Palatinate  of  Tipperary  was  set  up  once  more,  and  with 
increased  prestige.  For  the  County  Cross  was  now  merged  in  it,  and  the 
Duke's  authority  acknowledged  in  every  part  of  the  county.  The  change 
was  not  unwelcome,  for  the  Cross  had  so  shrunk  during  the  preceding  century 
that  it  was  scarce  practicable  to  find  a  sufficient  number  of  freeholders  in  it 
to  serve  as  a  jury  upon  any  trial.  The  royal  grant  was  confirmed  in  1662  by 
Act  of  Parliament  which  recited  that  the  barony  of  Owney  and  Arra,  and 
divers  other  towns,  villages  and  townlands  scattered  through  the  several 
baronies  of  the  County  Tipperary,  and  called  the  County  of  the  Cross  were 
■  made  part  and  parcel  of  the  said  County. 

In  171 5  on  the  attainder  of  the  second  Duke  of  Ormond  and  the  suppression 
of  the  Palatinate,  the  records  of  the  several  courts  were  removed  to  Dublin. 
Though  the  Chancery  and  Common  Pleas  records  for  the  second  period  of 
the  Palatinate  /'l 662-171 5)  are  tolerably  complete,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  Crown  records  so  invaluable  for  Tipperary  history  during  that  momentous 
time,  have  almost  entirely  disappeared.  From  the  Carte  and  Ormond 
collections,  however,  we  obtain  a  few  glimpses  of  the  criminal  jurisdiction. 


fww)  A  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland. 
(xx)  Hist.  MSS.,  Ormonde  II.,  p.  348. 


436  History  of  Clonmel. 

[Abstract.] 

Memorandum.  That  at  a  General  sessions  of  Assize  and  Gaol  Delivery  for  the 
Liberties  held  at  Clonmel,  Saturday  12  September,  15  Charles  II.  (1663)  before  Richard 
Earl  of  Arran,  Seneschal  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  William  Davys  Knight,  Justice  of 
the  Regalities  and  Thomas  Longueville  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  virtue  of  a  Commission 
from  the  said  Duke,  an  inquisition  on  oath  was  taken  before — 

1.  Thomas  Sadleyer,  Esq.  9.  Mathew  Jacob  of  Cnockelly,  gent. 

2.  Thomas  Batty  of  Abbylnislounaght.  10.  Nathan  Tayler  of  Moane. 

3.  John  Harrison  of  Clough Jordan.  II.  Bryan  Kennedy  of  Breare, 

4.  James  McGrath  of  Killrussell.  12.  John  fflood  of  Kilmore. 

5.  Theobald  Butler  of  Bansha.  13.  Samuel  Barkley  of  Ballenahye. 

6.  Walter  Butler  of  Latten.  14.  Robert  Powell  of  Monemore. 

7.  Oliver  Latham  of  Moeldrum.  15.  James  Boiilster  of  Tipper. 

8.  William  Baron  of  Ballynaird. 

Who  being  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists  find  that  Robert  Thomhill  late  of  Grace 
Castle  [Castlegrace]  in  foresaid  county,  gentleman,  on  the  first  day  of  July  1657  not 
having  the  honour  or  fear  of  Almighty  God  before  his  eyes,  entered  the  parish  church 
of  All  Saints  of  Shanrehin  at  Shanrehin  in  foresaid  county  and  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  this  court,  with  force  of  arms,  namely  with  swords,  staves  and  axes,  and  then  and 
there  feloniously  broke  the  roof  of  said  church ;  and  the  timber  of  said  roof  worth  five 
pounds  sterling,  being  the  goods  and  chattels  of  the  Parishioners  of  Shanrehin,  then 
and  there  by  force  of  arms  stole,  took,  brought  away  and  converted  to  his  own  proper 
use  against  the  peace  of  our  Lord  the  King  and  the  Lord  of  the  Regalities  and  Liberties 
of  the  aforesaid  County,  against  the  form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and 
provided,  etc. 

Memorandum.  That  at  a  sessions  of  Assize  and  Gaol  Delivery,  etc.,  held  at 
Clonmel  the  twentieth  day  of  March,  16  Chas.  11.  (1664)  before  John  St.  Leger,  Deputy 
Seneschal,  William  Davys,  Justice,  and  Thomas  Longueville  Master  of  the  Rolls  of  the 
Liberties  of  Tipperary,  the  aforesaid  Robert  Thomhill  was  brought  to  the  bar  in  custody 
of  the  Sheriff  and  being  asked,  denied  he  was  in  any  way  guilty  and  put  himself  upon 
his  country,  etc    The  following  jury  was  sworn — 

Robert  Cole  of  Ballymakey.  Edmund  Danill  of  Cahir. 

Thomas  Batty  of  Abby  Inislonaght.  William  Sheldon  of  Castletown. 

Robert  Jeflfe  of  Killoskehane.  James  Barker  of  Lissmaylin. 

Peter  Tobyn  of  Laffnolly.  Phanuel  Cooke  of  Lisnamrock. 

Philip  Lambert  of  Archertown.  John  Pennyfather  of  Clonomilcony. 

John  ffetherstone  of  Lisskelly.  William  Barnard  of  Carrick. 

The  sequel  of  these  proceedings  is  curious.  The  jury  returned  a  verdict 
of  "  Not  Guilty,"  but  the  Court  "  upon  the  oath  of  several  persons  worthy  of 
credit  that  Robert  Thornhill  is  for  a  long  time  of  evil  fame,"  bound  him  to 
the  peace  (yy). 

But  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  criminal  business  of  the  courts  for 
many  years  was  the  prosecution  and  conviction  of  "Tories."  At  the 
Restoration  in  1660,  many  of  the  old  Tipperary  gentlemen  returned,  some 
from  Connaught,  some  from  beyond  the  seas,  in  the  hope  of  getting  back 
their  estates.    Through  Ormonde's  influence  several  were  restored.    Among 


(yy)  Carte  Papers,  Bodleian  Library,  Vol.  68,  No.  36. 


History  of  Clonmel.  437 

them  were  the  Butlers  of  Kilcash,  the  Purcells  of  Loughmoe,  the  baron  of 
Cahir,  the  Butlers  of  Kilmoyler,  the  Keatings  of  Nicholastown,  and  the 
Walshes  of  Rathronan.  The  vast  majority,  however,  sank  into  pauperism  at 
home  or  entered  military  service  abroad.  But*  some,  gathering  around  them 
bodies  of  desperate  men,  hid  themselves  in  the  bogs  and  fastnesses  whence 
they  made  war  on  the  Cromwellians  settled  on  their  lands.  So  insecure 
indeed  were  the  planters,  that  many  lived  altogether  within  the  shelter  of  the 
towns.  For  example — Charles  Alcocke,  the  grantee  of  Powerstown,  John 
Staples  of  Kiltinan,  Edward  Hutchinson  of  Knocklofty,  Richard  Moore  of 
Banfoune,  all  lived  and  died  in  Clonmel.  Every  effort  accordingly  was  made 
to  capture  and  exterminate  the  "Tories"  who  terrorized  the  country. 
Rewards  were  offered ;  they  were  proclaimed  at  assizes,  and  loyal  subjects 
exhorted  to  shoot  them  at  discretion  ;  harbourers  of  "  Tories  "  were  treated 
as  "  Tories "  themselves.  Yet  for  many  years  these  outlawed  gentlemen 
roamed  the  country,  until  at  length  they  degenerated  into  mere  highwaymen. 
For  the  country  people  everywhere  pitied  them  and  gave  them  shelter ;  and 
by  the  firesides  of  Tipperary  down  to  our  own  day  ballads  were  sung  of 
"John  O'Dwyer  of  the  Glen  "  and  "  Ned  of  the  Hills,"  and  many  another  (zz). 
From  the  correspondence  with  Ormond  of  James  Kearney,  Deputy  Clerk  of 
the  Crown  for  the  Palatinate,  we  obtain  some  particulars.  On  28th  March, 
1666,  he  writes  : — 

I  send  here  inclosed  the  information  against  the  Tory  Dullany  and  his  own 
examination.  The  informant  is  bound  over  to  prosecute.  Captain  Furlong  is  returned 
to  Lismaylin,  according  my  first  letter,  and  hath  a  stranger  in  his  company.  I  cannot 
find  what  stay  he  intends  to  make,  and  having  received.no  directions  in  Sir  George 
Lane's  letter  of  the  24th  what  to  do  with  him  I  durst  not  hitherto  attempt  to  get  him 
taken  by  any  warrant,  lest  it  may  not  suit  with  your  Grace's  pleasure,  for  when  I  heard 
your  Grace  inquire  for  him,  I  did  not  apprehend  whether  you  intended  to  employ  him 
against  the  Tories  or  secure  him  as  a  malefactor.  Whatever  your  Grace  resolves 
concerning  him,  I  hope  your  commands  shall  overtake  him  and  his  comrade  at 
Lismalyn. 

The  three  fellows  mentioned  in  my  last  letter,  upon  whom  Lieutenant  Cleare  (a) 
and  I  relied  for  the  service  are  so  slow  in  answering  our  expectations  (though  they 
pretend  to  be  busy  about  it)  that  in  case  they  do  not  suddenly  perform  something  of 
advantage  to  the  country,  I  intend  to  advise  Cleare  to  retract  his  engagement  of 
procuring  their  pardon,  whereby  he  and  others  may  be  at  liberty  to  set  upon  themselves. 
For  I  humbly  conceive  that  the  reducing  of  one  or  two  of  these  ringleaders  to  your 
Grace's  mercy  shall  exact  more  effectual  discoveries  from  them  than  what  the  rogues 
would  willingly  do  when  they  have  an  engagement  for  their  pardon ;  and  Lieutenant 
Cleare  is  pretty  confident  (once  he  is  at  liberty)  that  wherever  they  lurk  in  the  country, 
he  shall  have  them.  The  Justices  of  the  Peace  have  issued  warrants  for  settling  a  watch 
in  every  parish  in  the  county,  which  the  constables  are  now  executing.  The  punishment 
of  the  harbourers  shall  hereafter  rid  the  country  from  this  infection,  and  the  people  are 


(zz)  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Munster,  ist  Series. 
(a)  Thomas  Cleare  of  Kilburry. 


438  History  of  Clonmel. 

so  frightened,  by  their  apprehensions  of  being  burned  in  their  houses,  that  few  or  none 
have  the  public  spirit  to  give  public  evidence  against  them.  Therefore  I  humbly 
propose  that  your  Grace  will  be  pleased  to  advise  my  Lord  of  Arran  (seneschal)  where 
he  finds  private  effectual  evidence  given  by  persons  of  credit,  that  his  Lordship  will 
continue  the  persons  criminated  in  gaol  till  it  be  tried  (when  the  storm  is  over)  whether 
more  clear  proof  can  be  found ;  for  the  restraint  of  such  shall  deter  others  from  the  like 
transgressions.  I  hope  to  have  several  of  the  suspected  harbourers  taken  before  the 
assizes,  for  I  have  private  warrants  against  them  {b). 


Three  days  later  Kearney  writes  again  : — 


I  have  on  the  29th  sent  an  express  with  your  Grace's  letter  to  Sherifif  Sadler,  and 
the  same  day  did  carry  the  other  myself  to  Lieutenant  Cleare,  who  promised  as  much 
as  I  can  reasonably  expect,  and  seem  to  be  very  real  in  it.  The  three  fellows  who  have 
engaged  to  perform  the  service,  do  but  juggle  in  the  matter.  They  protest  to  Cleare 
they  are  still  labouring  to  bring  the  rest  of  their  confederates  together,  but  I  find  (another 
way)  they  never  intend  it,  but  to  make  use  of  the  promise  of  pardon  given  them  in  case 
they  were  surprised  by  any  other,  until  they  know  your  Grace's  answer  to  an 
address  they  made  by  Walter  Butler  (the  elder  brother  to  this  arch-tory  Lawrence 
Butler)  whom  they  employed  to  Dublin  about  six  days  ago ;  for  the  whole  design  is  to 
try  if  they  could  procure  a  pardon  without  discovering  their  harbourers  or  bringing  in 
the  rest,  which  I  am  confident  your  Grace  will  never  grant.  At  the  first  meeting  they 
were  very  forward  and  seemingly  real  to  perform  what  was  desired  of  them,  but  after- 
wards (when  they  advised  with  some  of  their  friends)  they  did  decline.  This  Walter 
Butler  hath  a  very  great  stroke  in  their  council,  and  may  do  much  on  this  occasion,  if 
disposed.  This  consideration  caused  me  on  Thursday  to  send  several  ways  to  see 
when  Lieutenant  Cleare  or  I  may  meet  them,  and  in  case  we  see  that  they  will  not 
prosecute  the  matter  with  greater  vigour  and  reality,  we  intend  to  withdraw  the  promise 
of  pardon,  and  leave  them  to  their  other  shifts,  and  Lieutenant  Cleare  is  very  hopeful 
afterwards  to  surprise  them. 

I  long  to  receive  some  directions  about  Furlong,  for  he  is  much  distrusted  in  these 
parts  (though  he  may  be  honest  for  anything  I  know).  Divers  of  the  harbourers  against 
whom  I  got  warrants  issued  (being  sensible  of  their  own  guilt)  have  outrun  the 
constables,  and  some  shun  their  houses  leaving  word  they  are  gone  about  their  lawful 
affairs  elsewhere.  I  presume  your  Grace  did  or  will  give  directions  to  my  Lord  of 
Arran  what  to  do  in  such  cases.  I  find  that  the  rogues  are  growing  numerous  about 
Beallaghmore  in  Ossory,  where  John  Dwyggin's  son  (by  name  James)  doth  guide  them  ; 
there  are.  two  or  three  dangerous  fellows  from  the  (bounty  of  Cork  among  them.  I 
presume  your  Grace  takes  a  course  to  reduce  them  that  way  fc). 

The  Duke  evidently  knew  more  about  Captain  Furlong  than  his 
correspondent  did,  for  he  had  already  formed  a  plan  for  his  capture.  On 
4th  April  Quarter-Master  Bedborough  writes  to  Sir  George  Lane. 

I  received  his  Grace  my  Lord  Duke's  order  by  the  last  post,  and  in  obedience 
thereto  went  out  last  Sunday  night,  immediately  after  the  receipt  thereof,  with  a  party 
of  horse  to  take  Captain  Furlong  and  his  companion  at  Lismalin,  but  they  were  gone 
from  thence  the  day  before,  as  I  was  informed  by  one  Lieutenant  Minchen  [Humphrey 
Minchin  of  Crohane]  an  honest  gentleman  that  lives  hard  by  it.  Notwithstanding 
I  searched  the  town  and  finding  none  there,  I  ranged  the  country  about  it,  though  to  no 
effect  hitherto,  but  the  said  Mr.  Minchen,  who  knows  the  person,  has  engaged  to  me  to 
give  me  speedy  notice  of  him  upon  his  next  coming  to  Lismalin  or  thereabouts, 

(b)  Ormond  Papers  III.,  213. 

(c)  Ibid.,  214-5. 


History  of  Clonmel.  430 

and  I  question  not  but  in  a  short  time  I  shall  be  able  to  answer  my  Lord's  commands 
effectually.  In  the  meantime  I  have  ordered  it  so  that  my  business  can  be  little 
suspected  in  those  parts  or  the  person,  I  having  had  a  perfect  account  of  him 
from  Mr.  Minchen  only  (d). 

Furlong  however  proved  too  slim  for  the  Duke,  but  at  the  following 
assizes  in  Clonmel  a  considerable  batch  of  Tories  was  disposed  of.  Kearney 
writes  from  Clonmel  to  Ormond  25th  July. 

This  day  James  Ryan,  James  Kennedy  two  Tories,  and  John  Shea  a  Harbourer 
of  them,  were  hanged  here.  To-morrow  Edmund  Tobin,  a  Tory,  old  Thomas  Shea 
a  Harbourer  and  Parker  an  eminent  thief  are  to  die. 

The  execution  of  Patrick  Croke  was  suspended  on  appeal  to  the  Duke, 
but  Kearney  requests  his  Grace  not  to  pardon.  "If  so"  he  writes  "there 
escapes  as  great  a  thief  and  as  bad  a  member  of  his  quality  in  a  commonwealth 
as  I  know  in  Ireland  "  (e). 

Hangings  notwithstanding,  the  Tories  for  over  half  a  century  kept  the 
Cromwellians  under  the  harrow.  One  of  the  most  notable  was  Laurence 
Butler  of  Ballinure,  a  pauperized  kinsman  of  Ormond  himself.  But  Butler 
with  his  party  of  four  desperadoes  was  entrapped  at  last,  and  Ormond 
writing  from  Clonmel  26th  August,  1678,  complaisantly  acquaints  the 
Lord  Chancellor  "My  cousin  Butler,  the  Tory,  is  at  this  instant  on  his  trial 
so  that  three  of  the  five  will  be  despatched."  More  difficult  however  to 
capture  was  Power  of  Ballintotty.  Indeed  he  could  not  be  taken  alive  and  it 
was  only  by  the  rifle  of  Captain  Aungier  he  was  finally  removed.  Power's 
brother  Richard,  now  took  the  field  and  terrorized  the  district  more  even  than 
the  other  had  done.  A  proclamation  was  issued  I2th  October,  1683,  offering 
£20  to  whosoever  should  take  him  alive  or  kill  him  and  bring  his  head  to  the 
sheriff.  The  only  result  we  learn  from  a  subsequent  proclamation  July 
17th,  1685. 

Whereas  the  said  Richard  Power  and  his  complices  have  since  the  publishing  of 
the  said  proclamation,  committed  many  burglaries,  robberies,  and  stealths,  and 
divers  other  outrages,  to  the  terror  and  annoyance  of  his  Majesty's  loyal  and  good 
subjects  and  the  desturbance  of  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  etc 

A  reward  of  £lOO  was  offered,  yet  Power  the  next  year  was  more  active 
than  ever.  Clarendon,  Lord  Lieutenant,  writes  February  5th,  1686 :  "  About 
ten  days  since  complaints  from  Munster  of  Tories  headed  by  young  Power, 
brother  to  the  late  rebel.  I  have  ordered  small  parties  of  horse  and  foot  to 
watch  them  "  (f). 


(dj  Ibid.  216. 

(e)  Carte  Papers,  Bodleian,  Vol.  35. 

(/)  Ormonde  and  Clarendon  Correspondence. 


440  History  of  Clonmel. 

We  hear  no  more  of  the  Powers,  but  another  generation  of  Tories  rose 
up.  October  13th,  1712,  the  Grand  Jury  for  the  County  Tipperary  and  Cross 
Tipperary  at  the  assizes  for  the  Palatinate  held  in  Clonmel,  presented  Charles 
Carroll  of  Cloncleary,  Michael  Ro.  Prendergast,  Morris  Boy  Prendergast,  both 
of  Curraghnemony,  and  three  others,  to  be  Tories,  robbers  and  rapparees  in 
arms  and  out  upon  their  keeping,  and  the  Grand  Jury  desired  that  they  might 
be  proclaimed,  and  an  entry  was  made  on  the  affidavit  by  the  Clerk  of  the 
Crown  of  the  names  of  the  Grand  Jurors  and  of  the  Presentment  having  been 
openly  read  and  confirmed  by  the  Court.  The  Prendergasts  were  probably 
the  grandsons  of  James  Prendergast  who  appears  in  the  Cromwellian  Survey 
as  owner  of  Curraghnemony  in  1641 ;  and  the  effect  of  the  proclamation  was 
that  any  loyal  subject  meeting  them,  might  forthwith  shoot  them — that  is,  if 
they  did  not  shoot  him  first. 

The  war  of  1690-1  added  several  new  contingents  to  the  Tories,  who 
plagued  the  Cromwellian  and  Williamite  occupiers  more  than  ever.  In  1697 
the  Act  7  William  III.,  chap.  21  was  passed,  which  enacted  that  all  losses 
caused  and  damage  done  by  Tories,  Rapparees,  etc.,  should  be  charged  on 
the  inhabitants  of  the  barony  in  which  they  were  committed  according  to 
the  religious  denomination  of  the  offenders.  The  procedure  was  for  the 
person  aggrieved  to  sue  any  inhabitant  in  the  same  county  or  barony  (the 
latter  if  the  damage  was  under  £10)  to  execution  for  the  amount  of  the  damage 
done  him,  and  on  obtaining  a  judgment,  the  latter  was  reimbursed  by  a  rate 
levied  under  the  Act  10  &  1 1,  Chas.  I.,  chap.  13. 

Among  the  Palatinate  Records  is  a  whole  series  of  documents  relating  to 
the  proceedings  under  the  Act  for  injuries  done  by  Tories. 

The  Palatinate  Records  on  the  civil  side  are  well  preserved  (g).  Among 
them  we  find  some  evidences  of  the  exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative  by  the 
Duke  of  Ormond.  On  lOth  October,  1664,  Christopher  Perkins,  of  Meldrum, 
gentleman,  was  pardoned  for  the  homicide  of  Philip  0*Laghy ;  2lst  November, 
1701,  Edward  Moore,  gentleman,  for  the  homicide  of  Hugh  Massy,  Esq. ; 
22nd  December,  1711,  John  Mandeville  and  James  St.  John  for  the  homicide 
of  James  Slattery  (h).    The  following  patents  of  fairs  also  are  enrolled  : — 


Place. 

Grantee, 

Market 

Fairs, 

Nenagh, 
10  Aug.  1701 

Nehemiah  Donnellan 

every  Monday 

two— 18-9  May. 
24-5  Aug. 
Rent  6s.8d. 

Templemore 
30  Sept.  1701 

John  Cardin 

every  Wednesday 

two— 21-2  June. 

lO-i  October. 
Rent  6s.8d. 

(g)  Calendars  of  the  Fines  and  Recoveries,  and  Chancery  Pleadings  have  been   printed.— 
5th  and  6th  Reports  of  the  Deputy  Keeper  of  the  Records  of  Ireland. 
(h)  The  two  latter  cases  were  duels. 


Place,  Grantee, 

Fethard  C  Epaphroditus  Marsh 

10  Sept.  1705    (.  Mathew  Jacob 

Cloughjordan     James  Harrison 
3  June  1706 


Ballinacourty  John  Dawson 

[1707] 

Carrick  Ann,  Countess  of 
5  Dec  1711  Tyrone 


History  of  Clonmel. 

Market 


every  Wednesday 


every  Saturday 

every  Tuesday 
and  Saturday 


441 

Fairs, 
two — 27-8  August. 

9-10  April. 
Rent  6s.8d. 

three — 30  April,  I  May. 

31  July,  I  Aug. 

20-1  November. 
Rent  6s.8d. 

two — II  November, 

Easter  Tuesday. 

three — Pentecost  Monday 
and  Tuesday. 

4th  August. 

Wednesday  and 
Thursday  after 
Michaelmas. 


The  precise  relations  of  the  municipality  of  Clonmel  with  the  Palatinate 
are  not  easy  to  determine.  The  basis  of  the  municipality  was  unquestionably 
the  manor.  But  when  in  the  closing  years  of  the  fourteenth  century  the 
Ormonds  as  Palatine  lords  vested  the  government  of  the  town  in  an  officer  called 
the  Sovereign,  and  subsequently  by  patent  created  a  town  court  with  jurisdic- 
tion concurrent  with  the  court  baron  belonging  to  the  manor,  the  arrangement 
could  not  make  for  the  harmony  of  the  town.  The  more  so  as  the  rival,  not 
to  say  hostile  houses  of  Ormond  and  Desmond  were  the  respective  lords  of 
Palatinate  and  manor.  Hence  in  1563  Desmond  in  his  statement  to  Queen 
Elizabeth  was  driven  to  maintain  that  Clonmel  formed  no  part  of  Ormond's 
liberties.  The  controversy  was  only  ended  by  the  ruin  of  the  Desmonds  and 
Ormond  becoming  lord  of  the  manor. 

In  1662  at  the  re-establishment  of  the  Palatinate,  a  kindred  question  was 
raised  between  the  corporation  and  Ormond.  Whether  it  was  brought  to  an 
issue  is  uncertain.  On  14th  October,  1663,  Robert  Lovelace,  Mayor  of 
Clonmel,  wrote  to  Ormond's  law  adviser,  John  Walsh  : — 

Your  brother,  deputed  to  keep  his  Grace's  courts  under  you,  hath  notified  his  intent 
to  keep  a  court  leet  (/)  within  the  precincts  of  the  corporation-  of  Clonmel.  I  find  it 
convenient  to  mind  you  of  your  promises  the  last  year,  viz.,  that  what  you  did  then 
should  not  be  drawn  into  precedent  for  the  future.  A  customary  manor  hath  been  held 
out  of  a  manor,  but  a  leet  out  of  a  leet  was  never  yet  reported  That  we  have  a  leet  by 
prescription  and  charter  I  am  confident  is  not  your  doubt,  and  if  you  have  it  by 
prescription  (which  we  have  diligently  enquired  after,  and  cannot  find  it)  we  only  desire 
you  to  make  it  appear.  It  is  neither  our  interest  nor  desires  to  dispute  any  things  with 
his  Grace,  whom  we  acknowledge  the  patron  of  our  liberties ;  I  only  desire  the  privileges 
of  this  town,  whilst  our  charter  remains,  may  inviolably  be  preserved.  Your  knowledge 
is  such  in  the  law,  and  the  continued  respect  you  have  always  manifested  towards  this 


(i)  A  manor  court  with  criminal  jurisdiction. 


442  History  of  Clonmel. 

Corporation  assures  me  you  will  be  so  far  from  intrenching  on  our  rights,  that  you  will 
lend  a  cheerful  assistance  towards  the  maintaining  of  them,  and  send  your  prohibition 
to  your  brother  to  desist  from  any  further  proceeding  therein,  whereby  you  will  infinitely 
oblige  the  Corporation,  and  particularly  Sir,  etc.  (>). 

Walsh  in  his  reply,  Dublin,  October  26th,  discusses  not  only  the  question 
of  the  town  courts,  but  also  that  of  the  burgagery  lands. 

Mr.  Mayor— Your  letter  I  received  wherein  you  desire  that  I  should  prohibit  my 
deputy  seneschal  from  keeping  a  Court  Leet  within  the  precinct  of  Clonmel  in  the 
behalf  of  and  by  the  authority  of  his  Grace  my  Lord  Duke  of  Ormond,  offering  for  a 
reason  that  you  keep  a  Leet  by  prescription  and  charter,  and  that  if  his  Grace  claims 
his  by  prescription,  you  desire  it  may  be  proved.  I  have  often  heard  and  read  that  the 
lord  of  a  manor  may  prescribe  in  a  Court  Leet  to  be  held  within  the  precinct  of  his 
manor,  but  certainly  this  is  the  first  time  that  I  heard  a  corporation  to  make  title  to  a 
Leet  by  prescription  unless  it  were  in  relation  to  a  manor. 

You  are  pleased  to  say  that  a  customary  manor  hath  been  held  out  of  a  manor,  but 
a  Leet  out  of  a  Leet  was  never  yet  reported.  I  must  acknowledge  my  ignorance  so  far 
that  I  cannot  understand  this  part  of  your  letter,  therefore  shall  leave  the  construction 
of  it  to  such  as  you  please  further  to  advise  with,  and  shall  state  the  case  as  it  is.  It 
will  clearly  appear  to  be  thus.  My  Lord  Duke  of  Ormond  and  his  ancestors  and  those 
whose  estates  they  had,  are  and  were  lords  of  the  manor  of  Clonmel,  and  by  good  title 
kept  their  Courts  Leet  and  Baron  there.  The  burgesses  held  all  their  burgagery  lands 
as  of  that  manor,  as  all  those  of  Kilkenny  hold  of  the  Castle  of  Kilkenny,  those  of  Callan 
from  the  Manor  of  Callan,  those  of  Gowran  from  the  Manor  of  Gowran,  ana  those  of 
Knocktopher,  Inistioge  and  Old  Ross,  being  all  burgageries,  held  of  the  same  manors, 
all  pay  their  chiefries  as  Clonmel  does,  and  the  courts  kept  in  the  towns  without 
contradiction,  and  yet  all  these  have  Leets  of  their  own.  Clonmel  obtained  a  charter 
by  which  they  are  to  keep  a  court  Leet,  and  so  have  the  corporations  before  mentioned. 
Must  it  therefore  follow  that  the  Lord's  Leet  shall  vanish  ? 

I  doubt  he  that  is  of  this  opinion  may  as  well  make  you  believe  that  a  Court 
Baron  neither  can  be  kept  there,  notwithstanding  that  it  is  an  incident  inseparable  to 
every  manor.  And  to  say  that  you  cannot  inform  yourselves  of  any  Court  Leet  to  have 
been  held  there  at  any  time,  no  more  I  believe  do  you  hear  of  a  Court  Baron  to  be  held. 
Must  it  therefore  follow  there  shall  be  no  such  Court  ?  It  is  true  that  a  non-user  may  in 
some  cases  destroy  a  prescription,  but  not  a  grant  or  incident.  Upon  the  whole  matter 
I  must  crave  your  pardon  in  not  subscribing  to  your  request,  which  so  much  and  so 
apparently  might  tend  to  his  Grace's  prejudice  in  his  right  interest,  and  may  render  me 
guilty  of  breaking  the  trust  reposed  in  me,  being  ready  in  any  other  justifiable  way  to 
manifest  myself,  etc.  (k). 

The  desire  of  Ormond's  representative  to  re-establish  the  courts  baron 
and  leet  would  seem  to  have  arisen  from  the  financial  burthen  which  the 
Palatinate  imposed  upon  the  Duke.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  perquisites 
of  the  courts  were  at  any  time  sufficient  to  maintain  the  Chancellor,  Justice, 
Attorney-General  and  other  officials  (I).    In  an  earlier  period  when  turbulence 


fij  Ormonde  Papers  III.,  92. 

(kj  Ibid.,  p.  245,  but  wrongly  placed  among  the  papers  of  1666. 

(I)  You  will  soon  receive  the  Table  of  Fees  established  in  the  County  Palatine  Courts  here 
(in  England)  which  will  I  hope  be  of  some  use  unto  you  to  form  and  regulate  that  of  Tipperary, 
which  as  it  is  now,  occasions  a  great  change  unto  my  Lord  far  above  the  profits  of  it. — Duchess  of 
Ormond  to  George  Mathew,  May  7th,  1672. 


History  of  Clonmel.  443 

led  to  forfeitures,  and  all  forfeited  estates  fell  to  the  lord  of  the  liberty,  the 
Ormonds  had  built  themselves  up  on  the  ruins  of  the  Burkes,  Berminghams, 
Englishes,  Keatings  and  others  of  the  older  Tipperary  families,  but  now  the 
"  Lordship  of  the  Liberties  and  Regalities  "  was  a  mere  empty  honour. 

In  17 1 5,  after  an  existence  of  nearly  four  hundred  years,  the  Palatinate 
of  Tipperary  came  to  an  end.  Loyalty  to  the  Crown,  which  had  been  so  long 
the  beacon  to  the  Ormonds,  became  at  last  the  rock  on  which  they  were 
wrecked.  The  second  Duke  adhered  to  the  Stuarts  and  fell  with  them.  The 
Act  2,  George  I.,  Chapter  8,  "  An  Act  for  extinguishing  the  Regalities  and 
Liberties  of  the  County  of  Tipperary  and  Cross  Tipperary  commonly  called 
the  County  Palatine  of  Tipperary;  and  for  vesting  in  His  Majesty  the 
estate  of  James  Butler,  commonly  called  James  Duke  of  Ormond  and  for 
giving  a  Reward  of  ten  thousand  pounds  to  any  person  who  shall  seize  or 
seciure  him,  in  case  he  shall  attempt  to  land  in  this  kingdom,"  extinguished 
the  liberties  granted  by  Charles  II.  and  his  predecessors,  and  vested  all 
honors,  manors,  etc.,  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond  in  the  king  without  office  or 
inquisition  (m). 


(m)  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Palatinate  officials  during  the  period  1662-17 15: — 
Seneschal^  Chief  Justice  and  Chancellor — 1662  Earl  of  Arran,  1678  Edward  Herbert,  1683  Sir 
John  Meade,  1704  Francis  Bernard,  1705  Francis  Bernard. 

Second   Justice   and   Master   of  Rolls.— 1662^    William    Davys,    t686    Sir    Richard    Reeves, 

1692  Standish  Hartstonge,  1705  Robert  Blennerhassett,  17 13  John  Jenkins. 
Attorney-General— 1662  Godwin  Swift,  167 1  Standish  Harstong,  1680  William  Worth,  1682  Henry 

Turner. 

Clerk  of  Market— 1662  William  Hamilton,  1680  Robert  Lane,  1685  Oliver  Latham,  1699  Robert 
White,  1703  Benjamin  Portlock. 

Clerk  of  Crown  and  Peace— i6yo  William  Ekins,    1684  Andrew   Ram  and  James   Dobins, 

1693  William  Ekins  and  John  Waring. 

The  above  list  is  only  approximate  as  to  dates. 


Ohapxe>r  XXII. 


CENSUS  OF  1659* 

CHE  following  census  of  the  barony  of  Ufa  and   Offa  (at  present 
divided  into  two  baronies,  East  and  West),  for  1659  is  taken  from 
a  MS.  abstract  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  which  was  made  in 
1864  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Hardinge  from  the  original  returns.     An  account 
of  the  census  will  be  found  in  Transactions,  Vol.  XXIV. 

Apart  from  its  interest  as  portion  of  the  earliest  census  of  Ireland,  it 
supplies  some  important  particulars  as  to  the  Cromwellian  proceedings  in 
the  district.  First,  it  is  quite  clear  that  unlike  the  plantations  of  Elizabeth 
and  James  I.,  no  attempt  was  made  in  Tipperary  at  least,  to  put  down  bodies 
of  English  settlers  in  detail.  The  barony  of  Iffa  and  Offa  was  allotted  to 
the  Adventurers,  as  they  were  styled — merchants,  petty  tradesmen  and 
townsfolk.  Now  these  of  all  people  in  the  world  were  least  willing  to  lie  in 
the  bear's  nest  while  the  bear  was  only  half  killed.  Nor  was  the  settlement 
of  the  baronies  allotted  to  the  soldiers — Eliogarty,  for  example — more 
thorough.  Prendergasfs  conjecture  that  the  private  soldiers  never  planted 
in  any  considerable  numbers  proves  to  have  been  correct. 

It  will  be  observed  also  that  although  the  lands  had  been  set  out  for  some 
three  or  four  years,  only  about  a  dozen  Cromwellian  proprietors  had  taken  up 
residence.  On  the  other  hand,  Richard  Keating  of  Nicholastown,  James 
Tobin  of  Garnavilla,  John  Fitzgerald  of  Shanrahan,  and  others  who  had  been 
transplanted  and  allotted  lands  in  Connaught,  were  back  again  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  their  old  habitations.  Stories  used  to  be  told  how  the 
Cromwellian  grantee  fascinated  by  the  daughter  of  the  old  proprietor  married 
her ;  or  again,  how  the  old  proprietor  lived  as  a  pauper  dependant  in  the 
house  he  had  once  owned  (n).  The  census  supplies  an  historical  basis  for 
such  traditions. 


(h)  Two  generations  of  the  Daltons,  former  owners  of  Bessborough,  lived  with  the  Ponsonbys  there. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


445 


The  census  for  Iffa  and  Offa  East  is  illustrated  by  the  Hearth  Money 
returns  for  the  year  1664,  which  furnish  the  names  of  each  person  who  had 
a  "  hearth,  firing  place  or  stove  "  in  his  house  (0). 

The  Fiants  of  Elizabeth  which  belong  to  a  period  over  sixty  years  earlier, 
have  been  drawn  on  where  available.  But  as  the  inhabitants  of  Iffa  and 
Offa  East  were  generally  loyal  to  Elizabeth,  the  number  of  pardons  for  that 
district  is  fewer  than  for  other  parts  of  the  county. 


Toivnlands. 
Mpnodihy 
Bealladuny 


Parish  of  Carrick  (p). 

Tittdadoes. 
. . .     John  Neale,  Gent. 


English.      Irish. 
5  10 

2  26 


Townlands, 
Richardstown 
Ballyneganagh 
Cregg 

Newtownlennan 
Maynstown 
Ballynory 


NEWTOWNLENNAN  fqj. 
Tittdadoes. 


English. 


Irish. 

25 
18 
10 

34 
27 
47 


(0)  For  which  the  writer  is  indebted  to  Thomas  Laffan,  M.D. 

(p)  In  the  H.M.  returns  where  there  is  more  than  one  hearth,  the  number  is  indicated  in 
brackets.  Carrick — Daniel  Connelly,  Daniel  Maher,  Donough  Flynn,  David  Magher,  John 
Prendergast  [thirteen  obliterations],  Henry  Davies,  John  Bryan,  John  the  hatter,  James  Mortimer, 
James  Linch  (2,  an  oven  and  a  kiln),  John  Faker  (2),  James  Neale  junior  (3),  John  Potter,  John 
McGrath  junior,  John  Carew  (2),  John  Corrigan,  Ignatius  Briver,  John  O'Pyne,  James  Paton,  John 
Fline,  John  Fitzmurry,  John  McGrath  junior,  John  Cudihy,  James  Comerford,  James  Meagher,  John 
Slane,  John  Pill,  James  Neale  jun.,  Giles  Daniell,  John  Brenoge,  James  Canane,  Corn.  Bryan,  Kenedy 
Quin  (2),  Michael  Samott  (3),  Morish  Mahony,  Morish  Whelahan,  Marcus  Henrahan,  Michael  Lynch, 
Philip  Brenagh,  Peter  Cahoe  (3),  Peter  Linch,  Peter  CuUnane,  Phillip  Brenagh,  Peter  Brenagh, 
Peter  Milward  (3),  Paul  Dugin,  Richard  Dixon  (3),  Richard  White,  Richard  Dowly,  Richard  Conway, 
Robert  McTeige,  Richard  Brenagh*  Robert  Butler,  Thomas  Shephard  (3),  Thomas  Reyly,  Teig 
Hickey,  Thomas  Gaule,  Thomas  Kerwicke,  Thomas  McGrath,  Thomas  Stasie,  Thomas  Neale  (3), 
Thomas  McDanniell,  Thomas  Mortimer,  William  Headin  (3),  William  Barnard  (4),  Walter  Wallice  (3), 
Walter  Neale  (2),  Walter  Cleare,  William  Hennard  (2),  Walter  Deveran  (3),  Walter  Andren,  Walter 
Callure,  William  Kennedy  (3).  Walter  PoUane,  James  Hartrey,  William  Clayton  (2),  Katherine 
Sutton  (5),  William  Hackett,  Teige  Kealy,  Thomas  Kealy,  James  English  (2  and  a  forge),  William 
Ryan,  William  McEdmund,  Walter  Butler,  Donnough  Dwyre,  Thomas  Welsh,  Phillip  Kennedy, 
Edmund  Wedner,  David  Woodlock,  Edmd.  McCleare. 

(q)  Richardstown — Bryan  Hogane  (2),  William  Shea,  Dermot  Costello,  Dermot  Neale,  William 
McDavid,  John  Duigin,  Thomas  Cantwell,  William  Donoghow,  two  waste  houses.  Mainstowii — 
Pierce  Neale  (2),  John  Connolly,  Morrish  Linchey,  William  Mcjohn,  John  Neale,  Thomas  Neale, 
Teige  Carrow,  three'  waste  houses.  BuUerstoivn — Edmund  Mandeville  (2),  Edmund  Laffan,  Bennen 
Helane,  John  Power,  Dermot  Funell,  Morish  McThomas,  Teig  Micane,  Phillip  Dempsey,  three 
waste  houses. 


446 


History  of  Clonmel. 


Townlands, 
Ballyneale 
Lissodobr 
Mollagh 
Figglash 
Bally  neclony 
Ardcollum 
Ballinoreran 
Curraghdobbin 
Mueretybegg 
Mueretymore 
GarrydufF 
Ballydyne 
Ballinurry 


Townlands, 
Maganstown 
Mynerstown 


KILLMURRY  (r). 
Tittdadoes. 
...     John  Spillman,  Gent. 


John  Hogan,  Gent 


John  Mandeville,  Gent. 


KILSHEELAN  (s). 
Tittdadoes, 


English. 

Irish. 

2 

52 

— 

22 

— 

22 

4 

49 

— 

43 

— 

15 

— 

15 

— 

31 

— 

7 

2 

I 

— 

31 

6 

H 

~ 

8 

English. 

Irish, 

— 

5 

2 

7 

(r)  Ballyneale— John  Shaw  (5),  John  Carroll,  William  Sexton.  Lisdobur— Lewis  Davy  (2), 
Brian  Meane,  William  Mahoony,  Daniel  Sexton,  John  Welch,  Thomas  McWalter,  Philip  Kennedy, 
James  Daton,  Philip  Meane,  William  Neale.  Mologh — James  Blanchiield  (2),  Patrick  Quean,  Donogh 
Kelly,  Edmond  Clenane,  William  Dergan,  EUice  Carrew.  Fi^/rtss>'— John  Neale  (2),  John  Shea, 
David  Neale,  Nicholas  McDavid,  William  Hogan,  James  Mcjohn,  John  Quine,  Dermot  Morrish,  Teig 
Dowley,  Kichard  McWilliam,  waste  four.  Ballynedoouy^Pierce  Daton  (2),  Richard  Hanyne,  Philip 
Hanyn,  James  Welsh,  Thomas  Shea,  Ellen  Mahoony,  William  Webstere,  Richard  Hogan,  three 
waste.  Ardcollum — Thomas  Quoan  (2),  waste  house.  Ballynoran — John  Butler  (2),  Thomas 
Browder,  William  Leahy,  Morris  McEdmund,  waste  house.  Ballynemony — Nicholas  Roche  (2),  John 
Twohy,  Thomas  McGrath,  John  Phelane,  two  waste.  Curraghdobbin — Thomas  Mandeville  (2), 
Morris  Power,  Lewis  Walsh,  William  Gonigh,  Peter  Wall,  John  Morris,  two  waste.  Muerety — 
Walter  Elmer  (2),  John  Phelan,  James  Dwyer,  Nicholas  Knaron,  John  Mahoony,  David  Hennessy, 
John  Butler,  Mologh  Phelan,  Morris  Guise,  three  waste.  Contagh — Thomas  McGrath  (2),  John 
Murphy,  Francis  Thomas,  Darby  Murphy,  Edmund  Bourke,  William  Kenna,  three  waste.  Bally- 
ihomas — Murtagh  Doran,  Edmund  Tobin,  Thomas  Davin,  Moris  Shulavan,  Thomas  McEdmund, 
John  Burke,  three  waste.  Ballydinc — ^James  Mandeville  (2),  James  Morrish,  David  Cowny,  John 
Cowny,  Michael  McTeig,  Richard  Birne  (a  forge),  Edmund  Hogan,  John  Carbry,  William  Hogan, 
Morris  Walsh,  one  waste. 

(s)  Maganstown — James  Dwan,  David  Seaton,  Philip  Seaton,  one  waste.  Kilsheelan — William 
Mulloony,  Thomas  Leamy,  William  Burke,  George  Clarke  (2),  John  Wall,  James  Meagher,  three 
waste.  Ballyneraha— John  Mandeville  (5),  John  Cooke  (2),  Richard  Cormac,  Connor  Carroll,  Rowland 
Cooke,  Edmund  Kennedy,  Cormack  McDonnell,  David  Ryan,  John  Gow,  Darby  Quidehy,  Edmond 
Mire,  James  Melode,  Edmond  Hogan,  Thomas  Shea,  Richard  Moloony,  Mrs.  Mandeville  (2),  four 
waste.  Poulckerry — Thomas  Webb  (2),  James  Dalton,  David  Hogan,  Pierce  Neale,  Noany  Hally,  two 
waste.  Newtown  Anner — Michael  White  (4),  Edmund  O'Moloony,  John  foley,  Thomas  Walsh, 
Daniel  O'foley,  Neal  O'Daniel,  Darby  Cleare,  Ellen  Breen,  two  waste.  Ballinamore — Dermot 
McGrath,  John  Daniell,  Richard  O'Mullryan,  James  O'Daniell,  Edmund  Hogan,  Donough  Hogan, 
one  waste.  Seskin — Philim  O'Neale  (2),  Pierse  Conway,  William  Trehy,  William  Loghnane,  William 
Rea,  Turlogh  Daniell,  David  Connell  (a  forge),  Mclaghlin  Porin,  three  v/aste.  Ballyglasheen — Mrs. 
Valentine  Blunt  (5),  James  Heelan  (2),  Donogh  Dwyre,  William  Connell,  John  Kennedy,  Philip 
Dempsy,  Pierse  Dempsy,  William  Godfrey,  John  Maher,  Richard  Mcjohn,  Ellen  Kelly,  two  waste. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


447 


Towtdands. 
Ballynerahy 
Part  of  Ballyneal 
Poulecherry 
Newtownanner 
Ballanamore 
Ballyglasheen 
Seskin 


Tittdadoes, 
...    James  White,  Gent 
...     John  Elmer,  Gent 


English. 


John  Ankettle 


Irish, 

34 

9 

23 

i8 

12 

i8 
4 


Towrdands. 
Kilcash 
Mylodstown 
Killnorassey 


Towrdands, 
Graigeclohy 
Ballylin 
Ballyboe 


Kilcash  r^;. 

Tittdadoes, 

English, 

Irish. 

. 

4 

77 

.                                                . . . 

— 

21 

.    James  Comerford,  Gent, 

5 

40 

Lady  Travers  Butler 

TEMPLETNEY  (u). 

Tittdadoes, 

English. 

Irish. 

Daniel  Gwin,  Gent 

2 

14 

James  Butler,  Gent 

— 

23 

.     Michael  Gwin,  Gent 

2 

31 

(tj  Milodstown — Thomas  Clarke  (2),  Richard  Thompson,  Edmund  Hanye,  Dermod  McGrath, 
James  Clancy,  William  Quinlan,  two  waste.  Kiluoryse — Donough  McWilliam,  James  Mcjohn,  James 
Comerford,  Richard  Harrell,  two  waste.  Cloughconigecti — Francis  Neale  (2),  Paul  Roughan,  John 
Hogan,  Catherine  Wall,  Ellice  Brittan,  Ellen  Quirke,  Margaret  Wall,  William  Cooney,  Thomas 
Butler,  three  waste. 

(uj  Tempieheny—MichsLel  Gwin  (2),  John  Bawn,  Hugh  Bee,  Connor  McDonough,  Josneagh 
Egane,  William  McTeige,  Edmund  Duggin,  Richard  McTibbott,  John  Bevane,  John  Gregan,  Thomas 
Crottie,  Darby  Skehane  (a  forge),  two  waste.  Ballyboe — Edmond  Bacon,  Loughlin  Quigley,  Thomas 
Friscan,  Roger  Murphy,  Hugh  Quin,  William  Loghlin,  Thomas  Anglasny,  Margaret  Butler,  Edmond 
White,  John  McThomas,  Edward  Mandeville,  Catherine  McRichard,  John  McOwen,  Teig  Mcjohn, 
Owen  Walsh,  four  waste.  Killorney — Oliver  Walsh  (2),  Richard  Morrissy,  Edmond  OShehan, 
Morris  Currin,  Margaret  Ultagh,  Edmond  Wall,  John  Healy,  James  Dempsey,  Theobald  Butler, 
Thomas  Fennessy,  Walter  Welsh,  William  Connolly,  John  Crehane,  Derby  Clansy,  Jane  Neale, 
Pierce  Connor,  David  Helane,  Teige  Moloughny,  Connor  McRyan,  James  White,  [44  names 
obliterated],  Stephen  Cooke,  James  Roe,  James  Walsh,  Thomas  Mcjohn,  Michael  Spillane,  Ow^en 
Quigley,  Murtogh  Mahony,  Donough  Morrissy,  Daniel  Mahony,  Elizabeth  Brenoge,  Teig  Maher, 
Thomas  Shea,  More  Dungane,  Donough  Egane,  Pierce  Dalton  Donough  Clovane,  William  Mongan, 
Augustus  Kehoe,  Teig  Trohy,  John  Evistin,  Edmund  Helane,  Thomas  Mahoney,  Jeffry  Walsh, 
William  Grady,  Giles  Kelly,  Patrick  Henden,  Thomas  Royly,  Dermot  Boggy,  Thomas  Massan, 
Richard  Lunty,  Terlogh  Dulane,  Daaiel  Dwine,  John  Magher  (a  forge),  David  Stoake.  five  waste. 
Coolonan — James  Walsh  (2),  William  Council,  Edmund  Brittan,  Donogh  Grady,  William  Welsh, 
John  O'Fennessy,  two  waste.  Lisnctn brid— John  Butler  (2),  Pierse  Butler,  Pierse  Cantwell,  Donogh 
Cleare,  Pierse  Butler,  John  O'Mahone,  Philip  Phelane,  James  Poore,  William  McDonnell,  Andrew 
Bushell,  Catherine  McPhilip,  Thomas  Healy  (a  forge),  William  Kelly,  Robert  Poore,  John  Connell, 
William  Roe,  William  Morrissy,  Constance  Duevane,  Edmund  Mulcahey,  William  McBryan,  James 
Stapleton  (2),  Ellen  Mcjohn,  six  waste.  Tempi ny—Dsirby  Quin,  Mary  Welsh,  David  Lvne,  £lizal>eth 
Quin,  Jcfifry  Walsh. 


448 


History  of  Clonmel. 

Townlands. 

TUuladoes, 

English. 

Irish, 

Killurney 

4 

43 

Ballyboe 

— 

5 

Cooleowneen 

5 

9 

Lisnedobred 

— 

2 

Templetney 

— 

5 

Tawtdands. 
Beallanamoe 


GRANGEMOCKLER  (v). 
TUuladoes. 


Irish, 
10 


Townlands, 
Priorstown 
KillefernaRh 


KhxeluanM. 

Tituladoes. 


Irish. 
7 
7 


Townlands, 
Glanleemy 
Powerstown 
Redmondstown 
Milerstown 
Little  Lawlestown 
Ballinvohyr 
Rathkyvan 


KDLLGR  ANT  fxj. 
Tituladoes. 


Richard  EUy,  Gent 


English. 


Irish. 
15 
15 
19 
9 
3 
17 
23 


(v)  Breaticrmare—V/WWzm  Lunny,  Richard  Dan,  John  Hine,  Dermod  Dolohanty,  John  McDarby, 
John  McPhilip,  James  Morris,  Phillip  Meagher,  Morris  Reily  (2),  two  waste  houses,  the  mill  of 
kelleagh.  Tulaghea — Pierse  Butler  (2),  John  Daniell,  John  Croake,  Richard  Daw,  Morris  McEdmund, 
Robert  Patrick,  William  Kervicke,  three  waste. 

(w)  Priorstown — Owen  Hogan,  Daniel  Higgin,  John  Flahertie,  Danil  Givey,  two  waste. 
ButlersUmm — Mr.  Thomas  Mandeville  (2),  Peter  Wall,  Simon  Forestall.  Kilolane—]oYin  McDermot, 
John  McTeig,  one  waste. 

(x)  Glettleamy— John  Murphy  (2),  Pierce  Richard,  John  Maxy,  William  Bough,  Connor  Bane, 
Teig  Meagher,  three  waste.  Powerstown — Teig  Murphy  (2),  Edmond  Connor,  John  Mackey,  Joane 
Cones,  two  waste.  Redmondstown-— Edmond  Phillip  (2),  Darby  Meagher  (a  forge),  William  Kearne, 
David  Hennessy,  James  Welsh,  David  Dorney,  John  Rissord,  Thomas  Welsh,  Thomas  McRichard, 
three  waste.  Ballivoher—Donough  Edmund,  John  Meagher,  Thomas  Meagher,  John  Currane, 
three  waste,  [five  obliterations].  Rathkivan — ^John  O'Neale  (2),  one  waste.  Ballinmony — ^John 
Mullraine  (2),  John  Meagher,  James  Deraley,  John  Moholohane,  two  waste. 


Townlands, 
Rathronan 
Croughtamory 
Ballynemony 
Orchardstown 
Lawlestown  more 


History  of  Clonmel. 

RATHRONANE  (y). 
TiHdadoes. 


440 


Irish. 
26 

2 

44 

28 

6 


Townlands, 
Court  Lisronagh 
Monemehill 
Cahirclough 
Killmore 
Garranvile 
Lissronagh 


Lisronagh  (z). 

Tittdadoes. 


English. 


John  Shawe,  Gent 


Irish. 

31 

4 

9 

21 

29 

37 


Townlands. 
Ballingarrane 
Tubberhaney 
Garryroe 


DONOUGHMORE  (oa). 
Tittdadoes. 


Irish. 

9 

i6 
16 


(y)  Rathronan — Henry  Thompson  (2),  Daniel  Ryan,  Daniel  Deane,  Logh  Shellane  (a  forge), 
Loghlin  Hicklane,  John  Dwire,  Darby  Raghter,  Donough  Meagher,  Thomas  Bourke,  Thomas  Heale, 
John  McRichard,  two  waste.  Orchardstown — Richard  Kelly,  Darby  Meagher,  John  McDonogh, 
Edmd  Kelly,  two  waste.    Lawlestown — Walter  Dowgan,  John  Neale,  two  waste. 

(z)  Lisronagh — Teig  Carrol  (2),  Edmond  Heffernan,  William  Cassin,  Darby  Carroll, 
William  Gowc  (2),  Daniel  Cleary,  Ellen  Hornet,  William  Curran,  William  Burke,  Theobald 
Burke,  Richard  Howett,  David  Hogan,  Daniel  Carroll,  David  Hoghy,  Teig  McEdmond,  Daniel 
Helane.  John  Doughey,  Redmond  Howett,  Margaret  Lonergan,  John  Neale.  Monemehill — 
Henry  Francis  (2),  Pierce  Daw,  Teig  Mcjohn,  two  waste.  Cahirclough — William  Dwyre  (2),  Edmond 
Helane,  William  Helane,  Morris  Murphy,  James  Wodloke,  Teig  Neale,  Thomas  Keating,  Darby  Hogan, 
Thomas  Dwyre,  Joane  Daniel],  John  Dorny,  four  waste.  Killmore — David  Welsh  (2),  Philip  Connell, 
Bryan  Daniell,  William  McTeig,  John  Hogan,  Constance  Hogan,  Edmond  Hackett  (2),  John  David, 
Owen  McRichard,  John  McRichard,  Thomas  Butler,  Connor  Mulryan,  Daniel  Heffernan,  Richard 
Power,  four  waste.  Garranmorhy — William  Edmond  (2),  Walter  Welsh,  James  Keyley,  Thomas 
Brenane,  William  Richard,  William  Clensey,  Morris  Dowell,  John  Rowe,  Philip  Rowe,  John  Allen, 
John  MuUryan,  Donogh  Meaghan,  Constance  Daniell,  four  waste. 

(aa}  Ballygarrane — Philip  English,  gent.,  John  O'Fahy,  Bennet  White,  Edmond  Brennock, 
Donogh  Heine.  Garryroe— Bv\2J\  O'Lonergan,  Edmund  fitz  Maurice  and  Kenedy  ni  Davy  Lonergan, 
Francis  Hurley,  Donal  O*  Hogan .—Fiants  Elizabeth. 

E  I 


450 


History  of  Clonmel. 

Newchapple  fbb). 

Towniands. 

Tittdadoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

Knockenanama 

...      Edward  Batty,  Gent.      . 

I 

36 

Chancellorstown 

...                                              • 

— 

9 

Ballytarsney    . 

... 

— 

17 

Ballyvelish 

— 

14 

Newchapple 

... 

— 

27 

Ballyhimkin 

... 

— 

20 

Mollenony 

... 

— 

45 

Towniands. 
Ballyclearahan 


BALLYCLEARAHAN  fee). 
Tituladoes. 


Irish. 
85 


• 

Abby  Mislonaghty  fddj. 

Towniands. 

Tituladoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

Morestown 

...     Godfrey  Greene,  Esq.     . 

3 

92 

Kilballynemony 

— 

46 

Glandbane 

— 

12 

Ballyorley 

— 

5 

Abbey  Newtoun 

...     Edward  Batty,  Gent.      . 

4 

152 

Gortmore  and  Pat.  Chappie 

— 

II 

Garrytemple 

— 

35 

Monksgrange 

53 

(bb)  Knockenanama — Pardon  to  Pierse  Butler  and  More  ny  Brean  his  wife,  1599.  Ballytarsney — 
Nicholas  Hackett,  gent.,  Richard  Hackett,  kern,  Connor  O'Meagher,  Thomas  Butler,  gent.,  Richard 
fitz  John  O'Maher,  yeoman,  John  Kearney  fitz  William,  Walter  fitz  Redmond  Hackett,  yeoman. 
Mollaghnoney — Edmond,  Walter  and  Thomas  Butler,  gentlemen. — Ibid. 

(cc)  Ballyclearahan — James  Ballaughe  Butler,  Richard  fitz  Edmd  Tobin,  Morough  McCahill, 
kerns,  Patrick  Purcell,  Gibbon  Blanchfield,  horsemen,  Edmond  and  Jeffry  Mockler,  James  and 
Nicholas  McCodie,  yeomen. — Plants,  Elizabeth. 

((Id)  Moortown — Richard  Keating,  gent.,  John  Keating  fitz  Richard  Duf,  and  David  Burke, 
yeomen,  Thomas  and  William  Brenagh,  husbandmen.  Kilballynemona — Morish  and  Derby  Buren, 
Robt.  reogh.  Garret  fitz  Edmund  Prendergast,  Garret  Fennell,  Dermot  O'Donnell,  Mlaughlin  and 
Dermot  McDonogh,  Philip  Keating,  gent..  Piers  Hackett  and  Ellice  Bourke  his  wife.  Monksgrange— 
Terence  McShane  O'Donnell,  Conor  fitz  John  Daniel,  yeomen,  William  McDonough,  Thomas 
O'Kennedic,  Thomas  Burke  fitz  Richard,  Edmond  Burke  fitz  Edward.— Ibid. 


Townlands, 
Derrygrath 
Killmalloge 
Ballindonev 
Ballythomas 
Nichollstown 
Garryroe 


History  of  Clonmel. 
Derrygrath  (ee). 


461 


Tituladoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

... 

— 

13 

— 

31 

— 

32 

Paule  Keating,  Gent.     ... 

— 

10 

Richard  Keating,  Gent.  ... 

2 

72 

William  Keating,  Gent.  ... 

— 

23 

Townlands, 
Cahyr 
Cahir  Abby 
Loughlohery 
Bally  McAdam 
Kelleen  Butler 
Grangemore 
Suttonrath 
Killemlagh 
Cnockagh 


Cahyr  fjBf). 

Tituladoes, 
Thomas  Thompson,  Gent. 
.  James  Thompson,  Gent.  . 


English. 

Irish. 

23 

121 

3 

59 

4 

52 

— 

25 

— 

15 

— 

21 

— 

9 

— 

10 

— 

27 

(ee)  Ballindoncy — Morris  Phelane,  husbandman,  Richard  roe  Keating,  gent.,  Mahon  O'Hogan. 
Ballythomas — William  Bourke,  Loghlin  O'Mulrian,  Morish  English,  Donagh  McQuin,  yeomen,  David 
McHenry  Bourke.  Mcholastawn—John  Keating,  Richard  Keating,  gent.,  Edmund  Keating,  yeoman, 
William  Keating,  John  Bourke,  yeoman,  Robert  Keating,  yeoman,  Richard  Butler,  gent.  Garryroe— 
Edmund  fitz  Maurice  Lonergan,  farmer,  Richard  Burke  Dermot,  Francis  Hurley,  David  Hurley, 
Daniel  O'Hogan,  Kennedy  McDavid  Lonergan,  Brian  O'Lonergan,  John  Daniel,  John  McSheehy, 
Edmond  and  Barnaby  Karney  fitz  Philip. 

(ff)  Cahir  ami  Mortlestowne  parishes — Edmund  Daniel  (3  and  a  kiln),  Thomas  White  (2),  Richard 
Goulding,  Mathevv  Evans,  Walter  Poore,  Leonard  Creagh  (2),  Thomas  Carroll,  Thomas  Cooke, 
Constance  Daniell,  Walter  Nory,  William  Murphy,  James  Murphy,  Patrick  Shurthall,  Thomas 
Meagher,  Nicholas  Butler,  Nicholas  Morony,  Thomas  Kearney,  Daniel  Hickey  (a  forge),  Edmund 
Tobin,  Thomas  Cohane,  Philip  McWilliam,  Connor  Duffe,  Daniel  Hickey  (a  forge),  John  Pendergrass, 
James  McWilliam,  Thomas  McAdam,  Thomas  Roe  (2),  Thomas  Tobin,  Piers  White,  William  Hogan, 
John  Browne,  Philip  Mullany,  Edmund  McAdam  (six  illegible),  William  Roe,  Thomas  Powell  (four 
illegible),  John  Riddle,  Garret  Mageon,  John  Milode,  William  McEward,  Walter  Morrisshy,  Philip 
Meagher.  Phillip  Corane,  Thomas  Dee,  Edmund  O'Quirke,  Roger  Keneghane,  Daniel  Meagher  (a 
forge),  William  McQuin,  Andrew  Laid  (3  and  an  oven),  Phillip  Keatinge,  Patrick  Tobin,  David 
Hickey,  six  waste.  Cahir  Abbcy^eiiry  Mockler  (2),  John  Scolane,  Piers  Butler,  Teig  Gow  (a  forge), 
James  Walsh,  David  McShane,  William  McTeig,  Daniel  Clavane,  Thomas  Scolane,  John  McKelly, 
David  Bourke,  James  Bath,  Millany  Lorkane,  Roger  Lonergan,  Richard  McShane,  Richard  Toben, 
Joane  Luby,  two  waste.  Ballybradoc — Edmund  Keating  (3),  John  Carroll,  Teig  Maher,  William 
Heany,  John  Dowdy,  Manus  Lahy,  Evans  David,  William  Meagher,  Murtogh  Phelane,  Richard 
Hennessy,  two  waste.  Kilcommonbeg— John  ffennell  (5),  Richard  Valkine.  Brian  Daniell,  Edmund 
Daniell,  William  Boy,  Morish  Daton,  David  Hickey,  John  McMahon,  John  McTeig,  John  Cahasy, 
Conor  Dugan  (a  forge),  one  waste.  Clontnore— Darby  Leagh,  Darby  Doorane,  David  Hogan,  David  . 
McWilliam.— H.M.  Returns. 


452 


HISTORY    OF   CXONMEL. 


Townlands, 

Tituladoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

Ballynenonagh 

... 

— 

7 

BallyhoUy 

... 

— 

6 

Garran  Ivelly 

James&  Thomas  Tobyn,  Gents. 

— 

36 

Cloghstany 

... 

— 

17 

Scart  Killcoman 

— 

28 

Keadragh 

Francis  Bigg,  Esq. 
ROCHESTOWN  fgg). 

8 

33 

Townlands, 

Tituladoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

Rochestown 

... 

4 

26 

Richestown 

... 

— 

4 

Ardfinnan 

Capt  William  Palmer,  Gent. 

3 

103 

Cloghnicody 

... 

2 

23 

NEDDANS  (hh). 
Townlands.  Tituladoes. 

Neddans  William  Hogan  &  John  Hogan,  Gents. 

Cloghardin 
Ballyneety 
Lack  M^  Korsh 
Rathogally 
Cloghcully 
Mollagh 
Garry  nehashy 
Burgessland 


Irish, 

25 

14 

8 

8 

13 

U 

13 

28 

8 


(gg)  Rochestown— WiWisLm  English  fitz  Eustace,  gent.,  John  English,  John  Wall,  Redmond 
English,  Edmond  Keating,  Teig  Etermen  McGillepatrick,  Edmund  English  fitz  John,  horsemen, 
Edmund  English,  gent.,  and  Ellen  Morris,  his  wife,  John  Piers  and  James  his  sons.  Ardfinnan — 
James  and  David  Gall,  horsemen,  David  Agherane,  Brian  O'Byrne,  Edmund  Brenagh,  James  Butler 
fitz  Theobald,  William  fitz  James  Brenagh,  John  Butler,  gent.,  James  Tobin,  John  O'Donil,  David 
Hickey  fitz  Thomas,  Piers  Forstall,  Thomas  O'Comyn,  Edward  Blake.  Clonacody—^dmui\6  Butler 
fitz  Theobald,  Derby  Meagher,  Philip  McTeig  O'Meagher.— Fiants,  Elizabeth. 

(hh)  Neddans — Teig  Duff  McDonogh,  James  Ronane,  vicar,  Edmund  and  Jeffry  Prendergast, 
yeomen.  Lackmackorish — Richard  Prendergast  fitz  Maurice,  gent.  Rathogally — Thomas  Prendergast, 
Robert  Prendergast,  husbandmen,  John  Prendergast,  Thomas  fitz  John,  Rot)ert  fitz  John,  kerns, 
Rol)ert  fitz  Thomas,  yeoman.  Cloghcully — Patrick  English,  kern,  Laurence  Brennagh,  horseboy, 
Derby  McDonil,  David  fitz  Morris,  yeomen,  Edmund  Butler  fitz  Theobald,  Thomas  Pennessy,  William 
Kelly.  Mollough — Walter  Prendergast,  yeoman,  David  fitz  Edmund  O'Donnell,  William  Flaghie, 
John  fitz  Morris  McDermodie,  David  McShane  and  John  McRorie  McGrath. — Ibid. 


History  of  Clonmel.  453 

TULLAMEOLAN  (ii). 

Townlands,                              Tituladoes.  English,  Irish. 

Knockeen                 ••.  •••  —  26 

TuUaghmeolan        ...  ...  —  8 

Bally  morris              •••  ...  —  lO 

Ballybeg                   ...  ...  —  15 

Carrig  Heartry        ...  ...  —  22 

Old  grage                ...  ...  —  4 

Knocklofty              ...  ...  2  30 


Newcastle  (jj). 

Townlands,  Tituladoes, 

Newcastle 
Kilnecarragy 
Croane 
Clasgany 
Garry  duff 
Curraghetoneen 
Boulisallagh 


(ii)  Knockcvn — Doiiel  reogh  O'Keanedy,  husbandman,  William  Hykey,  weaver,  William 
M'Evarde,  husbandman,  Morris  fitz  Robert  Prendergast,  yeoman.  TutUifihtnclan — William  Wall, 
horseman,  Edmund  Prendergast,  clerk,  Donagh  O'GHssan.  Ballymorris — Daniel  McPhilip  McRorie 
McGrath,  gent.,  Brien  Kennedy,  Teig  O'Brien,  Turlogh  O'Kennedy,  William  Cleary,  Ulick  Burke, 
fitz  William  fitz  Thomas  and  Honor  Kennedy  his  wife,  Edmund  fiiz  Philip  Prendergast,  John  Birne, 
Conor  O'Meagher,  Thomas  fitz  John  fitz  Geoffry,  William  and  John  fitz  Thomas  McGrath.  Bally- 
Ijca — Gerald  Prendergast  fitz  Philip,  Edmund  and  Jeifry  fitz  James  Prendergast,  yeomen,  Catherine, 
Margaret  and  Grany,  daughters  of  Donald  OTrohie,  physician,  James  Fennell,  physician,  Symon 
Cantwell.  Onii^. — David  McEdmond  Galdie  Burke,  gent. ,  Patrick  fitz  David,  Gillepatrick  O'Dowle, 
Edmund  O'Rian,  Edmund  O'Farrell,  Conor  Tenors,  yeoman,  Richard  Grace,  gent.,  Thomas  Butler, 
Rorie  O'Brien,  yeoman,  Richard  Hackett  fitz  Philip.  Knocklofty — Thomas  Keating,  John  and  Manus 
McHugh  0'Donnell,Dermot  McCon  O'Daniell,  Edmund  Prendergast,  Morris  fitz  Robert  Prendergast, 
yeomen,  Rorie  McDonil  O'Meagher,  goldsmith,  James  Butler  alias  Goldie,  gentleman,  Dermot 
McQuin  O'Donil,  Donogh  O'Donell,  James  English  fit/  Walter,  William  reogh  O'MehoUaghan, 
James  Keating  fitz  Richard,  yeoman. — Ibid. 

(ji)  Savcasllc—Gcffry  Prendergast,  gent.,  John  fitz  James  Prendergast,  James  fitz  Thomas 
Prendergast,  yeomen,  Philip  and  Hugh  O'Meagher,  carpenters,  Morris  Prendergast,  carpenter,  Owen 
McDonogh  McGrath,  Morris  Brenagh,  Morris  Byrne,  husbandmen,  William  Gorman,  William  Keating, 
James  Prendergast,  gent.,  Owen  and  Morris  Aherne,  Geoffry  brack  Prindergass,John  McDonel  Aherne, 
Maurice  M'Redmond  Condon,  William  McMorris  Tobin,  Teig  McDonel  Jenowan,  Thomas  Morcho, 
kerns.  Kilnccarri^a — Richard  fitz  Morris  Prendergast,  yeoman,  Edmund  Prendergast,  gent. 
Croane — Thomas  fitz  Robert  Prendergast,  horseman,  Garrot  Prendergast,  Walter  Prendergast, 
husbandmen.  Clasgany — William  Birran  fitz  Richard,  husbandman.  G<iroY///jf— Thomas  leith 
Prendergast,  Thomas  O'Keating,  husbandmen,  Morris  Kinagh  Prendergast,  William  fitz  Thomas 
Butler,  Theobald  Butler,  sheriff,  Thos.  McGilleniff  O'Dwyer,  yeoman,  Derby  O'Dwan,  harper, 
William  Burke,  gent.,  Thomas  Berran  fitz  Richard.  Cnrra^hcloncy —liowogh  ap  O'Hallinan,  yeoman, 
Connor  O'Cullinan.  Ballysallagh — James  fitz  Geoffry  Prendergast,  William  O'Carran,  Edmond 
Keating,  farmers,  John  fitz  Rot)ert  Prendergast,  Morris  Carragh  Prendergast,  husbandmen. — Ibid. 


English. 

Irish. 

8 

65 

— 

25 

3 

12 

— 

34 

— 

13 

— 

5 

13 

454 


Townlands, 
Gormandstown 
TuUagh 
Killdonogh 
Garryroe 
Ballygonnan 
Frehans 
Kilmeen 
Ballyreety 
Killfrehane 
Carhew 
Killardemer 


History  of  Clonmel. 
Ballybecan  (kk) 

Tituladoes. 
Anthony  Chearneley,  Gent 


Garrot  Prendergast  &  Edmond  his  son        — 


English. 

2 
4 


Irish. 

63 
28 

25 
27 
10 

19 
13 
II 

31 

10 

34 


Townlands. 
Kilroe 
Burgess 
Kilcoran 
Whitechurch 


TUBKID  fllj. 
Tituladoes. 


Irish. 
32 
30 

17 
12 


(kk)  Gormanstown — Thomas  Keating,  James  Keating,  Kenedy  O'Lonergan,  husbandmen. 
Tullagh — Nicholas  Daton,  James  fitz  William  oge  Butler,  David  Fanning,  Thomas  O'Casheii,  Donal 
McEa  buy,  Edward  Kelly  fitz  Barnaby,  John  Keating,  Turlough  O'Haleghan,  Thomas  G'Haleghan, 
Edward  Keating,  Edward  Prendergast.  Kildouogh — Theobald  McWalter,  Brian  G'Etonel,  Edmond 
fitz  James  Prendergast,  horseman,  Geffry  and  Robert  fitz  James,  kerns,  James  Nevill  Prendergast, 
Thomas  Prendergast.  Garryroe — Richard  Burke  Dermot,  Francis  and  David  Hurlie,  Donal  O'Hogan, 
Kenedy  McDavie  Lonergan,  Brian  O'Lonergan,  Edward  fitz  Maurice  Lonergan.  Frehans — Thomas 
Prendergast  fitz  Robert,  gent.,  Thomas  Wall,  John  O' Kenedy,  Conor  McGranell,  Alstrum  Bourke 
fitz  Richard,  Walter  Prendergast,  gent.,  Felix  G'Mulryan  and  Simon  Lonergan,  kerns,  Thomas 
G'Morrssey  and  David  Healie,  horsemen,  Jeffry  Prendergast,  yeoman.  Killmecn — Thomas  roth 
fitz  James  Prendergast,  gent.,  Edmund  Prendergast,  husbandman.  BaUyhcslie — David  and  William 
Bourke  fitz  Thomas. — Ibid. 

(11)  Burgess— John  McGrath  McEneas,  gent.,  Rory  McEa  McGrath,  Hugh  McRorie  McGrath, 
John  fitz  Thomas  Ix)nergan,  yeoman.  Kilcoran — Donogh  O'Dowdy,  husbandman,  Mahon  O'Dca, 
husbandman.  Whitechurch — Richard  fitz  Maurice  Prendergast,  Manus  McShihie,  yeomen,  William 
G'Corban,  husbandman,  Redmund  and  William  English,  kerns,  Walter  fitz  Henry.  Rehill — Teig 
0*Heffcrnan,  Walter  Neale,  James  O'Haghir,  James  Helane,  Patrick  G'Haghir,  Hugh  Keogh,  John 
Bathe,  Owen  Clancy,  yeomen,  John  fitz  William  Burke,  Edmond  G'Donull,  John  McDonoghow, 
Darby  O'Meagher,  James  Hickey,  Philip  Braghan,  William  McOwen,  husbandmen.  Roosca— 
Redmond  Comyn,  Thomas  fitz  Theobald  Purcell,  William  Butler,  Edmund  McShihie.  Ballydrenan— 
David  Oge  Lonergan,  horseman,  John  fitz  W^illiam  Lonergan,  husbandman,  Donogh  O'Fenncsy, 
smith.  r/<6/iW— Philip  Oge  Lonergan,  yeoman,  William  Greehan,  Daniel  O'Reilly,  husbandmen, 
Donogh  Moel  McGrath.  Ballylomasna — Owen  McGrath,  John  McOwen  McGrath,  gents,  John 
McTomie,  Flan  McOwen  and  Rorie  McThomas,  farmers.  Drumloman — William  McDonnell,  Teig 
O'Lonergan,  horseman,  William  McShane  McGrath,  William  McThomas,  Donogh  O'Kenncdy, 
Donogh  O'Loughnan,  John  Loughnan,  husbandmen.  Ballingarran — Daniel  O'Heyn,  William 
Lonergan,  husbandmen,  Philip  English,  Owen  J.  Connerie.— Ibid. 


History  of  Clonmel. 


455 


Townlands. 
Reahill 
Whitechurch 
Reahill 
Ruscath 


Tituladoes, 


...    George  Mathews,  Esq.    ... 

...  Thomas  Aylmer,  Gent.  ... 

Nicholas  and  Robert  Ovington,  Gents. 

James  Glissanei  Gent. 


Ballydrenan 

Tubbrib 

Ballylomasney 

Drumloman 

Knockanecanboy 

Boullingarrane 

Currloure 


iglish. 

Irish. 

5 

55 

— 

21 

6 

45 

10 

39 



29 

— 

43 

— 

23 

— 

6 

— 

2 

— 

19 

— 

27 

SHANREHAN  (mm). 

Townlands. 

Tituladoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

Shanrehan 

.   John  Fitzgerald,  Gent. 

9 

40 

Clogheen  markett 

Thomas  Downeing,  Gent. 

4 

78 

Flemingstown 

— 

II 

Killatin 

2 

24 

Cospoch 

— 

44 

Teriglin 

— 

19 

Cosporth  other  part 

— 

17 

Grange  Silligane     .. 

4 

4 

Curragh  Keale 

— 

12 

Carrigmore 

— 

21 

Scartachane 

— 

27 

Ballysheehane 

— 

4 

Castlegrace 

.  Coll.  John  Squibb,  Gent. 
Math.  Bowen,  Gent 

13 

83 

(mm)  Shauraghau — Richard  Keating,  gent.,  Richard  more  Tobyn.  Cnrrigvistcale — Donogh 
MacShane  oge  Barehie,  gent.  Coolcnafallagh — Patrick  English,  Donnell  reagh  O'Kenna.  Clogheen — 
John  O'Hj'lane,  shoemaker.  Ballyboy — Maurice  litz  Edmond  fitz  Gibbon,  gent.,  Thomas  O'Hogan. 
Castlegrace — William  O'Mighan,  yeoman,  William  McTeig  O'Gorman,  Dermot  O'Ryan,  John 
O'Hickey,  carpenters,  Owen  Corban  and  John  Butler,  butchers,  Philip  McEdniond  O'Lonergan  and 
William  McGrath,  tailors,  Dermot  Ahearne,  weaver,  Gillpatrick  O'Hickey,  smith,  Richard  English, 
Garret  McThomas  McGrath,  John  O'Sheelly,  Mathew  Flyn,  husbandmen,  Dermot  O'Donnell,  John 
English,  yeomen,  Donogh  Molony,  goldsmith.  Carrigatiroe — Patrick  English.  Gart ydu ff—Dexhy 
O'Dwan,  harper. 

Some  of  the  townlands  enumerated  in  Shanrahan  parish  belong  at  present  to  County  Cork. 


456 


HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 

Tawnlands. 

Tituladoes. 

English. 

Irish. 

Ballyboy 

2 

50 

Garryduff 

— 

4                  ' 

Cullenagh 

— 

II 

Coolegarranroe 

— 

70 

Carrigvisteel 

— 

30                \ 

Gortessell 

— 

i8 

Currcleagh 

9 

17                 1 

Bally  nemony 

12 

2 

Bally  William 

— 

23 

Li  erf  on 

6 

21 

Cooleprevane 

2 

24 

Glancony 

— 

32 

Dromroe 

— 

I6 

Cooledery 

— 

31 

Dangen 

— 

23 

Lisfunsen 

— 

59 

Skeheenrenky 

— 

28 

Coolroe 

— 

30                 1 

Killtankeen 

— 

4 

Ohapxe^r  XXIII. 


CLONMEL  NOTABLES— STEPHEN  WHITE. 

STEPHEN  WHITE,  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  of  an  age 
distinguished  for  its  learning,  was  born  in  Clonmel  in  1574.  It 
is  uncertain  to  which  he  belonged  of  the  three  prominent  families 
of  the  name  that  then  flourished  in  the  town.  To  judge,  however, 
from  his  Christian  name  which  is  found  only  in  one  branch,  it  would  seem 
that  he  was  the  son  of  Pierce  or  Peter  White,  and  therefore  brother  of  James 
White,  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Waterford,  and  of  Thomas  White  infra.  This 
agrees  with  the  conjecture  of  a  contemporary  and  acquaintance  of  White's, 
Lynch,  author  of  "  Cambrensis  Eversus." 

Through  the  connivance  of  Miler  M'Grath,  Protestant  commendatory 
Bishop  of  Waterford,  a  school  was  kept  in  Clonmel  by  one  Derby  McThomas. 
It  is  probable  White  received  his  first  education  there.  McThomas  was  a  firm 
Catholic,  hostile  to  the  Queen's  religion,  and  reported  to  be  in  close  touch 
with  Darby  McGrath,  the  Catholic  bishop  of  Cork,  who  haunted  the 
neighbourhood*  When  White  was  in  his  eleventh  year,  an  event  occurred 
in  Clonmel  which  must  have  made  on  him  a  life-long  impression.  John 
Holing  who  relates  the  arrest  of  Father  Maurice  Kinrechtan  in  the  house  of 
Victor  White,  and  his  execution  at  the  Main  Guard  in  1 585,  states  that  he 
obtained  the  particulars  from  three  eye-witnesses,  two  of  whom  were  natives 
of  the  town.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  one  of  those  who  gave  the  account  to 
Holing  at  Salamanca,  was  Stephen  White. 

Rev.  E.  Hogan,  the  Jesuit  biographer  of  White,  conjectured  that  the 
Stephen  White,  the  third  of  the  scholars  named  in  the  Foundation  Charter 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  probably  Stephen  of  Clonmel.      He  asks : 


458  History  of  Clonmel. 

"  What  Stephen  White  could  this  be  other  than  our  future  polyhistor 
and  antiquarian "  ?  The  answer  is  supplied  by  an  entry  in  the  Patent 
Rolls. 

1604,  13  December.  Presentation  of  Stephen  White  professor  of  theology  to  the 
treasurership  of  Trinity,  Waterford,  to  admit  him  and  assign  him  a  stall  in  choir  and  a 
voice  in  the  chapter  (nn). 

There  is  no  evidence,  therefore,  that  White  was  among  the  few  Catholics 
who  entered  Trinity  College  at  its  opening  in  1592,  beyond  the  fact  that  at  a 
subsequent  period  he  was  on  intimate  literary  relations  with  Archbishop 
Ussher.  Some  years  earlier,  Thomas  White  of  Clonmel,  had  opened  the  Irish 
College,  Salamanca,  and  thither  Stephen  White,  about  sixteen  years  old,  was 
smuggled  through  some  ship  of  Waterford  trading  with  Corunna.  The  Irish 
Jesuits  being  in  charge  of  the  college.  White  was  doubtless  attracted  to  that 
order ;  and  having  taken  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the  University,  he 
entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  13th  October,  1596,  at  Villagarcia.  His  subsequent 
academic  career  is  described  by  Father  Hogan. 

"In  1600  he  was  in  his  third  year  of  theology  at  Salamanca  ;  in  1602  he 
was  teaching  Humanities  as  '  Lector  de  Artes'  in  the  seminary  of  Salamanca 
for  one  year.  After  his  brilliant  course  of  studies  he  taught  a  three  years' 
course  of  mental  philosophy  at  Salamanca  from  1603  to  1606." 

At  Salamanca  it  would  seem  he  obtained  his  Doctorate  of  Divinity,  and 
his  reputation  was  now  such  that  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  to  the 
chair  of  scholastic  theology  in  the  university  of  Ingolstadt.  The  opinion 
which  the  Jesuit  authorities  had  formed  of  him  may  be  judged  from  the  fact 
that  he  was  associated  with  Adam  Tanner,  a  theologian  of  European  fame, 
and  the  scarcely  less  noted  James  Gretser,  theologian  and  antiquary. 
Mederer,  the  annalist  of  Ingolstadt  University,  has  the  following  reference  to 
him. 

Stephen  White,  an  Irishman,  called  to  this  University  from  the  Irish  Seminary  at 
Salamanca  where  he  professed  philosophy.  Having  succeeded  James  Keller  appointed 
to  Ebersby  (and  subsequently  Ratisbon),  he  solemnly  inaugurated  his  lectures  on 

scholastic  theology  7  day  of  January  1606 After  a  lapse  of  three  years 

Stephen  White  the  Irishman  bade  farewell  to  our  University  and  the  chair  of  theology. 

White,  according  to  Father  Hogan,  simply  exchanged  chairs  with 
Sebastian  Heiss,  professor  of  theology  in  the  university  of  Dilingen.  At 
Dilingen  he  spent  in  multiform  labours  the  next  fourteen  years.     Though  he 


(nn)  Pat.  Rot.,  Jas.  I. 


History  of  Clonmel.  459 

had  left  Ireland  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  though  his  duties  rendered  it 
improbable  he  should  ever  see  it  again,  the  spies  thought  they  had  discovered 
him  returning.    A  report  in  Trinity  College  Library  has — 

A  note  of  divers  Younge  gentlemen,  pentioners,  souldiers  and  schollers  beyonde 
the  seas. 

Thomas  Archer        *)  lately  returned  from  sev'all  Dorans 

Nicholas  Bourke       >  [Added]    beyonde    the    seas    wheere    they 
Steven  White  )  reraayned  3  or  4  yeares  {00), 

All  the  abbeys  of  Germany — about  fifty — sent  their  more  promising 
religious  to  Dilingen  for  a  university  course.  These  numbering  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  lived  together  in  one  house  or  "  convict"  At  the  head  of  the  house 
was  placed  Father  Ambrose  Wadding,  S.J.,  of  Waterford.  The  two  Irishmen 
were  thus  brought  together,  and  when  Wadding  died  his  fellow-countryman 
stood  by  his  bedside.  The  career  of  White  at  Dilingen  is  summarised  by 
Father  Hogan. 

In  1612  he  was  first  professor  of  scholastic  theology  and  Father  Mundbrot  was  the 
second ;  he  was  also  librarian  of  the  university  and  confessor  of  the  religious  of  the 
various  orders  who  lived  together  in  one  college;  and  he  presided  over  cases  of 
conscience  in  that  college.  In  1613  he  was  professor  of  scripture  and  on  6  January 
made  the  profession  of  Four  Vows.  In  1614-1622  he  was  professor  of  scholastic 
theology. 

During  his  period  at  Dilingen  his  reputation  continued  to  increase.  His 
countryman  Rothe  enthusiastically  says :  "  Need  I  refer  to  Stephen  White, 
almost  the  first  theologian  of  the  century.  Amid  his  unwearied  labour  at 
Dilingen,  he  is  the  wonder  of  Germany  "  (pp). 

In  1622  or  1623  he  left  the  German  for  the  Province  of  Champagne.  Of 
the  seven  following  years  four  were  spent  at  Pont-a-Mousson  and  three  at 
Metz.  At  length  after  an  absence  of  nearly  forty  years,  White  was  recalled 
in  1629  to  a  professorship  in  the  university  which  his  order  was  projecting  in 
Dublin.  But  the  sunshine  of  toleration  was  very  brief.  The  large  house  and 
church  in  Back  Lane,  which  were  to  be  the  nucleus  of  the  university,  were 
raided  by  the  Mayor  of  Dublin  and  the  Protestant  Primate,  St.  Stephen's  Day, 
1629 ;  and  Boyle,  Earl  of  Cork,  who  as  Lord  Justice  was  responsible  for  the 
raid,  wrote  complaisantly  to  Lord  Dorchester. 


foo)  E.  3,  8. 

(PP)  Vindiciae  Hiberniae. 


460  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  Jesuits*  house  owned  and  claimed  by  the  Dowager  Countess  of  Kildare  is  a 
new  erected  and  goodly  fabric,  the  chapel  whereof  which  her  ladyship  calls  her  hall 
(though  neither  chimney,  table  nor  window  that  any  may  look  out  of)  is  75  feet  long 
and  27  broad.  It  is  seated  round  about ;  with  an  altar  with  ascents,  a  curious  pulpit 
and  organs,  and  four  places  for  confession  neatly  contrived ;  galleried  above  round 
about  with  rails  and  turned  ballasters ;  coloured ;  a  compass  roof ;  a  cloister  with  many 
other  chambers  above,  all  things  most  fair  and  graceful,  like  the  banquettin^  house  at 
Whitehall ;  and  ways  out  of  their  house  to  the  town  walls,  turrets  and  flankers  at  their 
command. 

On  the  19th  of  the  following  month,  February,  on  the  petition  of  the 
Board  of  Trinity  College,  the  whole  was  granted  them ;  they  providing  a 
lecture  in  the  chapel  every  Tuesday.  By  the  time  therefore  White  reached 
Ireland,  the  university  was  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  he  who  had  professed 
half  the  nobility  of  Germany,  Austria  and  Hungary,  whose  reputation  was 
European,  spent  the  remaining  seventeen  years  of  his  life  for  the  most  part 
teaching  a  few  boys  by  stealth. 

Father  Hogan  is  of  opinion  that  White  passed  several  of  his  closing 
years  in  his  native  diocese — ^Clonmel  or  Waterford.  This  is  confirmed  by 
his  intimacy  with  Comerford  the  then  bishop  of  the  diocese.  When  the  war 
of  1641  broke  out  White  was  in  Dublin,  and  with  several  of  his  companions 
made  his  way  to  Galway.  He  was  still  alive  there  in  January,  1646,  when 
the  last  mention  of  him  occurs  in  the  archives  of  the  order.  The  time  of  his 
death  is  unknown.  Like  his  contemporary  and  diocesan  GeofFry  Keating, 
he  passed  out  of  life  unnoticed  amid  the  din  of  arms  and  the  clamours 
of  contending  factions.  And  only  within  the  last  fifty  years  has  he  taken  his 
rightful  place  among  the  men  whose  learning  has  shed  lustre  on  their 
race. 

A  great  professor  makes  little  appeal  to  posthumous  honours.  His 
influence  is  not  traceable  beyond  his  own  generation,  and  to  others  he  is  a 
mere  umbra  nominis.  If  White  had  not  engaged  in  certain  by-labours,  he 
should  hardly  be  known  in  his  own  country.  But  he  was  a  patriot 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  term.  He  loved  Ireland  and  was  jealous  of  her 
good  name,  and  when  Camden  and  Leslie,  Dempster  and  Hector  Boetius 
obscured  her  history  and  darkened  her  character,  White  from  the  libraries 
of  the  Rhine  and  Switzerland  nobly  vindicated  her.  "The  sole  purpose 
of  my  writing  is  to  defend  the  injured  reputation  of  the  old  Irish  with 
whom  I,  and  my  fathers  for  four  hundred  years,  have  shared  a  common 
fatherland  *V^(fA     And  the  intervals  he  could  spare  from  his  labours  as  a 


(qq)  Solum  niihi  mens  est  defendere  hesam  injuste  innocentiam  innocentum  revera  Ibernonim 
priscorum,  quibus  cum  mihi  et  majoribus  meis  est  patria  communis  ab  annis  circiter440.  — Apologia  p.  5a 


History  of  Clonmel.  46i 

theological  professor,  he  devoted  to  research  in  the  libraries  of  Dilingen, 
Reichenau,  Ratisbon,  Kaiserheim,  SchafFhausen,  Biburg  and  Metz.  As  early 
as  1615  he  prepared  a  reply  to  Camden's  edition  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis 
published  at  Frankfort  in  l602.    This  was  his 

Apologia  Pro  Hibernia  adversiis  Cambri  Calumnias. 

A  more  ambitious  work  which  occupied  him  for  many  years  was — 

Gesta  Dei  per  Ibernos^  Scotos  Verteres,  Ibemice  Sanctorum  Insula  Indigenas, 
vita  sanctitudine,  literarum  optimarum  fama  rerum  prceclare  in  bellis  et  in  pace 
gestarum,  quondam  ubique  domi  forisque  claras. 

This  was  followed  by  a  historico-polemical  one,  entitled — 

Scoto  Caledonica  Comix  Deplumanda  ab  avibus  orbis  etc, 

And  another  of  a  similar  character — 

Commentarii  et  Defensio  Venerabilis  Bedce  Anglo  Saxonis  antiqui  contra  novos 
Anglo  Saxones  aliquot  et  alios  bona  fide  err  antes  catholicos  domesticos  exterosque  etc. 

His  only  other  historical  work  of  which  there  is  mention,  was — 

De  Sanctis  et  Antiquitate  Ibernice. 

The  Apologia  was  published  in  Dublin,  only  in  1849.  Like  all  White's 
works  it  is  full  of  old  world  learning.  Its  limitations  are  best  described  in 
the  words  of  the  editor  Rev.  M.  Kelly,  "It  could  not  be  expected  that  a  person 
writing  in  a  foreign  land  without  access  to  native  original  documents  (few  of 
which  had  yet  been  printed)  could  avoid  falling  into  several  errors.  He  had 
no  work  of  Ussher,  Colgan  or  Ware  to  guide  him.  He  wrote  several  years 
before  Ward  had  even  commenced  to  collect  materials  for  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  Ireland ;  yet  due  abatement  being  made  for  these  disadvantages, 
his  work  will  be  found  as  free  from  errors  as  most  of  those  written  on 
new  subjects.  To  some  of  his  arguments  the  research  of  subsequent  writers 
has  been  able  to  add  very  little."  The  reasons  why  the  Apologia  (as 
probably  others  of  White's  works)  was  not  published  in  his  lifetime  are 
quaintly  given  by  the  Bollandist  De  Buck.  His  superiors  apparently 
considered  it  too  political.  White  tore  to  shreds  the  titles  made  out  by 
Cambrensis  for  the  conquest  of  Ireland  ;  he  also  demonstrated  that  the  great 
Celtic  missionaries  of  Europe  were  Irish  not  Scotch.  To  publish  these  things 
in  the  seventeenth  century  was  treason. 

The  work  upon  which  he  laboured  for  quarter  of  a  century  "The  Acts  of 
God  through  the  Instrumentality  of  the  Irish,"  is  now  lost  "The  Saints  and 
Antiquity  of  Ireland"  which  the  Irish  Confederates  in  1646  wanted  published 
as  '*  highly  necessary  for  the  advantage  and  honour  of  the  kingdom " 
has  also  disappeared.  Two  of  his  works  still  remain  in  manuscript  in 
the  Burgundian  Library,  Brussels,  (XXL  Nos.  7658-61).  These  are  "The 
Scotch  Jack-daw  Plucked,"  and  "  A  Vindication  of  Venerable  Bede,"  and  are 


462  History  of  Clonmel. 

now  included  in  one  volume  of  8oo  pages  folio  under  the  title  "The  Claims  of 
the  Ancient  Scots,"  etc.  As  is  indicated  by  the  titles,  much  of  them  is 
occupied  with  long  forgotten  controversy. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  theological  treatises  ascribed  to  Stephen 
White  (rr)  — 

Dissertatio  de  genuina  humancp  libertatis  natura  atque  indole. 

Dissertatio  qua  divina  rationis  auctoribas  contra  pseudominciam  loci  2,  Cor,  X.  5 
modeste  vindicatur. 

Vita  Johannis  Jezlin. 

Schediasma  in  quo  Augustini  Lutheri  supra  lapsorumque  sententia  a  ManichtE- 
sismi  calumnia  pro  pace  inter  protestantes  facilius  concilianda  vindicatur. 

Schediasma  in  quo  argumenta  quibus  vir  Celebris  Johannes  Christianus  Loers 

corpora  etiam  angelicis  vindicatum  ivit,  ad  rationis  trutinam  modeste 

exiguntur. 

One  of  the  strongest  claims  which  White  has  to  the  gratitude  of  his 
country  is  that  he  was  the  first  to  demonstrate  the  great  part  which  Ireland 
played  in  the  history  of  Europe  from  the  seventh  to  the  tenth  century.  The 
mine  which  in  our  times  was  worked  with  such  results  by  Johann 
Kaspar  Zeuss,  was  opened  in  the  early  seventeenth  century  by  Stephen 
White.  "  He  it  was  "  writes  Dr.  Reeves  "  who  opened  that  rich  mine  of  Irish 
literature  on  the  continent,  which  has  ever  since  yielded  such  valuable 
returns,  and  still  continues  unexhausted,  and  by  his  disinterested  exertions 
less  enterprising  labourers  at  or  nearer  home,  not  only  were  made  acquainted 
with  the  treasures  preserved  in  foreign  libraries,  but  from  time  to  time 
received  at  his  hands  the  substantial  produce  of  his  diligence  in  the  form  of 
accurate  copies  of  Irish  manuscripts,  accompanied  by  critical  emendations 
and  historical  inquiries,  amply  sufficient  to  superadd  to  his  credit  of  a 
painstaking  scribe  the  distinction  of  a  sound  thinker  and  erudite  scholar." 

But  it  was  the  fortune  of  White  to  build  up  the  reputation  of  others 
rather  than  his  own.  "Literary  collectors"  continues  Reeves  "are  often 
narrow  minded  and  the  creatures  of  jealousy  and  suspicion ;  but  from  such 
weakness  this  good  and  generous  man  was  perfectly  free.  Coupled  with  an 
insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge  regarding  the  history  of  his  country,  the 
cravings  of  which  made  such  an  impression  on  Colgan's  mind  that  he  thrice 
alludes  to  it,  there  was  a  total  freedom  from  selfishness.  He  sought  the 
honour  of  his  country  not  of  himself;  and  was  satisfied  that  the  fruits 
of  his  labours,  if  only  made  to  redound  to  the  credit  of  loved  Ireland,  should 
pass   into   other   hands,    and    under   their   names   be   employed    in    their 

(rr)  Bibliotheca  Historico-philologico-theologica-Bremen,  1719-25. 


History  of  Clonmel.  ^^s 

several  projects  and  at  their  discretion.  Thus  in  the  monastery  of 
Keyersheym  in  Switzerland,  he  copied  the  life  of  St.  Colman  for  Hugh 
Ward;  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Magnus,  at  Ratisbon,  he  found  the  life 
of  St.  Erhard,  and  sent  a  transcript  of  it  to  Ussher;  to  this  prelate  also, 
so  opposed  to  him  in  matters  of  polemical  controversy,  he  made  acceptable 
contributions  regarding  St.  Brigit  and  St.  Columba.  For  Colgan  he 
copied  a  life  of  St  Patrick  from  an  ancient  manuscript  at  Biburg  in  Bavaria ; 
from  Ratisbon  he  sent  the  life  of  St.  Brigit;  from  Dilingen  he  sent  him 
the  text  for  the  Life  of  St.  Columba.  To  his  untiring  generosity  Fleming  also 
was  indebted  for  two  contributions  for  his  Collectanea  Sacra"  To  these 
particulars  furnished  by  Reeves  it  may  be  added  that  Rader  the  ecclesiastical 
annalist  of  Bavaria  acknowledged  his  indebtedness  to  White  whom  he  styles 
"  the  omniscient  historian  "  (Polyhistor).  Herman  Crombach  obtained  from 
White  valuable  materials  for  his  Life  of  St.  Ursula,  while  Rosweyde, 
the  Bollandist  received  no  fewer  than  eight  catalogues  of  Irish  saints 
with  brief  biographies  of  them.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of 
White  to  Colgan,  dated  Dublin,  31st  January,  1641,  affords  a  glimpse  into  the 
character  and  aims  of  this  great  and  generous  man. 

It  was  not,  you  observe,  from  want  of  good  will  or  courtesy  that  I  did  not 
answer  your  three  letters,  which  were  most  welcome,  coming  from  one  who  is 
most  dear  to  me  and  to  our  whole  nation.  I  congratulate  our  country  on  finding  one  so 
gifted  by  God  as  you,  to  win,  to  extend  and  to  proclaim  her  glory-  Have  courage, 
continue  as  you  began,  go  on  cheerfully ;  for  God  is  the  reward  exceeding  great  of  your 
labour,  which  the  sweet  love  of  country  will  much  lighten ;  all  else  shall  be  added  unto 
you,  your  memory  shall  live  for  ever  in  ben^iction  among  all  the  good  men  of  our 
race  as  long  as  it  survives. 

I  am  with  you  in  spirit,  I  would  I  were  with  you  in  body  also,  in  order  that  putting 
our  heads  and  shoulders  together  we  might,  both  of  us,  with  joyful  and  untiring  labour, 
advance  the  glory  of  God  and  the  honour  of  our  most  beloved  Ireland.  Meanwhile 
since  we  cannot  be  and  work  together,  let  us  though  separated,  labour  as  best  we  can, 
having  this  noble  end  in  view.  For  my  own  part  I  keep  working  as  well  as  I  can, 
though  not  with  as  much  success  as  I  should  wish  on  account  of  my  age  and  the  want 
of  a  good  library. 

In  truth  day  by  day  for  the  last  twenty  nine  years  there  has  grown  in  me  the  wish 
and  the  ever  increasing  longing,  according  as  time  places  and  opportunities  offered,  to 
draw  out  of  the  rare  and  far  away  depths  of  antiquity  and  place  in  the  light  of  day  the 
"Acts  of  God  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Irish." 

You  ask  me  to  forward  to  you  at  least  an  abstract  of  my  collections.  As  far  as  I  can 
remember  there  was  hardly  anything  of  these  which  I  did  not  give  to  two  of  our  country- 
men, Franciscans,  one  of  whom  was  Father  Patrick  Fleming  who  I  believe,  obtained 
the  martyr's  crown  in  Bohemia,  and  who  with  his  companion  spent  many  days  and 
weeks  in  the  same  town  without  me,  at  Metz,  in  1627  or  1628.  They  were  all  copied 
and  the  copy  taken  by  him  to  Louvain. 

Next  you  ask  for  the  list  of  the  lives  of  our  saints  that  I  had  seen  in  the  library  of 
Mr.  James  Ussher,  Archbishop  Primate  of  the  Protestants  of  Ireland.  Well,  I  was 
invited  by  him  and  three  times  I  spent  many  hours  with  him.  He  received  me  with 
the  greatest  affability  and  treated  me  with  candour  and  unafFectedness  and  we  parted 
with  the  greatest  politeness.     Further,  he  invited  me  not  only  to  dine  (which  I  quietly 


464  HISTORY    OF   CLONMEL. 

declined)  but  to  everything  iii  his  house — even  his  most  select  library  which  is  indeed 
a  very  valuable  one.  There  I  saw  the  catalogue  and  manuscript  Latin  lives  of  our  Irish 
Saints.  Elsewhere  I  saw  many  other  catalogues  and  manuscript  lives  but  you  will  be 
surprised  to  hear,  not  another  life  unless  of  saints  mentioned  in  your  alphabetical  list. 

Finally  you  want  me  to  copy  or  get  copied  a  list  of  the  dioceses,  churches,  old 
sanctuaries  etc.  of  Ireland.  I  have  done  my  best  in  order  that  the  catalogue  of  the  two 
Dioceses  of  Waterford  and  Lismore  (in  the  latter  of  which  I  was  bom)  which  the  Most 
Rev.  Patrick  Comerford,  Bishop  of  Waterford  and  Lismore,  sends  to  you,  should  be 
correct  in  certain  particulars  about  which  that  Bishop,  a  very  dear  and  intimate  friend, 
consulted  me. 

I  wish  to  remind  you  again  of  a  matter  which  I  regard  of  great  importance,  as 
affording  a  very  speedy  way  of  discrediting  our  Scotch  opponents  Dempster  and  others. 
This  is  to  immediately  urge  every  writer  known  to  you,  at  home  or  abroad,  present  or 
absent,  secular  or  regular,  Dominicans,  Augustinians,  etc.,  never  to  allow  anything  to 
be  printed  whether  on  a  grammatical,  philosophical,  theological,  historical  or  other 
subject  by  an  Irishman,  without  putting  in  the  title-page  "By  the  Rev.  Father 
N.  N.  an  Irishman  or  Old  Scot."  The  constant  iteration  of  Scotus  Vetus  will  not  only 
annoy  our  opponents  (though  it  really  ought  not)  but  it  will  awaken  in  foreign  readers 
a  curiosity  to  inquire  about  the  Old  Scots  and  the  more  recent  Albanian  Scots,  and  who 
seeks  shall  find.  Foreigners  will  thereby  discover  the  vast  injustice  done  to  us  by 
modem  Scotchmen,  Dempster  and  others. 

White  and  his  fellow-workers,  the  Franciscan  annalists,  set  the  ideal 
before  them  "the  glory  of  God  and  the  honour  of  Erinn."  And  truly  no  one 
pursued  it  with  more  devotion  and  single  mindedness  than  he.  So  utterly 
free  from  personal,  petty  or  unworthy  motive ;  so  unsparing  of  self;  so  ready 
to  undertake  herculean  labours  and  let  others  have  the  benefit  of  them; 
so  eager  to  extend  the  helping  hand  to  every  one,  foreigner  or  native, 
Protestant  or  Catholic,  who  worked  for  Ireland,  Stephen  White  stands  out 
in  moral  dignity  no  less  than  in  intellectual  eminence. 

And  this  man  who  helped  to  make  the  reputation  of  a  dozen  litterateurs, 
who  carried  on  in  foreign  universities  the  tradition  of  the  great  Irish  medieval 
scholars,  was  throughout  a  large  part  of  his  life  in  delicate  health.  In 
the  yearly  catalogues  of  his  order  he  is  described  as  "in  middling  health" 
(vires  mediocres)  or  sometimes  as  "  very  delicate  "  (valde  infirmus). 

We  in  part  may  share  the  enthusiastic  admiration  with  which  his 
contemporaries  regarded  him  (ss). 


THOMAS  White. 

During  the  half  century  following  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries  in 
1539,  education  in  Ireland  was  non-existent.  In  a  few  remote  convents  which 
had  escaped  the  general  wreck,  there  were  feeble  flickerings  of  learning. 


(ss)  Authorities  for  the  most  part ;  Dr.  Reeves  in  Proceedings  R.I.A.  Vol.  VIII.  1861 ;  De  Buck 
L'Archseologie  Irlandaise  au  convent  de  St.  Antoine  a  Louvain,  Paris  1869;  and  more  especially 
Rev.  E.  Hogan,  Waterford  Archaeological  Journal  III.  12-13. 


History  of  Clonmel.  466 

But  except  some  ecclesiastics  who  had  been  abroad,  or  the  sons  of  burghers 
in  Dublin  or  Waterford  the  country  was  absolutely  illiterate  (tt).  This  was 
recognized  on  all  hands.  In  the  first  parliament  of  Elizabeth  it  was  proposed 
to  build  in  every  county  a  free  school,  the  master  being  an  Englishman 
nominated  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant.  Various  educational  projects  figure 
in  the  official  correspondence  of  the  period.  The  Act  28  Hen.  VEQ.  required 
every  one  in  possession  of  an  ecclesiastical  living  to  keep  "a  school  for 
to  learn  English,  if  any  children  of  his  parish  come  to  him  to  learn  the  same." 
Yet  no  children  came  and  no  schools  were  kept.  The  Act  I2  Elizabeth 
established  a  free  school  in  every  diocese,  with  an  English  master.  But  the 
Irish  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  these  schools.  And  they  were  allowed 
to  have  no  others.  In  the  secret  instructions  given  to  the  papal  representative 
in  1560  was  one,  "He  must  try  and  establish  grammar  schools,  supplying 
them  with  Catholic  masters,  and  thus  remedy  the  great  ignorance  of  the 
natives;  he  must  admonish  parents  to  send  their  children  to  these  schools 
that  thus  they  may  be  trained  in  letters  and  morality  and  at  the  same 
time  acquire  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  saving  truths  of  faith."  In  accordance 
with  these  instructions  as  would  appear,  schools  were  started  in  Kilkenny, 
Waterford,  Limerick  and  Galway.  But  government  soon  suppressed  these 
schools  and  so  all  educational  progress  was  arrested. 

At  this  juncture  Irish  boys,  especially  aspirants  to  the  priesthood,  began 
to  make  their  way  abroad.  Some  were  to  be  found  in  Paris,  in  Antwerp, 
in  Lisbon  and  indeed  in  every  educational  centre.  As  exiles  for  conscience 
sake,  they  gained  the  sympathy  of  foreigners ;  schools  were  everywhere 
open  to  them  and  they  lived  on  the  alms  of  the  charitable.  Yet  many 
suffered  untold  hardships.  Speaking  no  language  but  their  own,  rude  in 
aspect  and  character,  they  often  shared  the  lot  of  the  tramp  and  the  outcast 
The  first  who  touched  with  pity  for  these  homeless  Irish  boys,  obtained 
for  them  shelter  and  support,  was  Father  Thomas  White. 

Thomas  White  would  seem  to  have  been  an  elder  brother  of  Stephen 
White.  He  was  born  in  1556  or  1558,  and  his  various  relationships  are  set  out 
by  Rev.  E.  Hogan,  from  Jesuit  documents.  His  brother,  sovereign  of  Clonmel, 
was  deposed  from  office  in  1606  as  a  recusant  Another  brother  James 
White  was  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Waterford.  He  was  uncle  of  Peter  White,  S.J., 
and  his  near  kinsmen  were  Patrick  and  Nicholas  White  who  were  heavily 
fined  for  not  attending  Protestant  service.  Other  relatives  were  Thomas 
Lombard,  Cistercian,  and  Andrew  Wyse,  Grand  Prior  of  Capua,  of  the  order 
of  the  Knights  of  Malta. 

(tt)  Here  of  course  account  is  not  taken  of  folk  knowledge — the  great  body  of  traditional  law, 
medicine  and  poetry  existing  among  the  Celtic  population. 

FX 


466  History  of  Clonmel. 

He  like  several  of  his  kinsmen,  probably  received  his  early  education 
at  Waterford  from  Peter  White  "  the  lucky  schoolmaster  of  Munster."  His 
theological  training  was  doubtless  obtained  abroad,  in  Valladolid  probably, 
where  we  find  him  in  1582.  During  his  time  there,  he  was  much  exercised  by 
the  misery  of  his  countrymen.  The  circumstances  are  related  by  his 
contemporary  John  Coppinger. 

Was  it  not  great  charitie  of  Father  Thomas  White,  naturall  of  Clonmell,  seeing  so 
manie  poor  scholars  of  his  nation  in  great  miserie  at  Valladolid,  having  no  means  to 
continue  their  studie  nor  language  to  begge,  having  given  over  his  private  commoditie, 
did  recollect  and  reduce  them  to  one  place  which  he  maintained  by  his  Industrie  and 
begging  (uu). 

This  was  the  embryonic  form  of  the  historic  Irish  College  of  Salamanca. 
Its  actual  foundation  is  described  by  Juvencius.  The  Irish,  he  says,  frequented 
the  streets  (viatim  obibatur  urbem)  of  the  town  living  on  charity.  White 
gathered  them  together  and  brought  them  in  a  body  to  Philip  II.  at  the  Royal 
Villa  of  St.  Laurence.  The  king  received  them  with  kind  and  encouraging 
words,  and  gave  them  a  large  sum  of  money.  White  did  not  rest  satisfied 
but  brought  them  again  and  presented  a  petition  to  the  king  praying  his 
majesty  to  endow  a  house  for  them.  Philip  granted  the  prayer  and  sent  them 
to  Salamanca,  where  he  founded  a  college  for  them.  This  was  styled  "  The 
Royal  College  of  the  Irish  Nobles  "  (El.  Real  Colegio  de  Nobles  Irelandeses), 
and  was  entrusted  to  the  Jesuits.  On  August  2nd,  1592,  Philip  himself  wrote 
to  the  authorities  of  the  university  of  Salamanca  to  bespeak  a  good  reception 
for  the  Irish. 

They  have  left  their  own  country  and  all  they  possessed  in  it  for  the  service  of  Our 
Lord  God,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  as  they  undertake  to  go 
back  to  preach  in  that  country  and  to  suffer  martyrdom  should  needs  be,  they  should 
get  in  the  university  the  reception  they  have  a  right  to  expect.  I  am  satisfied  you  will 
do  this  and  become  benefactors  to  them  so  that  with  your  own  contribution  and  that  of 
the  city  (to  the  authorities  of  which  I  am  also  writing)  they  may  be  able  to  pursue  their 
studies  without  anxiety  or  disturbance  (w). 

A  year  later  White  himself  entered  the  Jesuit  order,  retaining  as  Vice 
Rector  practical  control  of  the  college  of  which  he  was  also  spiritual  director. 
On  the  death  of  Fr.  John  Holing,  White  in  1594  was  entrusted  with  the  charge 
of  the  new  college  of  Lisbon.  No  other  man,  probably,  could  have  surmounted 
the  financial  difficulties  of  the  infant  institutions.  But  these  were  not  his 
only    troubles.      Irishmen   brought  into  exile  with  them  their  provincial 


(uu)  Mnemosyniam  to  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  1608. 
(w)  Lombard,  De  Regno,  Hib.,  137. 


History  of  Clonmel.  467 

jealousies,  and  the  prehistoric  feuds  of  north  and  south  were  fought  out  in 
foreign  fields.  On  22nd  May,  l602,  O'Donnell,  Earl  of  Tyrconnell,  and  Father 
Florence  Conroy  as  representing  Ulster  and  Connaught,  petitioned  the  king 
of  Spain. 

The  superior  of  this  college  is  an  Irish  Father  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  bom  in  one 
of  the  provinces  which  are  subject  to  the  Queen,  and  consequently  schismatical,  who 
bears  no  affection  towards  Connaughtmen  or  Ulstermen,  who  are  professed  Catholics 
and  have  for  so  many  years  defended  in  arms  the  Catholic  faith.  Accordingly  he 
receives  no  student  of  the  aforesaid  provinces. 

The  scholars  [he  receives]  are  commonly  rich  merchants  is  sons,  who  might  learn 
at  their  parents  is  charges  and  if  it  were  not  for  saving,  they  would  send  them  to  study 
to  England  at  Oxford.  But  our  countrymen  are  most  Catholic  and  hath  within  their 
heart  and  bowels  the  obedience  of  holy  Church ;  and  from  the  very  cradle  do  hate  the 
Queen  is  wicked  sect  and  preach  against  it. 

For  all  which  and  other  reasons  I  beseech  your  Majesty  both  in  O'Neiirs  and  mine 
own  behalf  to  command  that  the  half  of  such  scholars  as  shall  be  kept  in  the  aforesaid 
seminary  of  Salamanca,  be  of  Ulster  or  Connaught,  and  for  the  carrying  out  of  this 
arrangement  it  will  be  necessary  to  remove  from  the  administration  of  the  college  the 
religious  who  at  present  directs  it  whose  name  is  Thomas  White,  and  to  appoint  a 
Spanish  rector  as  president,  who  will  punctually  obey  the  orders  he  shall  receive ; 
because  it  is  certain  the  Father  referred  to  will  always  be  ready  with  plausible  excuses 
to  reject  those  scholars,  and  even  should  he  be  forced  to  receive  them  he  will  treat  them 
in  a  way  that  would  be  unendurable. 

Certain  Irish  gentlemen  at  the  court  of  Philip  sent  a  counter  petition. 
They  did  not  deal  with  the  specific  charges  against  White,  but  pleaded  the 
general  issue  as  to  the  Catholicity  of  Munster  and  Leinster  provinces  compared 
with  the  others.    Among  other  things  they  state — 

If  the  students  of  our  provinces  were  educated  outside  the  pale  of  the  church, 
many  of  them  could  live  comfortably  at  home  free  from  persecution  and  need  not  spend 
hard  days  and  worse  nights  in  strange  lands.  But  to  avoid  pressure  in  matters  of 
religion  they  prefer  exile  from  their  country  rather  than  from  Heaven  Therefore 
they  come  to  Spain  and  not  to  England  where  the  infernal  fires  of  heresy  are  more 
intense  than  even  in  their  own  land.  They  leave  their  native  land  and  come  to  Spain, 
to  the  best  place  for  acquiring  learning  and  virtue — ^Salamanca,  and  put  themselves 
under  the  direction  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  All  this  prepares  them  on  their  return  not 
only  to  suffer  themselves  but  to  sustain  others. 

Each  side  claimed  to  be  the  special  supporters  of  King  Philip,  and  the 
uncompromising  foes  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  But  though  the  chancellor  of  the 
university,  the  Bishop  of  Salamanca,  and  the  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits 
intervened  in  behalf  of  Father  White  and  denied  in  detail  the  charges  made 
against  his  administration  of  the  college,  the  northerns  won  their  case  and 
Spanish  superiors  were  appointed. 

This  arrangement  however  was  not  found  to  work.  On  24th  March,  1608, 
the  king  revoked  his  former  order.  Five  years  later  Father  White  took 
charge  of  the  Irish  College  of  Santiago.     In  1617-8  he  was  again  rector  of 


468  History  of  Clonmel. 

Salamanca,  and  subsequently  took  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Irish 
College  of  Seville.  Much  of  his  life  was  spent  in  journeys  on  foot  through 
Spain  soliciting  alms  from  noblemen,  church  dignitaries  and  cathedral 
chapters  in  behalf  of  the  colleges  he  had  founded.  He  died  in  his  own 
college  of  Santiago  28th  May,  1622.  A  graphic  account  of  his  life  and  its 
close  survives  from  the  pen  of  a  colleague,  De  Castro. 

To-day  Sunday  at  seven  in  the  morning,  Our  Lord  called  to  the  reward  of  his 
labours  and  merits  Father  Thomas  White.  He  died  of  fever  at  the  age  of  sixty-four 
and  in  the  thirty  fourth  year  of  membership  of  the  Society.  During  that  time 
he  laboured  apostolically  in  the  service  of  God  and  of  the  Catholic  faith  which  through 
means  of  the  colleges  he  founded  in  Spain,  has  been  preserved  in  Ireland.  His  life  and 
virtues  are  well  known  in  the  Society  and  cannot  be  done  justice  to  in  a  short  letter. 
His  thoughts  and  desires  were  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the  colleges 
for  which  he  unceasingly  toiled.  On  the  road  and  in  the  outdoor  duties  in  which 
he  was  almost  constantly  engaged,  he  was  singularly  recollected,  never  omitting 
his  practice  of  prayer  and  spiritual  meditation.  He  was  always  resigned  to  the  will  of 
God  from  Whom,  as  he  said  before  his  death,  he  never  asked  anything  earnestly  which 
he  did  not  obtain.  God  always  blessed  his  plans  and  projects  by  moving  the 
wills  of  chapters,  prelates  and  princes  with  whom  he  was  brought  in  contact,  to  help 
him  with  their  subscriptions.  For  they  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  great  zeal  and  rare 
virtue.  He  practiced  great  mortification  and  in  spite  of  his  years  kept  the  hair  shirt 
and  the  discipline  which  he  took  daily. 

He  was  most  simple  in  dress  and  manner;  his  usual  food  every  day  was  a 
little  bread  and  cheese  which  he  ate  along  the  road.  He  gave  great  edification 
to  the  lay  people  he  met,  and  was  a  living  model  of  sanctity  to  his  students.  Through 
his  efforts  different  religious  orders  were  filled  with  excellent  subjects,  and  his 
native  country  with  holy  priests  and  bishops  who  acknowledge  that  under  God  they  owe 
everything  to  Thomas  White.  In  his  last  illness  he  gave  great  proofs  of  sanctity 
of  life,  and  though  death  came  unexpectedly  while  still  organizing  this  college  of 
Santiago,  he  made  most  perfect  acts  of  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  bewail^  his 
not  having  served  Him  more  fervently.  He  received  Communion  three  times  in  the 
fifteen  days  of  his  illness  and  Extreme  Unction  in  good  time.  As  we  ended  the 
commendation  of  his  soul  to  God,  he  peacefully  breathed  his  last,  his  countenance 
retaining  all  the  appearance  of  life.  All  this  gives  us  a  special  pledge  of  Heaven,  but 
we  are  prostrated  with  grief  for  the  loss  of  the  colleges  in  this  father  and  protector  of 
his  country,  and  his  death  has  created  a  profound  sensation  in  this  city  where  it 
is  bewail^  with  tears. 

A  successor  of  White  in  Salamanca  in  our  own  day,  Dr.  Walter 
McDonald,  wrote  "  Father  White  was  a  native  of  Clonmel,  and  that  town  may 
well  be  proud  of  having  given  birth  to  the  saviour  of  the  Catholic  faith 
in  Ireland.  Such  a  man  is  in  every  way  deserving  of  a  national  monument, 
and  I  hope  to  see  the  day  the  Church  of  Ireland  will,  in  gratitude  to  his 
memory,  raise  one  in  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  and  another  in  his  native 
town." 

Many  years  ago  the  present  writer  had  Thomas  White's  portrait  copied 
from  the  original  in  the  Irish  College,  Salamanca.  It  was  painted  apparently 
about  his  fiftieth  year  and  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  medium 
size,  long  features,  large  nose,  well  set  eyes  with  high  cheek  bones  and 


•     History  of  Clonmel.  469 

square  forehead.  The  hands  are  long  and  tapering,  the  right  resting  on 
the  breast,  the  left  holding  the  discipline.  In  the  upper  left  corner  is 
the  monogram  of  the  Jesuits  LH.S.  An  inscription  in  Spanish  reads 
Ven.  p.  Thomas  Vitus  De  La  Compania  De  Jesus  Natural  De 
Clonmelia,  Irlanda,  Varon  Apostolico  Y  Primer  Jesuita  De  Los 
Seminarios  Irlandeses  En  Espana  Murio  Santamente  En  Santiago 
De  Galicia  En  28  De  Mayo  De  1622  (wwJ. 


Geoffry  Baron. 

Leaning  against  the  outer  wall  of  the  north  aisle  of  the  ancient  church  of 
St  Mary's,  Clonmel,  will  be  observed  a  huge  sepulchral  slab  of  Kilkenny 
limestone.  It  is  inscribed  with  a  floriated  cross  in  shallow  relief  while  a  Latin 
inscription  in  black  letter  carried  round  the  edge  contains  the  names  of 
Geoflfry  Baron  and  his  wife  Ellen  White.  The  grandson  of  these  was 
Geoffry,  the  subject  of  our  memoir. 

Geoffry  Baron,  born  1607,  was  the  eldest  of  four  sons  born  to  Laurence 
Baron  and  Mary  Wadding,  his  wife,  sister  of  the  celebrated  Father  Luke 
Wadding.  Laurence  Baron  lived  in  St.  Mary's  Street,  and  was  the  most 
prosperous  merchant  in  Clonmel  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  At  his  death  in  1622  he  bequeathed  to  his  son  Geoffry  some 
seventeen  mortgages  amounting  to  £1,304  besides  various  lands  and  houses. 
As  Geoffry  was  under  age  he  became  the  king's  ward;  the  Patent  Rolls 
record : — 

7  July  21  James  I.  (1623)  Grant  of  the  wardship  of  Geoffry  Baron,  son  and  heir  of 
Lawrence  Baron  of  Qonmel,  to  Richard  Daniel  in  consideration  of  a  fine  of  £100  Irish. 

When  he  had  reached  his  nineteenth  year  he  bethought  himself  of 

writing  to  his  uncle,  Father  Wadding,  and  giving  a  full  account  of  the  family 

circumstances. 

Dublin  December  2  1626. 
Right  R^  and  deerly  respected  uncull, 

S*"*  my  cheefe  request  vnto  yow  now  is  that  yow  will  be  pleased  to  admitt  the 
excuse  of  my  yong  and  ignorant  years,  hitherto  deeply  vexed  in  woorldly  trobles  since 
my  deere  father'sdeath  (whose  soule  I  desire  the  Immortell  to  receive  vnto  His  protection) 
for  the  remissivenes  of  my  bounden  dutie  vnto  yow,  which  I  would  at  leastwise  by 
my  missive  letters  before  now  signifie  vnto  your  Reverence,  had  not  then  too  many 
trobles  which  his  untimely  death  brought  uppon  my  greene  head  caused  me  to  be 
forgettfuU  of  my  self  and  my  dutie  towards  yow.  Now  trusting  uppon  your  mildnes 
for  graunt  of  this  request,  I  will,  with  what  providence  I  may,  prevent  all  further  faults 

(%vw)  The  Venerable  Father  Thomas  White  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  a  native  of  Clonmel  in 
Ireland,  Missionary  Apostolic  and  First  Jesuit  of  the  Irish  seminarists  in  Spain.  He  died  a  holy 
death  in  Santiai^o  de  Galicia  the  28th  of  May,  1622. 


470  History  of  Clonmel. 

and  relate  vnto  you  the  whole  state  of  my  now  affairs,  which  thus  yow  may  understand ; 
It  hath  pleas^  God,  7  January  1622,  uppon  a  suddaine  to  call  my  father  to  him,  leaving 
behind  him  Katherin  White  (daughter  to  Tho:  White  and  Bess  Lynch  of  Waterford) 
his  wife  with  a  daughter  called  Bess,  begotten  on  hir,  now  of  the  adge  of  6  years  J^,  and 
my  three  brethern,  namely  Bartholomue,  Luke  and  Michell  Barron,  the  yongest  being 
then  but  7  years  ould,  and  I  the  eldest  of  them  but  15  years  of  adge,  with  my  sister, 
your  neece  Katherin  Butler  aboute  the  adge  of  17  years,  who  is  yett  unmarried  ;  he  left 
vnto  his  said  wife  a  joynture  of  33  li  per  annum  with  200  li,  which  I  was  to  pay  hir 
after  my  father's  death,  and  did  soe ;  he  left  to  his  aforesaid  daughter  Bess  200  li,  which 
I  must  give  hir  when  she  is  mariadable,  with  ten  pounds  per  ann.  for  hir  mayntenance ; 
he  left  each  of  my  three  brethern  lOO  li,  which  I  am  to  pay  when  they  are  able  to 
manage  it ;  he  left  me  the  rest  of  his  estate,  and  left  me  in  nineteene  hundred  pounds 
indebted  besides  what  I  have  heere  mensioned,  which  I  am  dayly  laboring  to  pay,  and 
shortly  with  the  will  of  God  will  rid  myself  of  all ;  he  left  my  charge  and  the  charge  of 
all  his  children  and  goods  uppon  John  White  FitzLaurence,  his  owne  uncuU  by  the 
mother  (who  to  this  house  doth  faithfully  performe  the  same)  and  to  Mr.  Wadding  of 
Waterford.    Since  the  death  of  my  father  it  hath  pleased  God  to  call  my  brother  Luke 
vnto  him  who  was  ever  since  his  birth  sickly,  and  ended  his  life  on  the  27'**  of  September 
1625  with  an  ague,  being  then  aboute  the  adge  of  13  years  (whose  soule  I  desire  God  to 
protect).    I  have  since  my  father's  death  keapt  my  brother  Bartholomue  to  schoole,  who 
profitted  well,  and  the  last  summer  sent  him  (with  advise)  to  Temulagie  to  goe  in  his 
course  of  philosophie  under  Fa:  Owen  Field,  where  unknowen  to  any  of  his  friends,  he 
has  taken  the  habitt  of  your  holly  Fa ;  St.  Francis  the  27'*»  of  October  last,  whome  I 
desire  God  to  His  honor  and  glorie  make  a  good  frier.    I  keepe  my  brother  Michaell  to 
schoole  and  am  my  selfe  thus  vexed  with  woorldly  trobles,  in  which  there  is  nothing 
could  more  ease  mee,  then  your  long  longd-for  presence ;  which  if  by  your  comming  to 
your  countrie  your  occupations  will  not  permitt  me  to  injoy,  at  least  wise  write  vnto  mee, 
how  otherwise  I  may  attayne  it,  and  in  execution  of  your  will  therein  I  shall  shew  my 
selfe  your  most  dutifull  servant  and  nephew. 

Wadding  doubtless  was  pleased  at  the  conduct  of  his  nephew  in  loco 
parentis)  and  when  a  few  years  later  Geoffry  Baron  went  to  London 
to  study  law  in  the  Inns  of  Court,  still  more  favourable  accounts 
were  received.  Thomas  Strange  wrote  from  London,  loth  May,  1630,  to 
Wadding :  "  Your  nephew,  Geoffrey  Baron  is  here  studying  the  laws ; 
he  will  make  an  excellent  lawyer,  and  is  a  young  man  of  great  promise 
and  virtue.  He  is  liked  by  everyone,  and  in  character  very  like  his 
mother  who  is  in  glory,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say  he  is  the  essence 
of  goodness.  He  and  I  live  together."  On  September  loth,  the  following 
year.  Strange  again  wrote  "For  the  life  of  you,  steal  a  few  minutes  once 
a  month  to  write  to  your  nephew  Geoffrey  Baron  at  London,  a  most 
worthy  gentleman  and  of  an  honourable  behaviour,  a  fine  Christian  and 
of  whom  much  is  expected.  Your  Reverence  may  deem  yourself  honoured  to 
have  him  for  nephew.  Letters  for  him  directed  to  his  very  good  friend 
Mathews  [of  Louvain]  will  go  safely  by  the  Flanders  courier."  But  it 
does  not  appear  that  Wadding,  one  of  the  busiest  men  of  his  day,  ever  found 
time  for  mere  social  correspondence. 

A  few  years  later,  1634,  Strafford,  to  obtain  constitutional  sanction  for 
his  despotic  measures,  resolved  on  calling  a  parliament      A  parliament 


History  of  Clonmel.  471 

for  similar  purposes  had  been  summoned  twenty-one  years  before,  and 
the  Catholics  therefore  with  bitter  experience  looked  forward  with  much 
misgiving  to  this.  Of  the  new  parliament  half  the  members  were  nominated 
by  the  lord  deputy  himself  who  issued  together  with  the  writs,  a  hundred  letters 
of  recommendation.  At  the  opening  it  was  announced  that  two  sessions 
should  be  held,  one  for  the  benefit  of  the  king,  the  other  for  the  people.  In 
the  confidence  of  obtaining  various  acts  of  toleration  known  as  the  "  graces," 
the  Catholic  party  cheerfully  voted  six  subsidies  in  the  first  session.  When 
however  in  the  second  session  faith  was  broken  with  them,  and  they 
saw  that  the  machinery  of  the  Court  of  Wards,  was  to  be  made  more 
effective  for  proselytizing  the  Catholic  nobility  and  gentry,  they  offered 
a  strenuous  opposition.  Their  leader  was  GeofFry  Baron,  member  for 
Clonmel,  who  two  years  previous  having  been  admitted  to  practice, 
had  already  won  a  reputation  at  the  bar.  Strafford  uncertain  whether 
he  could  carry  through  his  measure  was  at  his  wits  end.  But  he 
overcame  the  difficulty  by  a  characteristic  coup.  Writing  to  Secretary  Coke, 
l6th  December,  1634  he  states : — 

The  Popish  party  have  been  ill  to  please  this  session  but  after  I  had  sent  on  27  of 
last  month  an  answer  to  their  graces,  they  lost  all  temper  and  brake  forth  into  such  a 
froward  sulleness  as  was  strange,  and  had  it  continued  two  days  I  would  have  sought 
his  majesty's  judgment.  The  burgesses  that  served  for  the  new  Boroughs  they 
questioned  as  not  having  the  right  to  sit  there.  I  was  extreme  loath  so  many 
good  laws  should  be  lost  which  might  be  of  excellent  use  in  the  future  reducement 
of  this  kingdom  to  civility.  So  necessity  put  me  upon  a  bold  Adventure  to  try 
our  strength,  and  if  we  carried  it  not,  then  instantly  to  adjourn. 

Now  there  being  one  Barron  a  young  man,  a  kind  of  petty  chapman's  son 
who  by  peddling  left  him  some  two  hundred  pounds  a  year,  of  all  others  the  most 
mutinous  and  bold ;  this  fellow  having  informed  some  untruth  to  the  House  had  been 
roundly  called  to  account  by  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  but  as  then  there  being 
more  of  that  Party  in  the  House,  there  was  no  good  to  be  done,  yet  I  advised 
that  the  first  motion  they  stirred  the  next  morning  should  be  the  questioning  for 
his  expulsion,  to  the  intent  we  might  be  able  to  judge  whether  they  were  still  the  major 
part  which  if  they  proved  to  be,  nothing  was  to  be  propounded  further  before  I 
had  adjourned  the  House,  that  so  we  might  have  time  to  advertize  all  [our  party] 
and  receive  our  directions  thence.  But  in  case  by  the  better  take-heed  of  the 
Protestants  they  [Protestants]  were  able  to  carry  that  then  were  they  sure  of  all 
the  rest,  to  sit  close,  to  incourage  their  own  party,  and  put  on  the  laws  with  all  possible 
delegence.  Accordingly  they  did  so  and  the  House  divided  and  it  was  carried 
for  Barron's  expulsion  sixteen  voices.  Ever  since  we  have  plied  them  with  warm 
clothes.  The  Protestants  got  through  several  laws  especially  that  of  uses  and  wills  the 
beneficient  operation  whereof  I  am  most  confident  the  crown  will  find  hereafter 
in  the  Court  of  Wards  (xx). 


(xx)  Strafford  was  delighted  with  his  work.  He  wrote  to  Laud  that  the  new  law  will  gain  six 
wardships  for  the  one  formerly,  that  it  would  "  breed  the  best  houses  up  in  Religion  [Protestant] 
as  they  fall."  If  Ormond  had  not  been  so  brought  up  "  he  would  have  been  as  mere  Irish  and 
Papist  as  the  best  of  them." — Strafford's  Letters,  passim. 


472  History  of  Clonmel. 

The  reference  to  this  episode  in  the  Journal  of  the  Commons  is 
instructive.  "It  is  ordered  upon  question,  that  Mr.  Geoff ry  Barron  shall  be 
expelled  this  House  for  his  misinformation  yesterday  made  to  this  House, 
and  his  justification  of  the  same."  But  the  Journal  does  not  state  in  what  the 
"misinformation"  consisted.  Baron  was  further  committed  in  custody  to 
Dublin  Castle  where  he  was  detained  for  eight  days.  When  he  left,  it 
is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  his  faith  in  public  treaties  or  constitutional 
methods,  was  strengthened. 

On  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  1641  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  take 
up  arms.  A  few  days  after  Clonmel  was  occupied  by  the  Irish,  he 
accompanied  Richard  Butler  of  Kilcash,  Ormond's  brother,  to  Waterford.  In 
the  negotiations  for  the  surrender  of  that  city  and  the  delivering  over  of  the 
city  ordinance  to  the  Catholic  Confederates,  Baron  and  Nicholas  Wyse,  his 
father-in-law,  took  a  leading  part.  The  motives  which  actuated  him  and  his 
companions  in  arms,  he  set  forth  in  a  letter  to  his  uncle,  Luke  Wadding. 

The  King  grants  large  favours  and  graces  to  our  country  at  the  instance  of 
our  Committee  in  England.  But  the  State  there  who  are  all  Puritans  and  have 
swallowed  great  hopes  of  our  estates,  deny  us  the  benefit  of  them  and  incense 
the  Parliament  in  England  against  the  King  for  his  indulgence  to  us,  which  made  them 
suspect  his  religion,  and  offer  him,  his  Queen  and  children  abuses  beyond  the  patience 
of  a  marble  statue.  Moved  at  the  wrongs  done  him,  and  so  much  occasioned  by 
his  goodness  to  us,  and  sensible  of  our  own  danger,  we  have,  God  knows  how  ill  fitted, 
put  ourselves  in  arms  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  religion,  our  King  and  his 
prerogatives  and  for  the  lawful  liberties  of  our  oppressed  country. 

One  of  the  first  steps  of  the  Confederate  Parliament  in  Kilkenny, 
March  1642,  was  to  accredit  agents  to  foreign  courts  for  help  in  arms 
and  money.  Geoffry  Baron,  Mathew  O'Hartegan,  SJ.,  and  Colonel  Michael 
Wall  were  sent  to  France,  and  by  different  routes  so  as  to  escape  the 
Parliament  cruisers.  All  three  arrived  safely,  and  Baron  kept  Wadding  fully 
acquainted  with  their  proceedings.  Baron  arrived  at  Nantes  in  May,  whence 
on  the  13th  he  wrote  complaining  bitterly  that  Spain,  which  gloried  so  much 
in  being  Catholic  and  wished  to  be  regarded  as  the  principal  column  of 
the  church,  had  refused  all  help.  They  wanted  powder,  muskets  and  money 
for  six  months  after  which  they  would  maintain  themselves.  Powder 
and  muskets  they  expected  from  France,  money  from  his  Holiness.  As  the 
King  of  France  was  in  Narbonne,  Baron  and  O'Hartegan  set  out  thither. 
From  Beziers  he  wrote  9th  June,  that  they  found  Cardinal  Richelieu  in  failing 
health  and  influence ;  the  papal  nucio  was  their  best  friend  but  things  were 
in  such  confusion  that  they  had  accomplished  nothing  definite.  Besides 
disappointment  Baron  was  in  ill  health,  "I  brook  not  my  health  well 
here,  and  am  now  the  fifth  day  troubled  with  a  continued  headache,  and 


HISTORY   OF   CLONMEL.  473 

a  distemper  of  all  my  body."  A  week  later  he  had  better  news ;  the  moneys 
forwarded  by  Cardinal  Barberini  had  arrived  and  he  purposed  leaving 
at  once  for  Ireland,. O'Hartegan  to  continue  the  embassy  at  Paris,  and  further 
help  to  be  sent  with  Colonel  Wall.  From  Beziers  he  set  out  for  La  Rochelle 
by  advice  of  the  nuncio,  to  buy  shipping  for  Ireland.  But  there  was 
such  fear  of  the  English  men-of-war  that  no  one  would  charter  a  ship,  and 
Baron  was  unequal  to  the  purchasing  of  ships  outright.  From  La  Rochelle 
he  went  to  Bordeaux  but  met  a  similar  disappointment.  There  was  nothing 
left  but  to  spend  portion  of  the  money  which  had  been  destined  for  arms  and 
powder,  in  the  purchase  of  a  ship.  To  obtain  the  nuncio's  sanction  he 
returned  to  Paris  July  l8th.  Meanwhile  he  was  sorely  distressed  by  the 
difficulties  his  countrymen  were  in  for  want  of  munitions  of  war.  "I  fear  our 
delay  will  not  be  profitable  to  our  country,  nor  dare  I  as  yet  inform  you  what 
I  suspect,  for  the  occasion  of  our  loss  of  time."  The  nuncio,  in  whom  he  had 
placed  implicit  trust,  seems  now  to  have  failed  him.  On  1st  August,  1642,  he 
wrote  to  Wadding. 

I  cannot  sufficiently  admire  what  makes  the  Lord  Nuncio  (a  man  appearing 
in  words  of  an  eminent  zeal  to  our  cause)  so  slow  in  giving  what  he  has  direction 
for.  It  is  now  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  month  that  we  wait  on  him,  and  it  is  almost 
a  fortnight  that  he  resides  at  Paris  and  yet  is  nothing  done.  To  Colonel  Preston  who 
came  privately  hither  from  the  Low  Countries  on  Monday  last  he  speaks  of  some 
800  muskets,  so  as  if  no  more  were  to  be  had  in  a  place  where  Father  Hartegan 
and  I  have  conversed  with  three  who  can  in  four  and  twenty  hours,  out  of 
their  own  hands  fit  10,000  muskets  and  bandeloros.  There  is  certainly  some  mystery  in 
the  man's  carriage,  which  we  understand  not,  and  which  to  conceal  notwithstanding,  he 
send  me  expressly  from  Beziers  to  Burdeaux  and  Rochell  to  see  how  I  could 
freight  a  ship  to  carry  with  me  what  he  would  buy  for  20,000  crowns  which,  he  said,  he 
had  to  be  disposed  of.  Yet  will  he  now  give  the  employment  to  Colonel  Preston,  who 
came  so  late,  and  knows  so  little  of  this  passage  that  he  thinks,  he  will  be  content  with 
anything.  I  hold  my  credit  and  theirs  with  whom  I  came,  much  disparaged  in 
that  waiting  so  long  on  him  he  takes  an  employment  out  of  my  hands,  which 
he  had  formerly  given  me,  and  in  which  I  took  so  great  pains,  to  be  given  to 
another.  So  that  notwithstanding  I  writ  over  to  the  Lords  who  sent  us,  that  I  was 
going  to  them  with  so  much  assistance,  yet  now  is  it  to  be  sent  to  other  Lords 
who  have  not  sent  hither,  and  I  am  to  return  with  empty  hands  to  receive 
an  ill-welcome  from  those  whose  care  it  was  to  send  my  fellows  and  me.  Yet  I  should 
be  the  sooner  reconciled  if  I  did  see  my  country  were  not  defrauded  of  any  part  of  that 
was  meant  for  it  in  so  narrow  a  straight  as  now  it  stands. 

Baron  adds  an  observation  the  wisdom  of  which  was  proved  by  subse- 
quent events. 

I  hear  our  cleargy  in  a  National  Synod  (which  they  call  Congregation)  held  the 
lOth  of  May  and  some  days  after,  amongst  other  things  decreed  solemn  embassies  to  his 
Holiness  and  some  other  princes,  which  as  their  affairs  stand,  relishes  of  little 
experience  in  them,  their  present  condition  requiring  privacy  more  than  state. 


474  History  of  Clonmel. 

A  week  later  in  forwarding  to  Wadding  news  from  Ireland,  Baron  with 
characteristic  sagacity  anticipated  the  provincial  bickering  which  eventually 
brought  disaster  upon  the  country. 

The  Confederates  have  chosen  twenty  four,  indifferently  taken  out  of  the  several 
provinces  of  the  kingdom  to  be  of  the  Council  of  State,  by  whose  wisdom  and  providence 
the  whole  affairs  of  the  kingdom  shall  in  nature  of  a  free  state  be  governed,  till  the 
present  tumults  be  accorded.  Other  inferior  Councils  are  also  made  in  the  several 
provinces  and  counties,  from  which  appeal  lies  to  the  great  Council.  The  great  and 
lesser  Councils  are  of  happy  use  and  from  them  I  expect  all  our  country's  goodness. 
But  the  Provincial  Councils  I  like  not. 

On  llth  August,  Baron  set  out  for  Nantes  on  his  return  to  Ireland.  From 
Nantes  he  wrote  that  his  suspicions  of  the  nuncio  were  completely  removed, 
and  that  he  (the  nuncio)  gave  a  fairly  good  account  of  the  money. 

Colonel  Preston  and  I  go  together.  Owen  Roe  O'Neale  we  hear  is  landed  in  Ireland. 
Betwixt  what  we  have  from  your  way,  what  Colonel  Collen  carries  of  his  own,  what  the 
Irish  merchants  here  have  to  transport,  and  some  200  proper  Irish  gentlemen  who  are 
come  hither  to  go  with  us,  of  whom  none  goes  without  arms,  at  least  for  himself,  we 
hope  at  the  worst,  to  keep  the  enemy  at  a  stand,  till  further  help  overtake  us  to  root 
them  clean  out.  We  are  to  go  perchance  three  or  five  sails,  whereof  none  goes  without 
some  powder. 

On  same  date  O'Hartegan  wrote  to  Wadding. 

His  grace,  the  nuncio,  liked  so  well  of  the  gentleman's  [Baron's]  rare  qualities,  that 
he  thought  it  was  most  necessary  to  send  him  back  for  to  acquaint  the  peers  of  many 
things,  and  to  keep  due  correspondency  and  intelligence  with  both  this  Court  and  that 
of  Rome,  wherein  our  people  were  and  are  most  neglectful.  He  is  incomparable  and 
apt  for  the  purpose.  I  write  to  the  Lord  Mountgarrett  and  others  to  see  him  established 
Secretary  of  the  State,  a  better  office  than  to  be  a  General  in  one  of  the  provinces.  I 
hope  each  one  of  the  Council  will  consent  to  it. 

Unfortunately  the  Council  did  not  entertain  the  proposal.  Sir  Richard 
Bellings  being  appointed  Secretary.  It  is  probable  that  Baron  who  by  birth 
and  training  was  Anglo-Irish,  but  whose  views  and  sympathies  were  with 
the  old  Irish,  might  have  reconciled  the  conflicting  factions  in  the  Council. 

October  lOth,  O'Hartigan  wrote  to  say  that  Baron  and  his  fellows  after  a 
close  pursuit  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick's  cruisers  had  reached  Ireland  safely. 
The  General  Assembly  at  Kilkenny,  on  October  28th,  ordered  "  that  Mr.  Baron 
shall  bring  into  this  house  in  writing  the  proposition  and  messages  from 
foreign  parts  into  this  kingdom  to  him  committed  by  the  Pope's  nuncio  and 
others."  Baron's  account  of  his  mission  to  France  was  so  satisfactory  that  it  was 
resolved  to  send  him  thither  again,  and  a  commission  as  regular  ambassador, 
dated  November  28th,  was  given  him  jointly  with  O'Hartegan.  He  was 
furnished  with  letters  to  Cardinal  Richelieu,  the  Queen  Regent  of  France,  the 


History  of  Clonmel.  476 

papal  nuncio  and  others.  A  day  or  two  after  Christmas,  1642,  he  set  out 
probably  from  Waterford  for  La  Rochelle.  This  time,  however,  he  was  not 
so  fortunate  as  on  the  previous  occasion.  For  on  February  2ist  the 
Confederate  Council  wrote  to  Hugh  Burke,  their  ambassador  in  Flanders. 

We  are  advertised  that  the  Captain  of  theTeresia  at  Donkerke  hath  taken  a  vessell 
whearein  Mr.  Geoffry  Baron  one  of  our  agents  for  France  was  imbarqued,  and  that  besides 
takeing  the  booty  hee  detains  him  prisoner.  Wee  pray  you  take  notice  of  this  and 
sollicite  restitution  and  reparation. 

On  same  date  they  wrote  to  O'Hartegan  to  have  representations  made 
by  the  French  Government  for  the  restoration  of  the  vessel  and  cargo, 
O'Hartegan  to  obtain  full  particulars  and  proceed  accordingly.  Baron 
eventually  reached  Paris  towards  the  end  of  April.  Here  he  spent  almost 
four  months  of  fruitless  negotiation.  Richelieu  was  dead,  and  Cardinal 
Mazarine  had  succeeded.  Wadding  wrote  bespeaking  for  Baron  and 
Hartegan  a  good  reception,  but  the  Cardinal  was  too  busy.  "  The  letters  you 
sent  for  the  Cardinal  Mazarini  were  delivered  ;  but  the  Cardinal's  excessive 
employments  did  not  give  him  leave  to  read  them  while  we  were  by.  I  hope 
they  will  do  him  good  "  (yy).  Besides  the  French  were  just  then  sending 
into  England  100,000  crowns,  3,000  muskets,  and  1,000  cases  of  pistols  to 
the  aid  of  King  Charles.  Some  money  was  promised  and  the  Cardinal 
pledged  his  word  to  Baron.  There  were,  however,  so  many  excuses  and 
delays  that  the  latter  wrote  expressing  his  wish  to  return.    This  was  granted. 

Sir, — Wee  have  in  conformitye  to  your  owne  desires  given  way  to  your  retourne, 
the  rather  that  Father  Hartegan  and  you  have  with  your  joynt  endeavours  soe  settled 
our  affairs  in  the  Court  that  they  may  be  managed  by  one  man  resideing  constantly 
there,  and  that  wee  desire  much  to  be  satisfied  of  some  things  which  by  letter  cannot 
be  soe  fully  made  knowne  vnto  us.  The  want  the  kingdom  is  in  of  powder  gives  us  a 
great  impediment  to  the  service  and  may  prove  fatall  vnto  us  if  not  prevented.  Wee 
therefore  pray  you  that  if  it  may  possibly  be,  some  marchants  may  be  invited  to  bringe 
in  powder  that  we  may  be  furnished  for  our  moneys  or  commodityes  or  by  any  other 
meane.    Wee  have  sent  you  lOO  pistoles  towardes  your  iourney. 

From  his  return  from  France  in  September  1643,  onwards  Baron  took  an 
active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Confederate  Assembly.  As  one  of  the 
commissioners  of  revenue  he  had  regularly  to  audit  the  public  accounts ;  he 
was  engaged  besides  in  some  special  duties.  During  the  siege  of  Duncannon 
Fort  by  Preston,  20th  January  to  19th  March,  1645,  he  was  present  as 
representing  the  Supreme  Council.  The  diary  of  the  siege  which  he  kept 
was  forwarded  to  Rome,  where  it  was  translated  into  Latin  and  published 


(yy)  Baron  to  Wadding,  Paris,  21st  August,  1643. 


476  History  of  Clonmel. 

He  also  acted  as  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  Confederates  in  the 
negotiations  carried  on  with  the  Earl  of  Glamorgan  in  behalf  of  the  king. 
Meanwhile  complaints  were  being  made  that  O'Hartegan  was  mismanaging 
the  Irish  business  at  the  French  Court.  The  Supreme  Council  who  were  then 
in  session  at  Clonmel,  wrote  25th  March,  1645,  to  Sellings  who  had  been  sent 
on  a  mission  to  Rome. 

Wee  will  send  Mr.  Baron  to  meet  you  in  the  St.  Francis,  shortly  bound  thither  and 
to  prevent  the  further  inconvenience  to  be  drawne  uppon  us  by  this  quite  altred  Fr. 
Hartegan. 

But  pressing  engagements  delayed  Baron  who  reached  France  only  in 
the  beginning  of  October.  At  La  Rochelle  he  met  Rinuccini,  the  papal 
nuncio,  on  his  way  to  Ireland.  Rinuccini  wrote  to  Cardinal  Pamphili, 
October  5th. 

The  evening  before  my  arrival  Mr.  Geoffry  Barron,  Treasurer  of  the  kingdom, 
reached  this  city  in  four  days  from  Ireland,  on  his  way  to  Paris  by  order  of  the  Supreme 
Council  to  attend,  as  I  hear,  for  some  time  to  the  affairs  of  the  Confederates.  This 
gentleman  has  a  fine  appearance,  very  polished  manners  and  tells  me  he  is  related  to 
Fr.  Luke  Wadding.  Nothing  has  been  concluded  about  a  peace ;  the  truce  only  was 
tacitly  continued  and  no  more  will  be  done  before  my  arrival.  In  proof  of  this  he 
brought  me  a  letter  from  the  Earl  of  Glamorgan  an  Englishman  and  a  most  excellent 
Catholic,  who  has  been  sent  to  Ireland  by  the  king  with  some  secret  instructions,  to  see 
if  he  can  facilitate  an  agreement  between  him  [the  king]  and  the  Irish. 

Baron's  stay  at  the  French  Court  on  this  occasion  was  extended  to 
nineteen  months.  The  objects  of  the  mission  and  its  results  appear  from  the 
following. 

Mr.  Geoffry  Barron  landed  at  Waterford  on  Friday  the  il'*^  of  March  [1647J  and 
came  to  Kilkenny  the  next  day.  And  being  indisposed  two  or  three  days  he  came  not 
into  the  Assembly  till  the  l6**»  at  which  time  being  asked  for  an  account  of  his 
negociation  he  answered  that  for  the  most  part,  it  consisted  in  the  letters  he  had  brought 
with  him,  and  made  some  scruple  to  communicate  them  to  any  other  than  a  sworn 
council  because  the  matter  required  secrecy.  At  length  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
peruse  the  letters  and  Sir  Lucas  Dillon  the  chairman  reported  from  that  committee 
That  it  was  requisite  the  letters  should  be  read  in  the  Assembly  which  was  done 
accordingly. 

The  first  was  a  letter  of  the  30***  January  from  Dr.  Tirrell  (one  of  the  Irish  agents  in 
Paris)  That  the  Rupture  of  the  late  Peace  did  at  first  seem  to  both  the  Courts  in  France 
to  trench  far  upon  the  public  faith  of  the  kingdom,  but  when  some  slight  objections 
raised  by  the  King  and  Queen  of  France  and  Cardinal  Mazarine,  were  solidly  refuted 
and  full  informations  given  them,  the  rejection  of  the  peace  was  confirmed.  But  when 
they  heard  of  the  return  of  the  Irish  forces  from  Dublin  they  suspected  their  weakness 
and  division.  He  advises  them  to  unite  and  attack  the  city,  that  the  Queen  and  Prince 
of  Wales  are  coming  to  Ireland,  and  therefore  not  to  agree  upon  slight  terms  for  when 
they  come,  the  Irish  will  have  their  wills. 

The  second  was  a  letter  of  26  September  from  the  King  of  France.  Being  well 
informed  of  the  inclinations  of  the  kingdom  he  will  take  particular  care  of  their  interests. 


History  of  Clonmel.  477 

The  third  and  fourth  from  Cardinal  Mazarine  that  the  settlement  of  his  majesty  of 
England  would  much  rejoice  the  King  of  France. 

The  fifth  from  Colonel  Fitzwilliams.  If  they  provide  a  good  reception  for  the 
Queen  and  Prince  of  Wales  more  of  their  demands  will  be  granted.  The  Queen  denies 
haying  any  power  to  treat  with  the  Irish  but  will  seek  it.  The  French  will  send  ships 
for  2000  Irish.  If  the  Irish  aid  Antrim  in  Scotland,  the  Scots  must  look  to  Scotland 
and  without  them  the  Parliament  cannot  hurt  the  Irish.  Supplicates  them  to  leave  one 
church  open  in  Dublin  for  the  king's  religion  lest  the  Parliamentarians  take  advantage 
of  it  to  incense  the  English  against  the  King,  Queen  and  Prince.  That  the  Pope  has 
sent  the  Irish  40,000  pistoles  and  Cardinal  Mazarine  will  send  6000  more. 

These  letters  being  read  Mr.  Barron  said  his  embassy  was  on  two  points.  First  to 
excuse  the  not  sending  3000  men  to  the  King  of  France  according  to  Promise,  which  he 
had  done  to  content  and  the  second  was  to  solicit  aids  from  the  Queen  which  at  first 
she  promised,  sufficient  to  bring  the  war  to  the  wished  period  but  at  the  second  audience 
she  was  quite  off  from  it,  being  so  persuaded  by  her  Protestant  counsellors.  And  that 
Cardinal  Mazarine  sent  them  12,000  livres  which  is  all  he  could  procure  {zz). 

If  Mazarine  was  not  liberal  in  finance^  compliments  he  showered  in 
abundance.  "  I  accompany  Mr.  Barron,"  he  wrote,  "  who  returns  to  you  with 
these  lines  to  witness  the  satisfaction  he  hath  left  here  of  his  conduct." 
Baron's  return  found  the  Confederates  torn  asunder  by  factionism.  In  the 
angry  conflict  between  the  Anglo-Irish  or  southern  party  and  the  old  Irish  or 
northern,  he  consistently  took  the  side  of  the  old  Irish.  Religious  motives 
largely  swayed  him.  "  Barron,"  writes  Ballings,  "  was  noted  for  his  particular 
zeal  for  the  nuncio  and  his  ways,  though  otherwise  he  showed  himself  an 
upright  and  disinterested  man  in  the  cause  of  his  country.  He  was  wont 
to  think  anything  justifiable  which  might  be  acted  or  spoken  in  decrying  a 
peace  already  condemned  by  ecclesiastical  censures  and  which  was  so 
accursed  that  those  that  did  defend,  adhere  or  approve  the  justice  of  it,  were 
delivered  over  to  Satan."  But  religion  apart,  Baron  was  a  trained  diplomatist, 
and  he  knew  that  in  King  Charles  and  Ormond  he  had  to  deal  with  men 
practised  in  sham  negotiations,  whose  good  faith  was  limited  by  the  exigencies 
of  English  politics.  Hence  when  in  the  winter  of  1649  Omiond  appeared 
before  Waterford,  Baron  offered  a  strenuous  and  successful  opposition 
to  the  admission  of  him  or  his  Anglo-Irish  into  the  city.  At  the  siege  by 
Ireton  shortly  after,  he  actively  supported  O'Farrell  and  the  Ulster  garrison 
against  the  members  of  the  corporation  who  urged  a  speedy  surrender.  On 
the  fall  of  Waterford  he  made  his  way  to  Limerick,  and  of  the  close  of  his 
career  there  ample  details  have  reached  us.  The  "Diary  of  the  Parliamentary 
Forces  "  reports  on  the  surrender  of  Limerick  to  Ireton,  27th  October,  1651. 

At  a  Councell  of  war  at  Limerick  was  this  day  debated  how  those  excepted  persons 
should   be   disposed    of.     Of    them  five  were  voted  to  suffer,  Hugh  O'Neill,  Sir 


(zz)  Cox,  Hib.  Angl.,  p.  192. 


478  History  of  Clonmel. 

GeofFry  Galway,  Sir  Richard  Everhard  (one  of  the  rebels  Supreame  Councell  from  the 
beginning  of  the  rebellion,  and  holding  out  notwithstanding  the  favour  shewed 
him  by  his  Ex.  the  Lord  Lt.  during  his  lordship's  residence  here)  JeflFry  Barron 
(a  principall  instrument  in  the  holding  out  of  Waterford  against  us  and  acting 
here  accordingly,  and  professing  his  malignity  against  us  to  the  uttermost)  and 
Dr.  Higgins  (a  phisitian  a  dangerous  person,  acting  in  rebellion,  their  powder 
maker  and  money  coyner)  (a), 

Ludlow's  Memoirs  give  a  more  circumstantial  account. 

The  Bishop  of  Emly  and  major  (General  Purcell  with  Wolf  the  priest  were 
taken  in  the  pest  house  where  they  had  hid  themselves.  Jeffrey  Barron  and  Sir 
Geoffrey  Galway  surrendered  themselves.  They  were  tried  by  a  Councill  of  War  and 
Jeffrey  Barron  having  the  same  question  put  to  him  with  the  rest  [what  he 
had  to  say  for  himself)  answered  that  it  was  not  just  to  exclude  him  from  mercy, 
because  he  had  been  engaged  in  the  same  cause  as  we  pretended  to  fight  for— 
the  liberty  and  religion  of  his  country.  The  deputy  [Ireton]  replied  that  Ireland  being 
a  conquered  country,  the  English  nation  might  with  justice  assert  their  right  of 
conquest ;  that  they  had  been  treated  by  the  late  government  far  beyond  their  merits  or 
the  rules  of  reason,  notwithstanding  which  they  had  barbarously  murdered  all 
the  English  that  fell  into  their  hands,  and  robbed  them  of  their  goods  which 
they  had  gained  by  their  industry,  and  taken  away  the  lands  which  they  had  purchased 
with  their  money ;  that  touching  this  point  of  religion  there  was  a  wide  difference  also 
between  us,  we  only  contending  to  preserve  our  natural  right  therein  without  imposing 
our  opinions  upon  other  men,  whereas  they  would  not  he  contented  unless  they 
might  have  power  to  compell  all  others  to  submit  to  their  inquisition  on  pain  of  death. 
The  Council  of  War  looking  upon  what  he  had  to  say  for  himself  to  be  hereby 
fully  refuted,  adjudged  him  to  die  as  they  did  the  mayor  also,  and  the  sentence 
was  executed  accordingly. 

The  argument  of  Ireton  represents  the  average  views  of  the*"  founders  of 
English  liberty."  Few  however  will  join  with  the  Council  of  War  in 
regarding  it  as  an  answer  to  Baron.  Ireton  had  a  more  effective  weight 
to  balance  the  argument — the  sword.  The  contemporary  history  known  as 
"The  Aphorismicall  Discovery  "  gives  a  characteristic  account  of  Baron's  end. 

Master  Baron  of  Clonmell,  a  very  understandinge  gentleman,  adjudged  to  the 
gallowes  desired  respitt  of  execution  till  his  return  from  his  lodginge,  which 
being  admitted  with  a  guarde,  where  he  broke  open  his  trunkes  and  findinge  there 
a  newe  suite  of  white  tafiitie  with  all  the  addresses  suitable  as  if  to  be  presently 
maried,  adominge  himself  therewith  roade  gallantly  (as  accustomed)  with  the  guarde 
towards  the  place  of  execution,  behaved  himself  iconde  [jocund]  in  his  behaviour 
and  soe  careless  of  both  execution  and  behoulders  that  it  was  strange.  Beinge 
questioned  for  the  change  of  cloathes  answered  that  if  to  maiye  a  creature  he  did 
noelesse  and  now  that  he  was  of  belife  that  his  soule  departinge  at  this  instante 
from  his  bodie  did  straight  enjoye  the  pleasures  of  heaven  in  the  consumation 


(a)  Hugh  O'Neill  the  governor  of  Limerick,  was  reprieved  though  he  narrowly  escaped 
"  owing  to  the  blood  he  had  shed  at  Clonmd."  Sir  Richard  Everard  also  was  pardoned  because  of 
his  age. 


History  of  Clonmel.  479 

of  that  etemall  nuptiall  felicitie  and  to  bestowe  this  laste  liverie  upon  the  relicte 
companion  of  his  said  soule  was  the  leaste  of  his  dutie  to  so  tender  a  servante.  In 
^nishinge  this  pious  and  devoute  speeche  he  was  hanged. 

In  striking  contrast  to  this  ecstatic  state,  is  the  commonplace  will  which 
Baron  made  the  day  before  his  execution. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  I  Geofifry  Baron  of  Clonmel  esquire  now  neere  death 
make  my  last  will  and  testament  in  manner  following.  I  bequeath  my  soule  to  God. 
I  appoint  my  cousin  german  Thomas  Baron  fitz  Richard  of  Clonmel,  my  executor.  I 
leave  and  bequeath  to  said  Thomas,  all  my  lands  which  [came  to  me  by]  inheritance,  to 
have  and  to  hold  to  him  and  his  heires  male  of  his  boddie  for  ever,  the  remainder  to 
the  heires  male  of  the  boddie  of  my  grand  father  Geoffry  Baron,  the  remainder  to  my 
cousen  and  servant  Geoffry  Baron  fitz  Nicholas.  I  appoint  my  debits  repaid  as  I  have 
instructed  my  servant,  and  desire  my  executor  my  soul  may  be  prayd  for,  and  such 
legacies  as  I  have  informed  my  said  servant  be  payd.  In  witness  whereof  to  my  last 
will  and  testament  I  hereunto  put  my  hande  and  scale  the  eight  day  of  November,  165 1. 

R.  Everard.  Geoffry  Baron. 

Richard  Everard. 

Cousen  Thomas  I  have  no  greater  inheritance  to  leave  you  then  my  blessing  which 
I  freely  impart  to  you,  your  wiffe  and  children.  What  I  have  left  that  you  may  in  a  more 
settled  time  have  ryght  to  in  my  behalfe  is  as  neere  as  I  can  now  remember,  Parkene- 
gubbons,  St.  James  parke  and  two  or  three  stangs  John  Bray  held  from  me,  one  hundred 
pounds  yet  due  to  me  of  the  rent  charge  I  have  uppon  the  lands  of  Freehans  with  an 
arrear  of  about  ten  yeares.  The  mortgage  I  have  of  Cullenagh  for  three  hundred  and 
three  score  pounds  as  I  take  it,  one  hundred  fifty  pounds  debt  due  to  me  beyond  the 
mortgage  as  will  appear  by  the  papers  of  Phillip  McGrath  and  his  heyres.  I  have  past 
Mr.  Patrick  Goegh  an  estate  on  Cullinagh  for  two  hundred  and  three  score  pounds  of 
which  there  is  yett  behinde  and  unpaid  to  me  five  and  forty  pounds  sterling.  I  appoint 
you  my  executor  and  desire  you  when  you  gett  anything  by  me  to  have  care  to  discharge 
my  debt  as  my  man  shall  informe  you  of  my  interests.  God  bless  you.  Pray  for  me 
your  loveinge  kinsman. 

G.  Baron. 
Lymerick  the  8^>»  of  NoV   165 1  (b). 

Thus  at  the  age  of  forty-four  perished  Geoffry  Baron.  In  a  country  which 
preserves  so  many  memories,  a  strange  obscurity  has  covered  his  career.  Yet 
he  was,  in  the  make  and  mould  of  him,  an  heroic  figure.  The  passion  for  a 
creed  or  a  cause,  which  ennobles  a  man,  was  his.  The  sacrifice  which  gives 
up  talents,  fortune,  life  itself  for  an  ideal,  he  freely  made,  and  in  him  a 
character  clean,  candid,  unselfish,  left  wanting  no  element  of  greatness.  As 
the  Irish  Confederation  is  better  studied,  and  the  work  and  aims  of  the  men 
who  formed  it,  better  understood,  the  name  of  Geoffry  Baron  will  rank  with 
those  of  Luke  Wadding,  Lord  Mountgarret,  Roger  O'Moore,  and  Owen  Roe 
O'Neill  (c). 


(h)  Waterford  Wills,  P.R.O.    A  seal  is  appended  showing  three  fishes. 

(c)  Authorities — Franciscan  MSS.,  Dublin,  Strafford's  Letters,  Gilbert,  History  of  Confederation, 
Cox,  Hibernia  Anglicana,  Wills  P.R.O.,  etc. 


480  History  of  Clonmel. 

bonaventure  baron. 

Bartholomew  Baron,  brother  of  the  preceding,  was  born  in  l6lO.  He  last 
both  parents  at  an  early  age,  his  mother,  Mary  Wadding,  dying  when  he  was 
only  six.  In  after  years  in  his  cell  at  St.  Isidore's,  Rome,  her  memory  haunted 
him,  and  as  he  called  up  the  vision  of  the  old  home  in  St.  Mary's  Street, 
Clonmel,  his  thoughts  poured  forth  in  graceful  verse. 

Chara  parens,  quam  prsecipite  te  pollice  solvit, 

Impatiens  fatis  parcere  Parca  tuis ! 

Nil  natura  tibi ;  minimum  fortuna  negavit ; 

Ambabus  gemina  freta  parente  parens. 

Purpureas  succensa  genas,  trabeata  capillos ; 

Messuit  arcana  frons  tua  menlis  opes. 

Virginibus  viduis,  genialibus  aucta  corollis, 

Audis  illustri  sanguine,  prole,  thoro ; 

£t  fugis  ?  et  fas  est ;  patrio  quota  pignora  coelo 

Digna,  peregrina  ne  remorentur  humo  (d). 

During  the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  school  was  kept  in 
the  town  by  a  person  named  Sail,  and  there  Baron  received  his  first  education. 
He  subsequently  went  to  Waterford  where  the  citizens  maintained  "a 
publique  schoolmaster,  one  fflahie."  Though  Flahie  fled  from  the  Protestant 
Commissioners  in  1615,  and  though  order  was  taken  "to  suppress  him  from 
the  exercise  of  teaching  of  youth,  for  he  traynes  upp  scholers  to  become 
seminarie  priests  beyonde  the  seas,"  fej  yet  he  continued  his  pedagogy,  and 
with  him  young  Baron  began  the  classics.  In  the  summer  of  1626  having 
"  profitted  well "  in  his  studies,  he  was  sent  by  his  brother  Geoffry  to  the 
Franciscan  house  of  Timoleague,  Co.  Cork,  for  a  course  of  philosophy  under 
Father  Eugene  Field.  A  few  months  later  he  entered  the  Franciscan  order. 
Geoffry  Baron  writes  to  Luke  Wadding  2nd  December,  1626 :  "Unknowen  to 
any  of  his  friends,  he  has  taken  the  habitt  of  your  holly  Father  St  Francis 
the  27***  of  October  last,  whome  I  desire  God  to  his  honour  and  glorie  make 
a  good  frier."    Shortly  before  Baron's  departiu-e  for  Rome,  1629,  the  Lord 

(dj  The  original  is  exquisitely  preserved  in  a  version  by  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson  : — 

Dear  mother  mine,  with  what  a  thumb  of  haste 

Impelled,  fate's  scissors  have  your  threads  unlaced  1 

You  Nature  nothing,  Fortune  nought  denied, 

Parent  well  parented  on  either  side, 

Still  ruddy-cheeked,  still  robed  with  tresses  wrought, 

Round  grave  brow  garnered  with  the  wealth  of  thought, 

Crowned  with  all  chaplets  of  a  genial  life, 

Maid's,  widow's,  happy  mother,  happy  wife, 

Most  honoured  1  and  you  leave  us.     Be  it  so. 

Heaven's  pledge  from  alien  earth  should  early  go. 
(cj  Brit.  Mus.  Addit.,  No.  19836. 


History  of  Clonmel.  48i 

Deputy  Falkland  visited  Clonmel.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  time  an 
address  in  fulsome  Latin  hexameters  was  presented.  Baron,  to  whom  was 
delegated  the  composition  and  reading  of  the  address,  so  impressed  Boyle, 
Earl  of  Cork,  who  accompanied  Falkland,  that  the  "  Great  Earl "  proposed 
to  engage  him,  probably  in  the  capacity  of  agent  or  secretary.  But  learning 
that  Baron  was  a  Catholic  and  a  friar  to  boot,  the  negotiation  soon  ended. 
In  the  middle  of  March,  1629,  Baron  set  out  by  way  of  Waterford  and  Brittany 
for  Rome  where  his  uncle,  Luke  Wadding,  was  now  Guardian  of  St.  Isidore's. 
As  illustrating  the  uncertainties  of  the  voyage  in  those  days,  Thomas  Strange 
of  Waterford,  who  gave  him  letters  for  Wadding,  writes  two  and  a  half 
years  later  to  know  if  Bartholomew  had  reached  Rome  or  where  exactly 
he  was. 

Under  Wadding's  direction  at  St.  Isidore's,  Baron  set  to  work  with 
passionate  and  unflagging  energy.  Ordained  about  1636,  he  exchanged  the 
name  "  Bartholomew  "  for  the  Franciscan  "  Bonaventure  "  under  which  he 
afterwards  became  celebrated.  Though  his  duties  as  professor  of  theology 
brought  him  over  a  wide  field  of  study,  his  enormous  capacity  enabled  him 
to  accumulate  all  sorts  of  out-of-the-way  learning.  "  We  cannot  but  wonder," 
writes  one  biographer,  "how  one  man  could  have  written  so  much,  so 
learnedly,  and  on  such  a  variety  of  topics,  before  he  had  passed  what  Dante 
calls  the  mid-term  of  life.  And  yet  such  is  the  fact ;  for  we  have  it  on  the 
authority  of  Father  Wadding  himself,  that  his  nephew  had  actually  written 
in  Latin,  singularly  remarkable  for  its  elegance,  some  five  or  six  volumes, 
while  he  was  yet  considerably  under  thirty-three  years  of  age.  The  titles  of 
some  of  these  will  show  how  versatile  was  the  genius  of  this  eminent  man, 
and  with  what  facility  he  could  turn  from  the  profounder  pursuits  of  studies, 
philsophical  and  theological,  to  the  cultivation  of  the  muses,  and  indeed  of 
almost  every  department  of  light  literature."  From  the  publication  of  his 
"  Panegyrics  "  in  Rome,  1643,  onward  for  more  than  forty  years,  works  from 
his  pen  issued  from  the  presses  of  Rome,  Paris,  Lyons,  Florence,  Wurtzburg 
and  Cologne.  One  of  his  books  contains  a  medallion  portrait  set  in  an 
architectural  design.  Round  the  twisted  Renaissance  columns  a  scroll  is 
carried,  and  inscribed  thereon  is  a  list  of  topics  on  which  he  wrote — 
"Panegyrics,  Poems,  Eulogies,  Preludes,  Boetius,  Portents,  Rhetoric,  Plots 
(Stratagemata),  Quodlibets,  Canticle  of  Canticles,  Office  of  St  Francis,  Logic, 
Physics,  Metaphysics,  Ethics,  Theology."  Baron  was  perhaps  the  last 
representative  of  the  old  school  which  professed  to  teach  de  omni  re  scibili, 
and  in  this  age  of  specialism  one  can  only  consult  his  writings  on  Portents 
and  the  Miracles  of  Nature,  with  amused  curiosity. 

G  I 


482  History  of  Clonmel. 

Much  however  of  his  philosophical  and  theological  work  is  of  a  solid 
and  permanent  character.  As  the  volumes  of  his  Vindication  of  Duns  Scotus 
and  his  Course  of  Theology  came  out  they  were  welcomed  enthusiastically. 
They  were  universally  read  in  his  own  day,  and  may  still  be  studied  with 
profit.  When  the  edition  of  Boetius'  Consolation  of  Theology  appeared,  John 
Caramuel,  the  greatest  scholar  of  the  time,  declared  that  the  critical  studies 
of  Baron's  edition  of  Boetius  lacked  neither  the  genius  nor  style  of  Boetius 
himself  (In  eis  nee  Boetii  ingenium  nee  ealamum  desiderantur). 

The  only  events  which  mark  the  life  of  a  man  of  letters  are  his 
publications.  For  more  than  sixty  years  Baron's  duties  as  professor  and  his 
labours  as  writer  carried  him  along  in  a  tranquil  current.  Rarely,  indeed,  the 
calm  of  the  cell  in  St.  Isidore's  was  disturbed.  But  in  1652  came  the  news  of 
the  hanging  of  his  brother  Geoffry  in  Limerick.  Five  years  later  he  stood 
by  the  dying  bed  of  Wadding.  When  in  1668  there  was  question  of  filling 
the  vacant  archbishopric  of  Cashel,  his  name  was  put  forward.  His  own 
account  of  the  affair  is  characteristic  :  "A  civibus  postulatus  et  antistibus  ;  sed 
non  respondi,  et  cessi  similiter  oneri  et  honori.  Illi  impar,  hoc  indignus"  (f)- 
A  more  congenial  honour  and  one  which  he  freely  accepted  was  that  of 
"  theologian  and  historian  "  to  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany.  This  came  to 
him  in  1676,  but  he  lived  to  enjoy  it  for  two  decades.  The  last  years  however 
of  his  life  were  clouded.  A  creeping  paralysis  gradually  deprived  him  of  the 
use  of  his  limbs  and  finally  of  sight  itself.  In  one  of  his  latest  writings  he 
makes  a  touching  allusion  to  his  state  of  health. 


Bowed  with  the  weight  of  years,  broken  by  toil,  my  eyes  are  growing  dim,  my 
hearing  impaired,  my  teeth  gone,  my  legs  refuse  to  bear  me  up.  It  is  time  to  lay  down 
the  pen  worn  by  so  many  volumes  (g). 


Baron  died  i8ih  March,  1696,  in  his  86th  year.  He  is  buried  in  St  Isidore's 
in  the  second  chapel  on  the  right  from  the  entrance,  close  to  the  grave  of 
Luke  Wadding.    The  inscription  on  the  sepulchral  slab  reads — 


(f)  It  is  hard  to  convey  the  sparkle  of  the  original  in  a  translation.  "  Though  nominated  by  the 
lay  folk  and  the  bishops  I  did  not  rise  to  the  occasion,  and  so  ceased  to  be  troubled  with  similar  load* 
and  lauds.     Unequal  to  the  one,  unworthy  of  the  other." 

(g)  Senio  pronus,  laboribus  fractus,  jam  enim  caligant  occuli  aures  obturantur,  denies  molire 
rennunt,  crura  fatiscunt.     Fas  sit  abstergere  ealamum  tot  voluminibus  tritum. 


History  of  Clonmel.  483 

D.   o.    M. 

Memoria    P.    F. 
Bonaven™    Baronis  1  Hyberni 
Lectoris  )  Clonmel 

Pluries  Emeriti 

Authoris 
XXII  Tomorum 

Quippe 

Oratoris  Poetae 

Philosophi  Historici 

Principum  Aliquot  Theologi 

Qui  dudum 

Scotise  Gustos 

Deinde 

Croatiae  Commissarius 

Denique 

Recusata  Hujus  Coenobii  Praefectura 

(Ne  Addam  Infulas  Episcopales) 

Mortalitate  Succubuit 

Octogenario  Major 

F.  lo.  De  Burgo  Aedis  Praefectus 

Monumentum  Merenti  Erexit 

An.  CID,  DCXC 

Ipse  Baro  Expiravit  An.  M.D.CXCVI 

Mensis  Martii  l8 


Noctis  I  Hora  4 


Quiescat  In  Pace. 
Amen. 


To  the  Most  Excellent  and  High  God 

A  Memory  of  Father,  the  Friar    'y  An  Irishman 
Bonaventure  Baron,  /  of  Qonmel 

Several  Times 

Emeritus  Lecturer, 

Author 

of  22  volumes. 

To  wit. 

An  Orator,  a  Poet, 

A  Philosopher,  an  Historian, 

Theologian  of  sundry  Princes, 

Once 

Guardian  of  Ireland, 

Then 

Commissary  of  Croatia, 

Having  rejected  the  Prefecture  of  this  Monastery 

(Not  to  add  Episcopal  Mitres), 

He  yielded  to  Mortality, 

More  than  an  Octogenarian. 

Friar  John  De  Burgo,  Prefect  of  the  House, 

As  unto  one  of  Merit  erected  [this]  Monument, 

in  the  year  169b 

Baron  himself  expired  in  the  year  1696, 

On  the  iS***  day  of  the  Month  of  March, 

At  the  4**»  hour  of  Night 

May  he  Rest  in  Peace. 

Amen. 


484  History  of.  Clonmel. 

There  are  three  portraits  of  Bortaventure  Baron  extant — two  in  oils  at 
the  Franciscan  houses,  Clonmel,  and  Merchants*  Quay,  Dublin,  respectively ; 
the  third,  a  copperplate,  is  prefixed  to  some  of  his  works.  The  earliest, 
painted  when  he  was  about  thirty-six,  represents  him  as  a  professor  seated  at 
the  rostrum.  It  is  a  half  figure  and  a  side  view.  Poised  on  the  knee  is  a 
book  on  which  the  left  hand  rests,  the  right  is  raised,  the  index  finger  pointing 
upwards.  The  head  is  large,  with  intense  prominent  eyes,  the  nose  and 
mouth  disproportionately  small,  but  the  general  effect  is  rather  pleasing. 
This  however  cannot  be  said  of  the  other  two  portraits  which  represent  him 
when  he  had  passed  his  fiftieth  year.  Though  the  face  shows  much  more 
strength  and  character,  the  massive  temples  scarcely  relieve  the  plainness, 
almost  vulgarity  of  the  other  features.  In  the  engraving,  indeed,  there  is  a 
suggestion  of  strabismus.  A  slight  resemblance  to  his  uncle  Luke  Wadding 
may  be  detected,  but  we  miss  the  dome-like  forehead,  the  large  well-set  eyes, 
the  delicacy  and  distinction  of  the  great  annalist. 

The  position  which  Baron  held  in  the  estimation  of  his  contemporaries 
is  described  by  Michaele  in  his  Bibliographia  Critica.  "  A  man  amongst  the 
most  distinguished  in  human  and  divine  learning,  surpassed  by  few  in  genius 
and  eloquence.  He  was  (as  Caramuel  puts  it)  a  Bonaventure  in  theology,  a 
Baronitis  in  history.  At  once  an  elegant  poet  and  a  consummate  writer  of 
prose,  an  orator  ready  and  powerful,  a  profound  philosopher,  a  close  observer 
of  the  secrets  of  nature.  He  held  the  office  of  theologian  and  historian  to  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany.  He  wrote  excellently  and  exhaustively  the  annals 
of  the  Order  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  for  Redeeming  Slaves.  The  products 
of  his  manifold  genius,  fill  nearly  twenty  volumes — volumes  which  do  not 
burthen  the  shelves  but  adorn  and  enrich  our  best  libraries." 

The  works  of  Baron  which  obtained  most  notice  are — 

1.  Orationes  Panegyricae  Sacro-Prophanae.    Romae,  1643. 

2.  Metra  Miscellanea.    Romae,  1649. 

Another  edition  appeared  at  Cologne,  165 1. 

3.  Prolusiones  Logicae  et  Philosophicae. 

4.  Harpocrates  Quinque  Ludius,  sive  Diatriba  Silentii. 

5.  Centuria  Epistolarum  Selectarum. 

6.  De  Obsidione  et  Expugnatione  Arcis  Dunkanon  in  Hybernia  (h). 

7.  Boetius  Absolutus  sive  De  Consolatione  Theologiae. 

8.  Declamationes,  Stratagemata,  Portenta  Naturae  et  Artis  Miracula. 
Q.  Varia  Opuscula  Selectissima. 


(h)  A  translation  of  this  tract  will  be  found  in  Meehan's  Irish  Franciscan  Monasteries. 


History  of  Clonmel.  486 

10.  Scotus  Doctor  Subtilis  contra  Adversantes  Quosque,  Defensus  et 
Quaestionum  Novitate  Amplificatus. 

This,  which  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  Baron's  works,  was  published 
at  Lyons  in  l668,  two  volumes  folio. 

11.  Annalium  Ordinis  SS.  Trinitatis  Redemptionis  Captivorum  Tomus 
Primus,  Romae,  1684  (i), 

12.  Theologia  Universa,  six  volumes.     Paris,  1676. 

The  work  of  Baron  to  which  we  should  now  look  with  most  interest  was 
an  unpublished  autobiography  written  in  extreme  old  age.  It  reached  Dublin 
with  the  St.  Isidore's  MSS.  in  1872,  and  the  Franciscan  Fathers  with 
characteristic,  open-handed  generosity  placed  it  at  the  disposal  of  Rev.  G.  P. 
Meehan  when  engaged  on  his  "  Irish  Franciscan  Monasteries."  It  was  not 
returned,  and  the  Rev.  Fr.  O'Reilly,  the  present  curator  of  the  MSS.,  has 
never  seen  it. 


Samuel  Foley. 

Samuel  Foley  was  grandson  of  Richard  Foley,  an  iron-master  of 
Stourbridge.  His  father  Samuel  had  been  a  captain  in  Jerome  Sankey's 
cavalry  regiment,  and  on  the  close  of  the  war,  1652,  took  up  residence 
in  Clonmel  in  the  house  of  Nicholas  White  Fitz  Henry  (j).  This  was 
situated  in  Boate  Street  on  the  site  of  the  present  Provincial  Bank,  and 
there  three  sons  were  born  to  him.  The  oldest  of  these  was  Samuel, 
born  25th  November,   1655.      As  the    "Civill   Establishment"  set  up   by 


(i)  A  book  of  Baron's  appears  to  have  been  put  on  the  Index  20th  June,  1690,  the  title  was 
Opuscula  Prosa  et  Metro  Argumenta  etiam  Varia  Nostri  Bonaventurae. 

(j)  The  following  reference  to  Foley  pere  may  be  read  in  conjunction  with  the  incidents  related 
by  Temple  and  Borlase.     It  is  found  in  the  Carte  Papers  (LX.,  234). 

The  humble  petition  of  Margaret  Comerford  Widdowe 

In  most  lamentable  maner  complayneth  that  one  Captaine  Samuell  Folie  now  residinge  in 
Clonmell,  Colonell  Mathew  Jacob  of  Knockelly,  Cornet  James  Barker  of  Lismalinge  and  Quarter- 
master Thomas  Oliver  of  Kellheaheen  all  in  the  County  of  Tipperary,  came  betwixt  the  howres  of 
eight  and  ten  of  the  clocke  in  the  forenoone  of  the  24  day  of  November  165 1  with  a  stronge  partye  of 
horsse  whereof  the  said  Folie  was  cheefe  in  command  to  the  town  and  lands  of  Garran  in  the  Barony 
of  Kells  in  the  County  of  Kilkenny  And  callinge  for  Garrott  Comerford  your  Oratrix  husband,  caryed 
him  to  the  open  street  and  stript  him  of  all  his  cloathes  and  afterwards  mudered  him,  being  a 
protected  man  and  never  in  arms.  And  after  comitting  that  vnhuman  murder  entred  your  Oratrix 
house  which  they  ymediately  plundered  and  then  murdered  Margaret  Comerford  alias  Tobin  the 
said  Garrots  mother  beinge  a  poore  blinde  beddered  old  woman  above  an  hundred  and  ten  years  of 
adge  and  your  Oratrix  son  John  Comerford  a  poore  criple  and  two  seruants  whom  they  afterwards 
burnt  in  the  house.  And  besides  murdered  in  the  town  16  harmlesse  house  keepers,  they  burnt  and 
destroyed  thirtie  six  tenements  in  the  said  towne.  And  therewith  not  satisfyed  took  from  your 
Oratrix  fower  score  Cowes  and  garrans  and  soe  left  her  destitute  both  of  corne  catle  or  other 
substance  to  mentayne  her  selfe  and  fower  poore  orphans. 

Prays  that  they  may  be  dealt  with  according  to  justice  and  that  your  Grace  may  relieve  her. 


Casi 


[Atfoof]    Ordered  that  Lord  Santry  consider  petition  and  certify  what  is  to  be  done.    Dublin 
tie  14  March,  1662. 


486  History  of  Clonmel. 

the  Cromwellians,   included  a  "Mr.   Edward  Bainebrigge,   Schoolmaster," 
and  *'  Mrs.  Spenser,  Schoolmrs./'  it  is  probable  that  from  them  Foley  received 
his  early  education.    On  8th  June,  1672,  he  was  admitted  a  Fellow— Commoner 
in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  five  years  later,  nth  June,  1677,  was  elected  to 
a  Fellowship.     Promotion  followed  rapidly,  for  about  1686  he  was  appointed 
chancellor  of  St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,  and  in  1691  he  graduated    Doctor  of 
Divinity.    During  the  period  when  James  IL  resided  in  Dublin  he  seems  to 
have  fled  to  England,  as  his  name  occurs  in  the  list  of  those  attainted  unless 
they  return  before  the  1st  October,  1689.    On  the  deprivation  of   Thomas 
Hackett,  Protestant  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  Foley  was  selected  to  fill 
the  vacancy.    He  was  consecrated  in  Christ  Church,  Dublin,  2nd  September, 
1694,  hy  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  assisted  by  the  bishops  of  Meath,  Derry, 
Killala  and  Achonry.    He  died  of  fever  at  Lisburn  22nd  May,  1695..    I^^-  J<^^^ 
Sterne  in  a  funeral  oration  observes — "  If  we  number  his  days  by  his  wisdom, 
we  may  properly  enough  say  that  he  lived  many  more  years  in  the  world 
than  nature  gave  him.    He  duly  considered  how  swiftly  time  runs  on  and  his 
improvement  of  it  was  in  speed  answerable  to  its  motion.      He  lived  fast  in 
the  best  sense,  so  fast  that  he  very  early  came  to  the  end  both  of  a  deservin/f 
clergyman  and  a  good  Christian,  a  bishopric  and  heaven."      He  left  by  his 
will  dated  4th  April,  1695,  £40  to  the  poor  of  the  parish  of  St.  Werburgh's, 
the  interest  to  buy  bread.      "  He  was,"  writes  Harris,  "  a  handsome  man  in 
his  person,  of  a  sweet  affable  temper,  and  a  religious  life  and  conversation." 
He  published : — 

1.  A  Sermon  Preached  at  Christ  Church,  Dublin,  February  19,  1681,  at 
the  Consecration  of  William  Bishop  of  Kildare,  William  Bishop  of  Kilmore, 
and  Richard  Bishop  of  Killala.     I  Tim.  3,  I. 

2.  A  Visitation  Sermon  Preached  at  St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,  9  April,  1682. 
Tim.  4,  16. 

3.  An  Account  of  the  Giant's  Causeway  (Philosophical  Transactions, 

1694). 

4.  An  Exhortation  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Down  and  Connor,  Concerning 
the  Religious  Education  of  their  Children  in  general  and  particularly  in  order 
to  their  being  Confirmed.     1695. 


Laurence  Sterne. 

A  century  ago  Rev.  Dr.  Bell,  headmaster  of  the  Clonmel  Endowed 
School,  used  suggest  to  a  pupil  and  protege  of  his,  William  Phelan,  that  the 
boy's  birth-place  would  afterwards  be  pointed  out  with  pride  by  the  people 


History  of  Clonmel.  48* 

of  Clonmel,  just  as  Laurence  Sterne's  was.  In  the  lapse  however  of  the 
century,  the  birth-places  of  both  one  and  the  other  have  been  utterly  forgotten. 
A  tradition  recorded  by  Mr.  William  Clarke  of  the  Clonmel  Chronicle^  states 
that  Sterne  was  born  in  a  house  in  Mary's  Street,  a  few  doors  from  O'Connell 
Street  corner,  right  side  going  towards  the  church.  Sterne's  mother  was  a 
native  of  the  town,  and  at  the  date  of  his  birth,  24th  November,  1713,  her 
family  the  Tuttles  (or  Tothalls)  occupied  a  prominent  position.  That  year 
Thomas  Tothall  was  mayor  of  the  town. 

The  life  of  this  strange  writer  and  still  stranger  clergyman,  belongs  to 
English  literary  history. 

ROBERT  Marshall. 

Robert  Marshall,  the  son  of  John  Marshall,  of  Clonmel, .and  Catherine  his 
wife,  was  born  about  1690.  John  would  appear  to  have  been  an  attorney 
who  accumulated  a  considerable  fortune,  and  purchased  houses  and  lands 
from  the  Ormond  trustees ;  he  lived  in  the  house  in  Boate  Street  previously 
occupied  by  Samuel  Foley,  and  there  committed  suicide  22nd  April,  1717  (k). 
Robert  received  his  early  education  at  the  Clonmel  Free  School,  whence 
probably  he  passed  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  Having  read  his  terms  he 
was  called  to  the  bar  in  1723.  As  politics,  or  rather  factionism,  was  in  those 
days  the  surest  road  to  success  at  the  bar,  Marshall  became  early  identified 
with  the  Hamerton  as  opposed  to  the  Moore  party  in  Clonmel.  In  1725  on 
the  death  of  Robert  Fitzgerald,  Recorder  of  the  town,  he  had  himself 
nominated  for  the  office,  in  opposition  to  Thomas  Marlay,  Solicitor-General, 
the  champion  of  the  Moore  interest  After  a  fierce  contest  Stephen  Moore, 
mayor,  declared  Marlay  elected,  but  Marshall  on  petition  to  the  Privy  Council 
unseated  him.  This  was  the  foundation  of  Marshall's  career.  Two  years 
later  at  the  general  election  consequent  on  the  accession  of  George  II.,  he  and 
Robert  Hamerton  contested  Clonmel  against  the  Moores.  The  Moores  were 
returned,  but  Marshall  and  Hamerton  petitioning  the  House  of  Commons 
unseated  them  and  became  members  of  parliament  during  the  life-time  of  the 
king.  With  parliamentary  influence  success  at  the  bar  rapidly  followed. 
Marshall  was  briefed  in  all  the  leading  cases.  He  was  appointed  third 
sergeant-at-law  l8th  April,  1738 ;  second  31st  March,  1741.    Nor  was  he,  like 


(k)  See  Waterford  Arclueological  Journal^  No.  32,  p  85.  By  deeds  2nd  and  3rd  November,  1720, 
Robert  Marshall  conveyed  to  John  Bagwell  the  late  dwelling-house,  back-yard,  coach-house  and 
stables,  with  the  little  yard  and  turret  joining  the  Quay  and  Gateway  under  the  house.  Bagwell 
carried  on  business  there,  and  on  his  death  in  1752  the  place  passed  to  Riall,  his  son-in-law,  who 
founded  the  bank.  On  the  collapse  of  the  Riall's  Bank,  1820,  the  premises  were  sold  to  the 
Provincial  Bank. 


488  History  of  Clonmel. 

most  of  his  class  in  those  days,  exalted  by  humbling  himself.  The  Benchers 
had  become  at  the  time  a  close  or  rotten  corporation  "  reduced  to  tlie  mere 
mismanagement  of  existing  income  or  the  concealed  embezzlement  of 
established  assessments."  In  the  movement  for  reform  Marshall  took  a 
leading  part 

November  1736.    Ordered    That  Mr.  Parkinson  or  Mr.  Marshall  on  the  part  of 
the  Utter  Bar,  have  liberty  to  inspect  the  books  (/). 

The  greatest  Irish  law-suit  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the  trial  in 
ejectment  between  James  Annesley,  Esq.,  and  Richard  Earl  of  Anglesea. 
The  point  at  issue  was  the  legitimacy  of  Annesley,  and  on  it  depended  the 
Anglesea  estates  and  peerage.  Marshall  was  leading  counsel  for  Annesley, 
and  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  verdict  for  his  client 

By  patent  dated  20th  February,  1754,  Marshall  was  elevated  to  the  bench 
as  Justice  of  Common  Pleas.    Though  no  profound  decisions  are  credited  to 
him,  he  maintained  amid  judicial  partiality  and  venality,  a  character  upright 
and  untainted.    The  Irish  legal  historian  of  the  period  is  loud  in  his  praise. 
''The  selection  of  that  gentleman  was  extremely  judicious.     He  had  an  active 
persevering  mind,  a  warm  intrepid  temper,  and  a  judgment  sufficiently  severe 
to  distinguish  between  hollow    professions  and  practical  inclinations   to 
tyranny.      Such  a  person  was  well  calculated  to  depress  a  guilty  group  [his 
fellow-judges],  not  more  by  personal  courage,  than  undisguised  contempt"  (m). 
This  is  perhaps  as  great  a  tribute  as  can  be  paid  to  any  Irish  judge  of  the 
eighteenth  century.    In   1764  Marshall  was  in  failing  health,  as  leave  of 
absence  for  six  months  in  England  was  granted  him  l6th  November  "without 
forfeiture,  damage  or  prejudice  to  his  patent,  notwithstanding  the  statute  of 
absentees."    Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1767,  he  retired  from  the  bench  to 
his  seaside  residence  at  Seapoint  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  died  19th  November,  1772. 

Marshall  was  as  successful  in  his  matrimonial  as  in  his  legal  careen  He 
was  married  twice;  first  to  Arabella,  sister  of  Sir  Nicholas  Osborne,  fifth 
baronet ;  secondly  to  a  Miss  Wooley,  a  granddaughter  of  Sir  Abraham  Yamer, 
who  was  said  to  have  been  possessed  of  a  fortune  of  £30,000 — a  colossal 
marriage  portion  in  those  days. 

Perhaps  his  chief  claim  to  remembrance  is  that  he  and  Bishop  Berkeley 
were  joint  residuary  legatees  to  Vanessa.    But  Marshall  bore  Swift  no  great 


(l)  History  of  King's  Inns.— Duhig,  p.  297. 
(m)  Duhigg,  p.  I9«. 


History  of  Clonmel.  ^89 

affection,  and  Swift  blamed  him  for  the  publication  of  the  poem  of  Cadenus 
and  Vanessa.  Yet  when  the  great  Dean  passed  away  the  project  of  a  national 
memorial  had  no  more  energetic  supporter  than  Marshall. 


William  John  Duane. 

He  was  born  in  Clonmel  in  1780.  Like  so  many  of  his  countrymen,  he 
emigrated  to  America  at  an  early  age,  and  like  them  he  had  in  the  struggle 
for  livelihood,  to  follow  a  variety  of  occupations.  For  a  considerable  time  he 
worked  as  a  journeyman  printer;  he  next  appears  as  a  paper  dealer,  and 
finally  in  1815  adopted  the  profession  of  the  law.  He  soon  rose  to  a  leading 
position ;  became  one  of  the  pioneer  educationists  of  America,  appointed 
trustee  and  director  of  Girard  College.  Entering  political  life  he  represented 
Philadelphia  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  eventually  obtained  the  secretary- 
ship of  the  United  States  Treasury.  But  being  a  man  of  strong  views  and 
purpose  he  came  into  collision  with  President  Jackson.  In  consequence  of 
declining  to  remove  the  deposits  from  the  United  States  Bank,  he  was  retired 
from  the  secretaryship.  His  later  years  were  largely  devoted  to  literature, 
the  "Law  of  Nations  Investigated"  being  perhaps  the  best  known  of  his 
works. 

Duane  died  27th  September,  1865,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year. 


William  Phelan. 

William  Phelan  was  born  29th  of  April,  1789,  in  Clonmel.  His  father 
who  was  a  wool-comber,  destining  him  for  the  priesthood,  sent  him  to  study 
Latin  under  one  Michael  Ryan  the  principal,  if  not  the  only,  Catholic  school- 
master in  the  town.  Here  he  made  so  rapid  progress  that  in  1803  he  stood 
a  concursus  in  Waterford  for  entrance  into  Maynooth.  Though  successful, 
the  Catholic  authorities  did  not  nominate  him  to  a  place  in  the  college, 
whether  by  reason  of  his  youth  or  other  disqualification  has  not  been 
explained.  Phelan  now  entered  the  Clonmel  Endowed  School  conducted  at 
this  time  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Carey.  Here  in  the  words  of  a  biographer  "  a 
new  world  dawned  upon  young  Phelan's  vision — the  philosophy  and  the 
poetry  of  the  Greeks  were  no  longer  sealed  volumes;  his  ambition  was 
kindled  and  the  pathway  to  fame  seemed  to  lie  open  before  him."  In  1806 
he  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  as  a  sizar  and  there  registered  himself  as 
a  Protestant  His  scanty  allowance  as  sizar  was  supplemented  by  his  old 
master,  Carey,  and  his  college  tutor,  Rev.  C.  W.  Wall.    Amongst  others  who 


490  History  of  Clonmel. 

befriended  him  were  the  famous  William  C.  Plunkett,  and  Dr.   afterwards 
Archbishop  Magee.    At  first  Phelan  aspired  to  the  bar  but  subsequently 
turned  his  thoughts  towards  the  Established  Church.    His  college  career 
was  brilliant;  he  carried  off  premiums  in  almost  every  branch  of  study,  winning 
a  scholarship,  a  degree  and  a  gold  medal.    In  1814  he  was  appointed  second 
master  of  Londonderry  Endowed  School,  and  the  following  year  took  orders 
in  the  Established  Church.      In  1816  the  first  of  his  publications  appeared,  a 
pamphlet  in  denunciation  of  Bible  Societies.      But  his  consuming  ambition 
would  not  allow  him  to  rest,  though  his  health  was  already  enfeebled.     Three 
times  he  contested  a  fellowship  in  Trinity,  the  third  occasion  in  1817,  he  was 
successful,  mainly,  it  was  said,  through  the  influence  of  Magee.      In  1 818  he 
was  elected  Donnellan  lecturer.    Forming  the  acquaintance  of  a  Miss  Margaret 
Phibbs,  he  petitioned  the  crown  for  a  dispensation  from  the  statute  forbidding 
fellows  to  marry.    Unsuccessful   in  this,  he  resigned  his   fellowship   and 
married  in  1823.    Dr.  Doyle  being  now  at  the  height  of  his  fame,   Phelan 
entered  the  lists  against  him  in  1824  with  his  "  Case  of  the  Church  of  Ireland 
stated  in  a  Letter  to  the  Marquess  Wellesley,  in  reply  to  J.K.L."    This  was 
published  under  the  pseudonym  "  Declan,"  and  was  one  of  the  few  replies 
which  the  bishop  thought  worthy  of  his  notice.      Archbishop  McHale  also 
complimented  Phelan's  work.     "  In  point  of  purity  of  language  and  pretension 
to   theological    learning,    Declan's   is  unquestionably   the  most  creditable 
production  by  which  the  Bishop  has  been  combated."    The  "Case  of  the 
Church  of  Ireland  "  earned   for  its  author  the  rectories  of  Killyman   and 
Ardtrea  worth  £2,000  a  year.    A  mitre  was  now  at  no  great  distance  oflF,  and 
though  in  broken  health  Phelan,  under  the  stimulus  partly  of  habit  partly  of 
ambition,  worked  harder  than  ever.    The  results  appeared  in  1827  in  the 
"  History  of  the  Policy  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  Ireland,"  a  powerful  piece 
of  special  pleading.      This  work  in  its  apparent  breadth  of  research,  its 
passion  and  absoluteness  of  expression,  attracted  great  attention  and  for 
many  years  was  quoted  as  an  authority.    But  it  exhausted  its  author,  and 
Phelan's  feverish  and  un tranquil  life  came  to  an  end  13th  June,  1830.     Two 
years  after,  his  "  Remains  "  in  two  volumes,  were  published  by  Bishop  Jebb. 


RICHARD  DOWLING. 

Richard  Dowling  was  born  in  Clonmel  on  June  3rd,  1846.  He  was 
educated  partly  in  Clonmel  and  partly  at  St  Muncheon's  College,  Limerick. 
When  he  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  Waterford  and  entered 
the  office  of  his  uncle,  William  Downey,  a  shipbroker.    In  Waterford  he 


History  of  Clonmel.  4w 

commenced  his  journalistic  career,  contributing  sketches  and  poems  and 
stories  to  The  Waterford  News,  The  Waterford  Chronicle,  and  The  Waterford 
Citizen,  He  was  for  a  short  time  during  his  residence  in  Waterford  a 
contributor  to  A.  M.  Sullivan's  Nation.  When  A.  M.  Sullivan  in  1870  started 
his  halfpenny  Daily  Summary  he  invited  Richard  Dowling  to  become  its 
editor.  The  Daily  Summary  ceased  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Franco-German 
war,  and  Dowling  remained  at  The  Nation  office  taking  editorial  charge  of 
Zozimus  when  A.  M.  Sullivan  retired  from  the  editorship.  For  some  years 
Zozimus  achieved  a  certain  amount  of  success.  After  its  publication  was 
given  up  Dowling  started  and  edited  a  sixpenny  weekly — Ireland's  Eye.  In 
1875  he  left  Ireland  and  settled  in  London. 

During  the  time  of  his  sojourn  in  Dublin  he  wrote  several  stories,  short 
and  long.  He  contributed  a  serial  novel  (never  published  in  book  form)  to 
The  Weekly  News,  and  the  London  firm  of  John  Camden  Hotten  got  out  a  small 
volume  of  his  humorous  essays  with  the  title  of  "  Babies  and  Ladders."  In 
London,  Dowling  joined  the  staff  of  The  Illustrated  Sporting  and  Dramatic  News, 
contributing  to  it  a  series  of  humorous  sketches  under  the  title  of  "  Andrew 
O'Rourke's  Ramblings,"  and  he  started  a  humorous  weekly  paper  called  Yorick 
which  had  a  brief  existence.  In  1878,  Tinsley  Brothers  published  his  first,  and 
possibly  his  best,  novel,  "  The  Mystery  of  Killard."  This  was  followed  by 
"The  Weird  Sisters,"  " Under  St.  Paul's,"  " The  Sport  of  Fate,"  "The  Duke's 
Sweetheart,"  " Sweet  Inisf ail,"  "  A  Sapphire  Ring,"  "The  Husband's  Secret," 
each  of  them  issued  in  three-volume  form  by  Tinsley  Brothers.  He  wrote 
Tinsley's  Annual  for  three  years  in  succession. 

He  produced  many  three-volume  novels  subsequently,  amongst  them 
being  "An  Isle  of  Surrey,"  "Tempest  Driven,"  "Fatal  Bonds,"  "Miracle 
Gold,"  "A  Baffling  Quest,"  "Below  Bridge."  The  last  novel  of  his  published 
during  his  lifetime  was  "  Old  Corcoran's  Money,"  the  scene  of  which  is  laid 
in  Clonmel  and  its  neighbourhood.  After  his  death  a  short  novel,  "  A  Lance 
in  Ambush,"  appeared. 

Richard  Dowling  wrote  innumerable  short  stories,  many  of  which  were 
from  time  to  time  collected  and  issued  in  book  form.  He  was  also  the  author 
of  two  volumes  of  admirable  essays  whimsically  entitled  "  Ignorant  Essays  " 
and  "Indolent  Essays."  He  died  at  his  residence,  Foulser  Road,  Upper 
Tooting,  London,  on  Thursday,  July  8th,  1898,  and  he  was  buried  at  the 
Catholic  cemetery  at  Mortlake  fn). 


(n)  For  the  above  sketch  I  ain  indebted  to  a  kinsman  of  Dowling,  the  well-known  litterateur^ 
Edmund  Downey  (<*  F.  M.  Allen.") 


492  History  of  Clonmel. 


Adde^nda. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

The  latest  volumes  of  the  Ormonde  Manuscripts  (o)  afford  some  additional 
particulars  as  to  Clonmel  topgraphy  in  the  time  of  Charles  XL  When  in  1662 
the  Act  of  Settlement  was  on  the  anvil,  the  Cromwellians  in  Clonmel  as 
elsewhere  were  in  anxious  suspense  at  the  prospect  of  being  dispossessed. 
For  by  the  Act  the  towns  were  to  be  granted  to  those  who  had  fought  for  the 
king  in  Ireland  before  1649,  that  is  to  say  Protestant  royalists.  Now  these 
were  only  one  degree  less  to  be  dreaded  than  Irish  Catholics.  If,  however, 
Ormond  the  chief  of  them,  elected  Clonmel  in  satisfaction  of  his  claims,  the 
Cromwellians  anticipated  little  disturbance.  On  22nd  March,  1662,  the 
mayor,  bailiffs  and  others  wrote  to  George  Mathew,  Ormond's  agent  and 
half-brother. 

Worthy  Sir:  Pursuant  to  the  discourse  some  of  us  had  with  you  yesterday, 
and  to  what  some  weeks  since  was  requested  by  ourselues  and  many  others  in  our 
congratulatory  address  to  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  we  do  hereby  entreat  the 
fulfilling  of  your  courteous  promise  by  furthering  what  you  can  our  pressing  desires  of 
holding  from  that  noble  family.  Although  we  haue  not  acquainted  many  with  our 
writing  to  you  at  this  time,  yet  dare  we  promise  you  that  nothing  can  be  more  welcome 
than  its  success  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  place,  as  their  late  unanimous  and  cheerful 
subscribing  the  address  above  mentioned  doth  sufficiently  evince.  Sir,  we  have  nothing 
to  add  but  that  your  careful  endeavours  in  this  business  (besides  our  town  in  general) 
shall  particularly  oblige  your  very  humble  servants. 

Charles  Blount,  Tho.  Stanley,  Rob.  Knight,  Ri.  Hamerton,  Sam.  Ladyman, 
Charles  Alcocke. 

Three  years  later,  by  a  special  clause  in  the  Act  of  Explanation,  Clonmel 
was  granted  to  Ormond.  In  the  transmission  of  the  rentals  and  other 
documents  to  John  Walsh,  Ormond's  law-agent,  complaints  were  made  that 
Elyas  Prendergast,  who  seems  to  have  acted  as  receiver,  had  withheld  some. 
The  latter  wrote  indignantly,  November  7th,  1666,  to  Walsh. 


(0)  Historical  Manuscripts'  Commission. 


History  of  Clonmel.  493 

I  thank  God  I  never  yet  betrayed  my  trust  to  any  persons  that  ever  intrusted  me, 
upon  any  reward ;  nor  never  will,  if  the  Turk  did  intrust  me  unless  it  were  against  my 
conscience,  but  this  world  is  for  ever  injuring  and  backbiting,  but  I  leaue  all  in  the 
hands  of  God. 

He  appended  an  inventory  of  the  documents  delivered  to  David  Walsh. 

1.  The  seven  years  leases,  in  number,  88. 

2.  The  rent  rolls  of  Clonmel  6  May  '59. 

3.  An  abstract  of  the  survey  of  the  burgagery  t659. 

4.  A  copy  of  the  rent  roll  of  the  town  of  Clonmel,  28***  of  June  1660,  with  three 
warrants  thereunto  annexed,  signed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Batty,  mayor,  Robert  Lovelace, 
and  Richard  Parrett,  bailiffs  then. 

5.  A  list  of  the  quantity  of  acres  in  the  Birg,  with  the  names  of  such  inhabitants 
as  had  then  paid  towards  the  defending  the  title. 

6.  A  warrant  signed  by  the  general  meeting  at  Clonmel,  the  20**»  of  April,  1660,  by 
the  then  mayor,  bailiffs,  free  burgesses  and  commons  of  the  said  town  then. 

7.  The  authority  given  by  the  mayor,  bailiffs  etc.  bearing  date  25'**  of  April,  1659, 
authorizing  and  enabling  Colonel  Sankey,  John  Booker,  Tho.  Batty  Esquires,  to 
compound  them  in  the  Exchequer  for  the  cabins  and  gardens. 

8.  The  certificate  of  Richard  Denison  to  Captain  John  Harrison  of  his  proportion 
in  the  suburbs,  dated  the  20**»  May  1661. 

9.  Three  several  certificates  signed  by  John  Cooley  surveyor. 

10.  An  acquittance  signed  by  Gfeorge  Derby  for  the  receipt  of  55s.  ster. 

From  this  it  appears  that  during  the  Commonwealth  the  town  still 
remained  the  property  of  the  state,  leases  ad  interim  for  seven  years  being 
granted  to  the  new  settlers  pending  the  final  allotment. 

After  the  Restoration  the  Fort  of  Clonmel  was  allowed  to  get  out  of 
repair.  During  the  French  scare  of  1666  Orrery  reported  that  no  guns  were 
mounted,  nor  even  platforms  on  which  to  place  them.  Seven  years  later 
Davys,  Ormond's  chancellor  in  the  Palatinate,  spoke  of  dismantling  the 
citadel.  The  Cromwellian  inhabitants,  fearful  lest  as  in  1641  the  Irish  should 
seize  the  town,  strongly  protested.  On  9th  August,  1673,  Charles  Alcocke 
wrote  to  Mathew  : — 

According  to  the  commands  I  received  lately  from  your  Honour  at  Thomastown, 
I  have  acquainted  the  mayor  of  this  town  with  what  Sir  Wm.  Davis  lately  intimated  to 
your  Honour  concerning  the  dismantling  of  the  citadel  of  this  town,  which  the  mayor 
apprehends  to  be  a  matter  of  that  moment,  that  he  desires  your  Honour  or  Sir  William 
Davis  will  please  to  intimate  your  sense  or  desire  in  the  matter  under  your  hands,  that 
so  he  may  advise  with  his  brethren  of  this  corporation  in  order  to  give  your  Honour  a 
full  and  satisfactory  answer,  which  will  be  much  an  obligation  to  them. 

The  protest  was  unavailing.  In  the  negotiations  for  the  establishing  of 
the  woollen  industry,  Nelthorpe  cast  his  eyes  on  the  Fort  as  the  most  suitable 
premises  for  the  factory.     A  correspondent  wrote  to  Ormond  :  "  Nelthorpe 


494  History  of  Clonmel. 

desired  me  to  write  to  your  Grace  that  the  town  being  your  Grace's  own  there 
might  be  some  great  house  for  a  work-house,  and  a  place  for  a  fulling  mill 
without  much  charge.  His  proposals  will  be  very  full,  he  tells  me  they  are 
now  laying  out  £500  upon  tools  for  their  purpose,  and  then  will  go  several 
good  families  over."  Two  months  later,  December  22nd,  1674,  Nelthorpe 
wrote  to  Ormond  : — 

At  Clonmel  Mr.  Hill  tells  me  he  cannot  find  any  place  so  convenient  as  your 
Grace's  fort,  which  is  walled  in,  with  the  little  house  and  other  conveniences  therein,  for 
which  your  Grace  receives  but  £iO  per  ann.  with  the  addition  of  ten  acres  of  land.  I 
would  not  anyways  be  burthensome  to  your  Grace  and  give  you  what  your  Grace  pleases 
for  the  fort,  with  as  much  other  land  as  Mr.  Hill  desires  to  it.  And  I  request  a  lease 
thereof  for  as  long  a  time  as  your  Grace  usually  lets  leases,  for  its  probable  I  may 
improve  it  by  erecting  some  buildings. 

Nelthorpe  would  appear  to  have  merely  exploited  the  woollen  industry, 
for  on  17th  March,  1677,  he  thanks  Mathew  for  his  readiness  to  patronise  the 
manufacture,  and  begs  he  would  continue  his  patronage  to  Mr.  Nicholas 
White  who  had  bought  it.  Nelthorpe  concludes  by  requesting  a  transfer  of 
the  lease  to  White,  and  assures  Mathew  that  "  the  manufactory  may  own  its 
preservation  to  his,  Mathew's  assistance  and  protection  "  (p). 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  famous  war  correspondent,  W.  H.  Russell,  represented  The  Times  at 
the  trials  in  Clonmel  of  Smith  O'Brien  and  the  other  insurrectionary  leaders 
in  1848.    His  reminiscences  of  the  episode  deserve  to  be  recorded. 

On  the  20th  September,  1848, 1  left  Dublin  for  Clonmel.  The  State  Trials  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  confederates  in  "  the  Rising  "  which  subsided  in  the  Widow  Cormack's 
cabbage  garden,  were  to  open  the  next  day.  The  Times  had  sent  over  as  my  senior 
Mr.  Nicholls  of  the  Chancery  bar,  a  precise,  stiff,  dry  but  kind-hearted  man,  whose 


(p)  Besides  the  question  of  the  Fort,  the  corporation  was  in  dispute  with  Ormond  over  the 
range  of  houses  in  the  centre  of  High  Street,  and  also  the  Alms  House  adjoining  the  church.  On 
25th  September,  1677,  Mathew  wrote: — 

Mr.  Robinson  will  deliver  your  grace  the  model  of  the  new  prison  at  Clonmel  with  his  opinion 
of  the  charge  and  his  sense  as  to  the  removal  of  the  houses  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  which  are 
your  Graces  property,  and  would  have  been  decreed  so  by  law  if  you  had  not  directed  the  stopping 
of  the  suit. 

Ormond  wrote  to  Mathew,  February  17th,  1679: — 

I  wish  that  now  at  the  turn  there  may  be  an  end  put  to  the  suit  betwixt  the  town  of  Clonmel 
and  me;  that  is  that  the  arrear  may  be  forgiven  them,  the  almshouses  restored  to  its  proper  use,  and 
the  >f9  or  ;i'io  a  year  given  them.  For  I  do  not  desire  at  this  time  to  appear  hard  in  my  own 
interest  upon  a  Corporation  that  is  poor  and  will  be  clamorous. 


History  of  Clonmel.  495 

short  visit  to  Ireland  filled  him  with  anger— now  against  the  people,  now  against  the 
priests,  anon  against  the  Government  (he  was  not  quite  sure  which  were  to  blame)  for 
the  misery  he  beheld.  We  had  comfortable  lodgings  in  the  house  of  a  respectable 
cutler  named  Holmes  in  Dublin-street  and  Delane  [editor  of  The  Times]  who  had  been 
on  a  visit  to  Bemal  Osborne  at  Newtown  Anner,  came  into  Clonmel  to  see  us  on  his 
way  to  London.  He  was  impressed  with  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  **  It's  useless 
talking  of  the  loyalty  or  disloyalty  of  the  people !  They  are  all  against  us !  They  do 
not  like  our  laws,  our  ways,  or  anything  that  is  ours !  But  the  government  and  land- 
owners, supported  by  the  police  and  the  army,  can  always  deal  with  insurrection,  and 
the  Jury  to-morrow  will  be  quite  safe,"  It  was  a  very  remarkable  scene  next  morning. 
We  made  our  way  with  difficulty  through  a  dense  crowd  to  the  courthouse,  which  was 
guarded  by  a  large  body  of  police  with  fixed  bayonets.  Horse,  foot  and  artillery  were 
close  at  hand  in  readiness  to  support  them.  We  passed  between  a  line  of  police  to  our 
places  reserved  by  the  High  Sheriff.  The  court  was  crowded  from  floor  to  ceiling ;  on 
the  bench  arrayed  in  their  scarlet  and  ermine  robes  and  in  flowing  wigs,  were  the  four 
judges— the  Chief  Justice,  Mr.  Justice  Blackburn,  Mr.  Justice  Crampton,  Mr.  Justice 
Perrin — who  were  sent  down  under  a  Special  Commission  to  try  the  prisoners.  There 
was  a  great  "bar"  retained  for  the  Crown  on  the  one  side  and  for  the  prisoners  on  the 
other.  The  proceedings  began  with  the  skirmishing  between  counsel  which  usually 
precedes  the  joint  battle,  giving  ample  room  for  the  display  of  the  ingenuity  and  finesse 
which  are  supposed  to  characterise  the  Irish  bar. 

There  were  dramatic  scenes  and  moving  incidents  from  day  to  day.  I  may  be  under 
the  influence  of  impressions  formed  at  a  time  when  I  was  what  is  called  emotional  if  I 
now  express  the  opinion  that  on  no  occasion  in  any  court  of  law  was  there  a  more 
brilliant  illustration  of  learning,  argument,  passion,  and  wit  than  that  by  which  counsel 
for  the  prisoners,  in  the  long  course  of  this  trial,  moved  the  audience,  if  they  failed  to 
convince  the  jury  or  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  judges  from  the  essential  issues 
before  them.  From  the  gallery  at  times  burst  forth  wailing  cries  or  suppressed  groans 
as  the  witnesses  forged  link  after  link  of  the  chain  which  bound  the  accused  to  their 
fate.  The  dignity  of  the  Court  was  exemplary,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  we  could 
believe  our  eyes,  or  rather  our  ears,  when  one  night,  after  dinner,  to  which  we  were 
invited  by  the  judges,  we  heard  Mr.  Justice  Blackburn  trolling  an  Irish  melody  with 
exquisite  pathos  in  a  rich  mellow  voice.  I  found  that  my  colleague  NichoUs  was  by 
degrees  touched  with  something  like  sympathy  for  some  of  the  prisoners.  "Smith 
O'Brien,"  he  said,  *'  after  all  conducts  himself  like  a  gentleman,  and  that  M'Manus  is 
a  fine  honest  fellow.  I  pity  him !  I  dare  say  if  one  knew  Meagher  he  would  turn  out 
to  be  a  pleasant  agreeable  man,  full  of  enthusiasm  and  poetry,  but  he  is  without 
judgment."  The  end  came  at  last.  On  October  8th,  the  jury  came  into  Court  with  a 
verdict  of  "Guilty"  against  William  Smith  O'Brien  for  high  treason  and  for  levying 
war  against  the  Queen,  with  a  recommendation  to  the  merciful  consideration  of  the 
Crown.  He  with  his  arms  folded,  his  head  thrown  back,  and  a  scornful  smile  upon  his 
lips,  listened  to  the  judge  with  the  utmost  calmness.  When  called  upon  to  say  why 
sentence  of  death  should  not  be  passed  upon  him,  he  spoke  in  measured  accents, 
declaring  that  he  had  done  what  was  right  as  he  believed  and  that  he  had  nothing  to 
repent  but  his  failure.  On  the  9th  he  was  brought  up  and  placed  in  the  dock  to  receive 
the  sentence  of  the  Court,  which  was  "  that  you  William  Smith  O'Brien  be  drawn  on  a 
hurdle  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  hanged  by  the  neck  until  you  be  dead ;  that  you 
then  shall  be  disemboweled  and  your  body  divided  into  four  quarters,  to  be  disposed  of 
as  her  Majesty  should  direct."  It  was  said  at  the  time  that  his  composure  was  due  to 
an  assurance  the  night  before  that  he  would  not  be  executed,  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
he  was  influenced  in  the  defiant  attitude  by  the  knowledge  that  he  would  only  be 
condemned  to  transportation  for  life.  M'Manus  who  was  the  next  put  on  trial,  a  man 
of  action,  no  orator  or  phrasemonger,  conducted  himself  with  perfect  propriety.  A 
resolute  revolutionist,  he  had  renounced  a  competence,  and  placed  his  life  on  the  hazard 
of  the  die  in  that  miserable  rising.  Even  the  judges  were  moved  by  the  honesty  and 
earnestness  of  the  man.  He  was  found  guilty  on  the  I2th.  After  him  on  the  13th, 
came  O'Donoghue,  then  Meagher  on  the  2ist,  each  to  be  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to 
a  traitor's  doom  on  the  23rd  of  October. 


496  History  of  Clonmel. 

A  delightful  visit  to  Knocklofty,  Lord  Donoughmore's  charming  seat,  in  a  beautifuJ 
park  surrounded  by  picturesque  scenery,  closed  my  sojourn  at  Clonmel.  I  left  the 
town  on  the  day  after  the  rising  of  the  Court,  carrying  with  me  as  a  souvenir  a  book  in 
which  Smith  O'Brien,  Meagher,  M*Manus  and  O'Donoghue  signed  their  names  "  in 
remembrance,"  and  very  sad  and  distressed  I  was  at  the  fate  of  these  miserable  men.  (qK 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

Since  this  chapter  was  written,  a  further  search  in  the  Privy  Council 
Minute  Books  at  the  Public  Record  Office,  has  thrown  some  additional  light 
on  the  case  of  Father  Sheehy. 

The  Rev.  John  Hewetson,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  chief  agent  in 
working  up  the  case  against  the  unfortunate  priest.  For  his  efforts  and 
success  he  received  among  others,  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the  Grand  Jury  of 
the  County  Dublin.  Hewetson  in  acknowledgment,  May  14th,  1767,  wrote : 
"  This  approbation  of  my  conduct  I  look  upon  as  the  highest  reward  and 
greatest  incentive  to  the  most  vigorous  exertion  of  my  poor  abilities  in  the 
service  of  my  King  and  Country."  But  inferior  rewards  and  incentives  were 
not  wanting.    The  Council  Book,  27th  February,  1770,  has  a — 

Warrant  to  the  Reverend  John  Hewetson  for  £227  lOs.  in  full  for  his  expense  and 
trouble  in  the  prosecuting  and  bringing  to  justice  certain  offenders  called  White  Bo3rs 
and  in  preserving  the  peace  of  the  county  where  he  resides  and  as  expression  of  the 
sense  which  Government  hath  of  merit  and  services. 

Agreed  to  and  Corcordatum,  etc. 

The  instruments  used  by  Hewetson  in  the  "  service  of  his  king  and 
country  "  were  not  forgotten. 

19  June  1767. 

Memorial  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  County  of  Tipperary  praying  a  Reward  of  £5oo 
might  be  given  equaly  to  John  and  Thomas  Lonergan  and  John  Toughy  for  their  good 
services  and  sufferings  in  prosecuting  and  convicting  several  persons  concerned  in  the 
late  risings  in  s**  County— Read — the  further  consideration  thereof  postponed 

(q)  What  Russell  regarded  as  mere  legal  skirmishing,  was  in  reality  a  contest  between  ooansel 
as  to  whether  O'Brien  and  his  fellows  were  to  be  tried  according  to  the  constitution  or  not.  In 
England  the  prisoner's  counsel  has  in  High  Treason  trials  the  right  to  obtain  a  list  of  the  witnesses.  This 
right  was  refused  to  O'Brien's  counsel.  Further  the  panel  was  taken  from  the  Grand  Jury  List. 
Out  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  jurors,  there  were  only  twenty  Catholics.  The  sheriff  took 
the  additional  precaution  that  among  the  first  twenty-six  names,  no  single  Catholic  should  be  found. 

But  one  incident  in  the  trial  attracted  European  notice.  In  1832  the  Liberals  anticipated  civil 
war  as  the  result  of  the  Reform  Bill.  The  artizans  of  Birmingham  purposing  to  march  on  London, 
one  of  the  king's  ministers  instigated  General  Sir  William  Napier  to  take  command.  General 
Napier  now  attended  in  Clonmel  with  the  letter  in  his  pocket.  The  court  however  would  not  admit 
the  evidence.  For  the  king's  minister  might  do  with  impunity  what  in  O'Brien  was  adjudged  high 
treason. 


History  of  Clonmel.  497 

10  Feb.  1768. 

Memorial  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  County  of  Tipperaiy  praying  that  the  sum  of 
£600  might  be  given  equally  to  John  and  Tho"  Lonergan  and  John  Toughy  for  their 
good  service  and  sufferings  in  prosecuting  and  convicting  several  persons  concerned  in 
the  late  risings — Read,  and  agreed  that  John  and  Thomas  Lonergan  should  be  ordered 
up  to  Town  to  be  examined  and  that  a  guard  should  be  sent  with  them  to  protect  them 
from  any  insult  being  offered  to  them. 

3  March,  1768. 

John  and  Thomas  Lonergan  who  were  recommended  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  the 
County  of  Tipperary  to  the  Government  and  Council  to  be  rewarded  for  their  good 
services  in  prosecuting  on  behalf  of  the  Crown  different  persons  engaged  in  the  late 
risings  in  the  County  of  Tipperary  and  in  the  murder  of  Bridges  for  discovering  those 
concerned  in  the  risings  and  refusing  to  engage  with  them. 

The  said  John  and  Tho"  Lonergan  call'd  in— and  after  being  examined— as  also 
W"  Gore  a  Taylor  who  had  the  care  of  the  said  Lonergan  for  two  years,  it  was  agreed 
that  an  apprentice  fee  of  £lO  should  be  given  with  John  Lonergan  to  a  weaver  to  be 
taught  the  weaving  trade.  And  that  an  Apprentice  Fee  of  £lO  should  be  given  with 
Tho"  Lonergan  to  the  s^  W"  Gore  to  teach  him  the  Tailor's  trade  and  that  after  they 
had  served  their  different  apprenticeships,  if  they  behaved  well  each  of  them  are  to 
receive  from  Government  and  Council  the  sum  of  fifty  pounds  to  set  them  up  in  their 
different  trades.  It  was  also  agreed  that  the  sum  of  £l2  should  be  paid  to  the  s^*  W" 
Gore  in  full  of  all  his  demands  for  his  disbursements  for  them  while  under  his  care  and 
the  sum  of  £20  for  his  trouble  in  taking  care  of  them  and  ten  pounds  to  buy  them 
doaths  and  bear  their  charges  to  ClonmeU. 

5  April  1768  Warrant  for  £62  to  discharge  said  payments  (r). 


(r)  Some  noticea  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  case  are  contained  in  the  Minutes. 

7  Feb.  1765. 

The  several  Examinations  taken  before  lA  O  Justice  Gore  against  the  White  Boys  and  others 
relative  to  several  Disturbances  and  Outrages  committed  by  them  in  the  Counties  of  Kilkenny  Water- 
ford  and  Tipperary— Read— and  agreed  that— Copys  thereof  should  be  sent  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
and  that  a  Proclamation  should  be  issued  offering  a  Reward  of  £zgo  for  the  apprehending  of 
Nicholas  Shehee  a  Popish  Priest 

13  Feb.  1765. 

Order  to  Attorney  or  Solic  General  to  prepare  Proclamo'offering  a  reward  for  apprehending 
N.  S.  of  Shanrahan.     Proclam"  prepared — read — signed. 


INDIX  OF  SUBJECTS 

(For  full  references  see  General  Index). 


ABORIGINAL  INHABITANTS— Traces  of,  1. 

AGRICULTURE— In  the  17th  century,  42  ;  in  the  18th  century,  129, 131, 181. 

ALCOCKE  FAMILY— 324-6. 

ALMS  HOUSE— Erection  of,  68 ;  leased  by  Col.  Sankcy,  242  ;  restored  to  corporation,  494  (note) ; 
new  one  erected  by  Catholics,  283. 

ALTAR  PLATE,  ANCIENT— 276,  310-2. 

ANGLO-NORMANS — Settlement  of  Tipperary,  6;  original  grantees,  7-8;  Irish  still  remain  on  the 
land,  9;  Celtic  and  feudal  systems  side  by  side,  9-10;  Celtic  ascendency,  11,  21. 

ART,  CELTIC— 3-4;  420-3. 

ASSIZE  OF  BREAD,  &c.— 172-3. 


BACON  TRADE— 186. 

BAGWELL  FAMILY— Origin,  174-5;  pedigree,  326;  senior  branch,  129, 162,  176,  326,  366;  junior 
branch,  133, 169, 166,  321,  323  {see  General  Index). 

BANKING,  PRIVATE— William  Vaughan,  102;   John  Bagwell,  188;   Moore   &   Markham,  188; 
Rialls,  188-191,  338;  Watsons,  189;  Clonmel  National,  191;  Sadleirs,  191-3. 

BARON  FAMILY— Tomb  in  St.  Mary's,  269;  pedigree,  326;  Bonaventure  Baron,  480-486;  Geoffry 
Baron,  469-479. 

BIANCONI,  CHARLES— 194. 

BOUNTIES,  PARLIAMENTARY— Stimulus  to  agriculture,  129, 181. 

BRENOCK  FAMILY— 328-9.    *  * 

BREWING    AND    MALTING— In  the  17th  century,   43-4;    in  the  18th  century,   132;   in    the 
nineteenth,  186. 

BRIDGES— Old  Bridge,  66;  New  and  Convent  Bridges,  198. 

BURGAGERY  LANDS— Grant  of,  12-3;  subsequent  history,  116,  176,  218,  232-3,  318  (note),  442, 
[see  Manor]. 

BURKE  FAMILY— William  Fitz  Adelm,  7-8,  22  (note);  Richard  De  Burgh,  7  (note),  12-3;  territory 
of,  11,  431  (note). 

BUTLER  FAMILY— 7-8;  of  relative  unimportance  until  14th  century,  426;  palatinate  grant,  424; 
oppression  by,  22  seq. 

H  I 


600  Index  of  Subjects. 

CAHIR,  LORDS  OF— De  Worcester,  8;  De  Birmingham,  9,  16,  19;  Butler,  302;  tomb  of  tbtd; 
oppression  of  freeholders  by,  22. 

CENSUS  OF  1669—444-66. 

CHARITIES— Catholic,  283-6;  Protestant,  291-3. 

CHARTERS— List  of,  216. 

CHARTER  OF  JAMES  I.— Clonmel  a  free  borough  governed  by  a  mayor,  bailifirs  and  council. 
218-220;  recorder,  town-clerk  and  sergeant-at-mace,  221;  mayor  and  recorder  to  t>e  justices 
of  peace,  bailiffs  to  issue  writs,  222;  power  to  make  by-laws  and  create  guilds,  223;  mayor's 
court,  markets,  224;  citizens  to  be  exempted  from  juries,  226;  charter  rights  confined  to 
Protestants,  227. 

CLONMEL,  NAME   OF— 6  (note). 

CLOSE  CORPORATION— Origin,  113;  town  party  and  non-residents,  114-120. 

COMMONS— Grant  of,  13;  presentments  relating  to,  120-1,  218,  233. 

CORPORATE  JOBBERY— Charges  of,  117,  121,  176-8,  233-4. 

CORPORATE   REFORM— 179-181. 

CORN  MILLING— Early,  6,  13,  43;  growth  of  in  18th  century,  129-131;  in  the  19th  century,  18M: 
list  of  mills,  183. 

COTTON  MANUFACTURE— Founded  by  Malcomsons,  184, 186-7 

COUNCIL,  MUNICIPAL— Members  of  (1608),  219;  in  1688,  108;  in  1696,  228;  in  1839,  228;  in 
1843,  228;  in  1906,  229. 

CROMWELLIAN  CLONMEL— Colonel  Sankey,  80;  guerilla  war,  81-2;  execution  of  Irish  gentle- 
men,  83;  preparation  for  clearing  town  of  Irish,  84;  transplanters  certificates,  86-6;  case  of 
Nicholas  White,  87-8;  English  invited  to  settle,  89;  how  far  successful,  90;  new  settlers,  91; 
corporation  re-established,  92;  puritanism  in  Clonmel,  93;  Major  Stanley,  94. 

CROMWELLIAN  SETTLERS— Names  of  in  1664,  246-6;  in  1660,  247-66. 


DANES — Invasion  of,  4;  probable  founders  of  Clonmel,  6-6. 

DEISI— Account  of,  1;  converted  to  Christianity,  2-3;  civilization  of,  3-4,  420,  423;  intercourse  with 
Danes,  4. 

DESMONDS— Purchase  Clonmel,  16;  their  relations  with  town,  16-16, 30-2;  manorial  rights,  214-6, 44i. 

DISSENT— Established  during  Commonwealth,  92-4;  Conflict  with  Episcopaliani8m,98-9;  subsequent 
history,  293-6. 

DONOUGHMORE    CHURCH— Etymology    of    word,    417;    history    of,    418-9;    description  of 
fabric,  420-3. 

DONOUGHMORE,  LORDS— [5r<;  Hely-Hutchinson.] 

DOWLING,  RICHARD-490-1. 

DUANE,  WILLIAM  J.-489. 

DUELLING- [sd<;  Squirearchy.] 


Index  of  Subjects.  soi 

ECCLESIASTICS,  LAWLESS— 28,  411  (note). 

EDUCATION— Slate  of  in  the  rei^jn  of  Elizabeth,  466;  free  school  established  about  1620,  68; 
Cromwellian  school,  92  (note);  i^jrammar  school  founded  1686, 148-9;  charter  school,  1747, 
160;  education  by  Catholic  teachers  a  felony,  148;  Quaker  school,  1701,  296;  charitable 
school,  1788,  201;  schools  established  in  19th  century,  200-1. 

ELIZABETH,  QUEEN— Landowners  in  Tipperary  during  reign  of,  429-34. 

ESTATE,  CORPORATE— 232-4  [see  Commons,  Burgagery,  Corporate  Jobbery.] 


FAMINE— Occasional  in  18th  century,  120. 

FEUDAL  CLONMEL— Richard  De  Burgh  founder  of  town,  12;  De  Grandisons  and  Desmonds 
successive  lords,  13-17;  town  hostile  to  Irish,  17-18;  burgher  life,  19-20. 

FITZGERALD,  THOMAS  JUDKIN— Family  of,  160;  his  proceedings  in  Cashel  and  Clogheen,  160; 
in  Carrick-on-Suir,  161;  cases  of  Mathew  Scott  and  Bernard  Wright,  162-3;  Fitzgerald 
rewarded,  163;  fate  of  his  descendants,  163  (note). 

FOLEY  FAMILY— 91-3;  Samuel  settled  in  Clonmel,  485;  petition  of  Margaret  Comerford 
against, 485  (note);  account  of  his  son,  Samuel,  Protestant  bishop  of  Down,  485-6. 

FOREIGN  TRADE— 28,  48, 102. 

FRANCISCAN  HOUSE— 67,  62,  75;  foundation,  299;  church  erected,  300;  favourite  burial 
place,  301;  Butler  and  White  monuments,  302-3;  surrender  to  Royal  Commissioners,  303-4; 
grant  of  site  to  Ormond  and  Corporation,  305;  Mooney's  visitation,  305  6;  Kinrechtan 
buried  in  church,  40;  re-occupied  by  friars,  57;  persecution,  307;  subsequent  history,  307-8; 
names  of  guardians  312-3  [see  Fort.] 

FORT— Erection  of,  168;  later  history  of,  242,  294,  308;  converted  into  a  woollen  factory,  494-5. 

FORESTALLING-Complaints  of,  25,  25ff. 


GAOL — Originally  situated  in  High  Street,  58;  removed  to  Lough  Street,  170,  494  (note);  thence  to 
Richmond  Street,  171. 

GATES,  TOWN— North,  Lough  or  Breech  Gate,  56,  75-7,  273  (note);  East  Gate  or  Dublin  Gate,  57, 
135, 171;  South  Gate,  56,  166;  West  Gate,  56. 

GENTRY,   LOCAI^-Social  life  in  16th  century,  23;  in  18th  century,  113,  124,  151-7;  troubles  of 
Catholic  gentry,  142  3,  393-4. 

GERALDINES  AND  BUTLERS— 15,  30-2,  441. 


HAMERTON  FAMILY— Origin  of,  91, 103-4,  318  (note);  contest  with  Moores,  115-6,  319. 

HELY-HUTCHINSON  FAMILY— Account  of,  356-6. 

HOTELS  AND  INNS— 169. 

HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY— Notice  of,  198-9, 


502  Index  of  Subjects. 

INDEPENDENCE,  IRISH— Declaration  of  Tipperary  gentry  and  grand  jurors,   169;  Counsellor 
Walshe's  speech,  156. 

INNISLOUNAGHT  ABBEY— Foundationof,407;  hi  story,  408-10;  suppression  by  Henry  VIII.,  411-12; 
later  history,  413;  estates  of,  413-4. 

IRISH  CUSTOMS— Brehons,  24;  dress,  29;  coyne  and  livery,  24,  28-9,  30,  410-11;  coshering,  113. 
113  (note). 


JAMES  I.— Trade  of  town  during  reign  of,  48;  brewing  and  woollen  industry,  44;  social  state  of 
citizens,  44-6;  description  of  town  at  period,  56-9. 

JAMES  II.— Clonmel  in  time  of,  107;  new  corporation,  108;  attainder  of  Protestants,  109;  war 
of  1690-1, 110-11. 

JESUITS  IN  CLONMEL— 47-8-9,  58, 138-141,  277-9. 

JOURNALISM,  LOCAL— Hibernian  Gazette,  179,  346-9 ;  Clonmel  Journal,  360  ;  Clonnicl 
Herald,  360-1;  Clonmel  Advertiser,  361;  Clonmel  Magazine,  362;  Tipperar>^  Fret- 
Press,  181,  362-4;  Tipperary  Constitution,  366-6;  Clonmel  Literary  Journal,  366;  Clonmel 
Chronicle,  356-7;  Clonmel  Advertiser,  367;  Nationalist,  367-8. 


KINRECHTAN,  REV.  MAURICE— Chaplain  to  sixteenth  Earl  of  Desmond,  38;  Ormond  announces 
his  capture  to  Burgh  ley,  39;  account  of  his  death,  39. 


LABOUR  AND  WAGES— [s<ri:  Working  Classes.] 

LAND  WAR— During  the  18th  century  Tipperary  in  pasture,  126,  202;  rapid  rise  in  rents,  202,  361-2; 
pasture  gives  place  to  tillage,  203;  increase  of  population  and  sub-division  of  holdings,  203; 
destitution  endemic,  203-4;  competition  for  land,  206;  agrarian  disturbance,  206;  protection 
under  common  law  taken  away  and  statutory  facilities  for  eviction  afforded,  206;  wholesale 
clearances,  206;  fixity  of  tenure  by  assassination,  208;  vengeance  on  landgrabbcrs,  209; 
morality  suspended,  210;  law  a  travesty,  210;  jury  packing,  211. 

LAWLESSNESS  OF  GENTRY— 24,  26-7-8. 

LEYNAGH  FAMILY— 334. 

LIGHTING  OF  TOWN— James  White  charges  legatee  to  maintain  a  light  in  corner  of  his  house,  B9; 
vestry  empowered  to  light  town,  123, 180;  Gas  Company,  212  (note). 

LOYALTY— Of  old  burghers  to  English  crown,  18,  20,  40-1. 


MAIL  COACHES— Establishment  of,  193-4. 

MAIN  GUARD— Formerly  Palatine  Court,  erection  of,  167-8;  Father  Sheehy  tried  there,  376. 

MANOR — Richard  De  Burgh,  lord  of,  12;  jurisdiction,  16;  in  dispute  between  Ormond  and 
Desmond,  30;  rights  and  privileges,  214,  216  (note);  relations  between  manor  and 
palatinate,  441-2;  purchased  by  John  Bagwell,  174. 


Index  of  Subjects.  503 

MARY'S.,  St,  CHURCH— ^2,  76;  Anglo-Norman  foundation,  263;  early  church  replaced  by 
one  in  perpendicular  style  16th  century,  264;  re-taken  by  Catholics  in  1603,  265;  again 
in  1642,  62;  converted  into  a  meeting  house,  76;  White  chantry,  266;  mortuary 
chapel,  266-7;  ancient  tombs,  267-70;  bells,  271;  history  of  advowson,  271-3;  Lady  Cahir 
foundation,  274. 

MARKETS— Meat,  171-2, 179;  butter,  186  (note);  vegeUbles,  172. 

MARSHALL,  ROBERT— 116,  119,  487-9. 

MASSACRE  OF  1641— Local  particulars,  60  (note). 

MAYORS— List  of,  229-232. 

MENDICITY  ASYLUM— Notice  of,  199. 

METHODISM— Account  of  in  Clonmel,  297-8. 

MINISTERS'  MONEY— Account  of,  289  (note). 

MOQRE  FAMILY— Origin  of,  91;  Richard  of  Barnstaple,  105,  336;  Colonel  Stephen,  116-7,  163; 
Lords  Mountcashel,  120;  founders  of  Free  School,  148;  Moores  of  Abbey,  130. 

MORONEY  FAMILY— 17, 18,  336-7. 


NAPOLEON — Wars  of,  influence  on  agriculture,  181;  on  currenc>',  188. 


ORMONDS— Manor  of  Clonmel  settled  on,  30;  the  town  at  its  full  improved  value  granted  to, 
in  1666,  98;  details  of  grant,  255-62  [sec  Butler  Family.] 

OSBORNE  FAMILY— 32  (note),  121, 152  (note),  234. 


PALATINATE,  TIPPERARY— Grant  of,  424;  extent  of,  416;  nature  of  jurisdiction,  426-8; 
suppression  of,  429;  subsequent  history,  429-34;  criminal  jurisdiction,  436;  Tories,  437-40; 
grants  of  fairs,  440-1;  relations  of  Clonmel  with  Palatinate,  441-3. 

PARISH  PRIESTS — Appointment  of  vested  in  prior  of  Athassel,272;  subsequent  to  Reformation,  in 
corporation,  273;  series  of,  274-83. 

PARLIAMENT — Earliest  writ  of  summons  to  Clonmel,  314;  members  for  the  borough, 
1659-1885,  314-23. 

PATRICK'S,  St.,  WELL— 2,  226  (note),  414-6. 

PATRONAGE— Of  borough,  113;  Moore  patronage,  119-20;  Bagwell,  175, 179, 180  (note). 

PENAL  LAWS — Popish  bishops,  Jesuits,  friars,  &c.,  to  quit  kingdom,  136;  all  persons  exercising 
popish  jurisdiction  to  be  registered,  137;  registered  persons  to  take  oath  of  abjuration,  137; 
spies  in  Clonmel,  138-9;  proceedings  of  magistrates,  140-1;  laity  persecuted,  142; 
disarmed,  143;  dispute  relative  to  taxation,  144;  traders  deprived  of  freedom,  146;  intrusion 
money  and  quarterage,  146-7;  denial  of  education,  148;  free  school,  149;  charter  school,  150; 
Catholic  servility,  151. 

PERRY  FAMILY— Origin  of,  91;  John  of  Kilmalogo,  110, 125;  William  of  Woodroff,  127  (note). 


504  INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 

PHELAN,  WILLIAM— 486,  489-90. 

PLANTATIONS— Desmond  and  Ulster,  46;  schemes  for  planting  Co.  Tipperary,53-6;  Cromwellian 
plantation,  84  seq.^  444-66. 

POPULATION -Of  town  in  13th  century,  12;  in  17th  century,  90;  in  18th  century,  166;   in  19th 
century,  181. 

POST  OFFICE— 169,  296. 

POWER  FAMILY  -Of  Kilfane,  106, 122,  172,  332. 

PRIESTS— [i'^c  Religious  Persecution.] 

PRICES— In  18th  centur>',  127  (note). 

PRINTING— List  of  Clonmel  publications,  358-60. 

PROTESTANT  RECTORS— Notices  of,  285-91  [sec  Reformation.] 


QUAKERS— Persecution  of,  99;  trade  enterprise  of,  130-1, 199;  account  of,  296-7. 
QUAKERS,  WHITE— Histor>'  of,  297  (note). 
QUAY— Old,  26,  57;  new,  168;  embankment,  198. 


REFORMATION  -Introduction  into  Ireland,  33-40;  Browne,  Archbishop,  and  Privy  Council  \isit 
Clonmel,  34:  eight  bishops  take  oath  of  supremacy,  35;  local  monasteries  surrendered,  35. 
303-4,  411-2;  priests  hunted,  37-8,  465;  consequences  to  education,  465. 

REGALIA,  CORPORATION- -Sword  of  state  presented,  94;  description  of,  235;  maces,  236-7; 
seals,  237. 

RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTION— Of  Catholics  during  reign  of  Elizabeth,  36-9;  during  reign  of 
James  I.,  46-53;  during  Commonwealth,  80-94;  persecution  of  Dissenters  bv  Established 
Church,  98-100,  296. 

RESTORATION— Town  seized  by  Broghill,  95;  Irish  petition  for  re-admission  to  town,  96;  court 
of  claims,  97;  grant  of  town  to  Ormond,  98;  Protestant  sectarianism,  99;  quartering  of 
soldiers,  100;  trade,  101-2;  coinage,  103;  woollen  manufacture,  104,  493-4;  eflforts  of 
Catholics  to  obtain  freedom,  105-6;  parties  in  town,  107. 

RIALL  FAMILY— Account  of,  338  [see  Banking.] 


SADLEIR'S  BANK— [sc<r  Banking.] 

SANITATION— During  medieval  period,  19-20;  in  18th  century,  121-2. 

SHEEHY,  FATHER— State  of  Tipperary,  1750-70,  361-3;  agrarian  disturbances,  363-6;  religious 
bitterness,  366;  the  Protestant  interest,  366-7;  Father  Sheehy,  368;  informations  against,  369; 
John  Bridge,  370;  surrender  of  Father  Sheehv,  371-2;  petition  for  trial,  373;  murder  of 
Bridge,  374;  trial  in  Dublin,  375;  in  Clonmel,  376-87;  execution,  388;  attitude  of  Catholic 
clergy,  389-90;  Protestant  Constitution  safe,  391;  truth  about  Bridge,  391-5;  Sheehy's 
jury,  396-99;  informations,  &c.,  400-5,  496-7. 


Index  of  Subjects.  505 

SIKGE  OF  CLONMEL — Preparations  in  town,  68-9;  want  of  powder.  70;  Cromwell  views 
defences,  71;  Fennell's  treachery,  72;  town  encompassed,  73;  attempts  to  raise  siege,  74; 
incidents  of  siege,  76;  assault,  76-7;  evacuation  by  O'Neill  and  surrender,  78;  memorials  of 
siege,  79  (note). 

SILVERSMITHS- 187. 

SOCIAL  HISTORY— [sc<:  Gentry,  Land  War,  Squirearchy,  Working  Classes.] 

SOVEREIGN— Creation  and  powers  of,  16;  list  of,  229. 

SQUIREARCHY— Rise  of,  94,  113,  127  (note);  drunken  habits  of,  162;  duelling,  165-4;  code  of 
duelling,  164-6;  Counsellor  Walsh,  166-7 

STRITCHE  FAMILY— Account  of,  339-40;  tomb  of,  269. 

STATE  TRIALS,  1848— Russell's  account  of,  494-6. 

STERNE,  LAURENCE— Birthplace  of,  486-7. 

STREETS— High  Street,  66;  Middle  Row,  66,  494  (note);  Gordon  Street,  66;  Peter  Street,  66; 
Mary  Street,  66, 167, 296, 469, 487;  I-^ugh  Street,  66, 167,  273;  Kilsheelan  Street,  67,167,273; 
Irishtown,  17,  81,  240,  278;  residents  in,  261. 

STOCKS— Town  pillory  repaired,  171. 

SUIR — Name  of,  1  (note);  obstructions  in  navigation  of,  26,  26  (note);  improvement  in,  128-9; 
projects  for  deepening,  196;  Navigation  Company,  196. 

SURVEY,  CROMWELLIAN — Jurors,  boundaries  of  franchises,  239;  corporate  privileges,  ancient 
burgesses,  240;  vicar's  house  and  free  school,  241;  pound,  gaol  and  town-hall,  ^2;  houses, 
lands  and  mills,  243;  spittle  lands, Gallows  Hill,  Ballymacadam,  Shortcastle,  244. 


TANNING— Of  leather  in  18th  century,  131;  in  the  19th,  187. 

TIPPERARY  COUNTY— Anglo-Norman  settlement  of,  7;  Celtic  re-conquest,  11-12;  state  of  in  16th 
century,  21-2;  in  the  17th  century,  42,  63-6,  436-40,  446  scq.;  in  the  19th  century,  202-12. 

TOLLS— Grant  of,  216;  docket  of,  216-7-  illegal,  26;  opposition  to,  217  (note). 

TRADERS -List  of  Clonmel,  in  1787,  133-6. 

TRAVEL— 19,  43,  193-4. 

TUDOR  CLONMEL — Trade  obstructed  by  neighbouring  gentry,  24-6;  by  weirs  in  river,  26;  by 
Carrick  customs,  26;  merchants  plundered,  26-8;  town  almost  in  a  state  of  siege,  31;  loyalty 
of  citizens,  29,  40-1. 


UNION,  PARLIAMENTARY— Efforts  to  obtain  support  for  measure  in  Tipperar>%  164;  Catholics 
and  Protestants  opposed  to  it,  164;  local  bribery,  164-6;  declaration  of  citizens  of  town 
against,  166. 


VAUGHAN  FAMILY— 91,  102-3,  340. 

VOLUNTEERS  -Formation    of    in'  Tipperarv,    167;    Clonmel    Independents,    168;    Review    in 
Clonmel,  169. 


506  Index  of  Subjects. 

WALL  FAMILY— Notice  of,  429  (note). 

WAR,  CIVIL,  1641-62— Outbreak  in  Tipperary,  60-1;  Clonmel  taken,  62;  citizens  support  Nuncio 
and  northern  party,  63-4;  state  of  town  in  1648,  66-8. 

WOOLLEN  TRADE  -In  17th  century,  43,  101-2;  manufacture.  104,  132,  493-4. 

WHITES,  LOUGH  STREET— Senior  branch,  pedigree  of,  346,  341-2;  tomb,  267. 

WHITES,  HIGH  STREET— Junior  branch,  pedigree,  343;  tomb,  303. 

WHITES,  OF  GRENANE— 343-4. 

WHITE,  STEPHEN— 467-64. 

WHITE,  THOMAS— 464-69. 

WILLS,  CLONMEL— List  of,  preserved  at  Record  Office,  Dublin,  324-46. 


GENERAL   INDEX 


Abbev,  99, 125, 130-2,  336,  413,  450. 

Abbey  St.,  65,  308//. 

Abbot,  82-9,  94,  246. 

Acheson,  324. 

Adams,  138-9. 

Adiongport,  9. 

D'Aencurt,  12. 

Affane,  31. 

Agar,  164. 

Aghevallane,  llO/i. 

Ahearne,  234. 

Aherlow,  6. 

Aidan  (St.),  3. 

Airy,  135,  324. 

Alban's,  St.,  32//,  234. 

Alcocke,  98. 109//,  148, 158,  228,  230,  257-8,  271, 

293,  324,  330,  436. 
Alden,  285. 

Allen,  33-4-5,  83,  95,  303,  411. 
Alley,  94. 
Almons,  93. 

Anglesea  St.,  167,  295-8. 
Ankettle,  447. 
Anner,  130,  131w,  181-3. 
Annerville,  295. 
Annaghdown,  422. 
Antrim,  66,  294. 
Ansell,  258. 
Appletown,  385. 
Araglen,  42,  455. 
Archbold,  433-4. 
Archer,  432. 

Archerstown,  335,  432-6. 
Ardcullum  (Dovehill),  23,  348,  446. 
Ardfinnan,  5,  8,  9, 10,  25,  35,  69,  74,  110//,  209, 

211,  244,  385,  402,  452. 
Ardgeeha,  87. 

Ardmaile,  8,  60-7, 110//,  426,  433. 
Ardmore,  418. 
Ardpadden,  316. 
Armagh,  llO/i,  295. 
Armstead,  176, 188. 
Arnold,  324. 
Arra,  11,  426. 
Arran,  436. 
Arthur,  105. 
Asgill,  165n. 
Ash,  109/f,  141. 
Ashmore,  149«. 
Askeaton,  38,  40. 

Athassel,  8,  9, 11, 19,  28,  36,  263,  270-2-3. 
Atkins,  117,  230,  324. 
Athlone,  86,  97. 
Attwood,  324. 


Austin,  363-5. 
Astell,  70,  82. 
Aylmer,  455,  304. 
Aylward,  41,  412. 

Bacon,  325. 

Bagnall,  246. 

Bagnell,  364,  seq. 

Bagshaw,  246. 

Bagwell,  32,  118-9.  128-9,  131-3,  145//,  149//, 
152-4-9,  161-4-6,  172-4-5-7-8,  180,  183-8, 
193-5,  215/1,  228,  230-4,  271/i,  289,  294-5, 
319,  321-3-5-6,  330-8,  349,  359,  366. 

Baggot,  325. 

Bainebrigge,  92/f,  326. 

Baker,  99, 102, 177,  205,  285. 

Baldwin,  133,  280-1. 

Balfe,  228. 

Ball,  102, 188,  322. 

BaUina,  436. 

Ballinard,  436. 

Ballinacloona,  430,  446. 

Ballinadough,  52, 208. 

Ballinacourty,  441. 

Ballinaraha,  447. 

Ballinderry,  llO/i. 

Ballingarane,  239,  449. 

Ballindoney,  451,  445. 

Ballindrehid,  9. 

Ballingarry,  433. 

Ballinoran,  446. 

Ballinonty,  110//. 

Ballintemple,  110//. 

Ballintotty,  110//,  439. 

Ballinure,  110//,  439,  446. 

Ballinvoher,  125,  448. 

Ballidine,  446. 

Ballisheedy,  110«. 

Baliybeg,  83,  453. 

Ballyboe,  125,  447. 

Ballyboy,  174,  455. 

Ballybuskin,  380-1. 

Ballycallan,  llOi/. 

Ballycahill,  llOn. 

Ballycarron,  110/f,  160. 

Ballycategan,  434. 

Ballyclerihan,  425,  450. 

Ballydine,  67. 

Ballydrenan,  455. 

Ballyduagh,  434. 

Ballyglasheen,  125,  447. 

Ballyhenebry,  434. 

Ballyknockan,  125. 

Ballylin,  447. 


508 


General  Index. 


•  Ballylomasna,  154,  365,  455. 
Ballylehane,  174. 
Ballylynch,  22. 
Bally  morris,  453. 
Ballyinurren,  60. 

Ballymacadam,  124,  244,  274,  451. 
Ballymacarbery,  316. 
Ballymaky,  436. 
Ballynattin,  51,  425. 
Ballvneganna,  445. 
Ballyneale,  7, 115.  430,  446. 
Ballyneety,  209,  452. 
Ballynory,  445. 
Ballypatrick,  2. 
Ballyporeen,  365,  370-2. 
Ballyphilip,  433. 
Ballysheehan,  381,  434,  455. 
Ball>'tarsney,  52. 110//,  450. 
Ballythomas,  451. 
Ballwaughan,  125,  348. 
Ballyvcelish,  450. 
Bambrick,  108. 
Bandon,  168. 

Banfield,  131, 167, 184-6-9,  198. 
Banfoune,  437. 
Bansha,  61,  436. 
Baptistgrange,  110;/. 
Barnadiston,  95. 
Barne,  91, 127, 336. 
Barnora,  338. 
Barnstaple,  91,  102. 
Barnes,  165". 

Barker,  141-2, 159,  396,  436,  485. 
Barkley,  436. 
Baron,  43-4,  56-8,  61-2,  90,  106//,  108,  200,  291, 

257,  268,  315,  326-8,  436. 
Barravaukeen,  211,  232. 
Barrett,  125, 187//,  294,  332,  357. 
Barrettstown,  170,  348. 
Barrymore,  37. 
Barry,  209,  211,  276. 
Barton,  103,  326. 
Bastion,  55. 
Bates,  245. 
Bath,  262. 
Batty,  93-9,  101,  121,  139,  140-4-8,  230-4,  246, 

257,  260,  271,  291-3,  308,  326-7,  436. 
Bayly,  142,  246,  255-8. 
Baylough,  2tt. 

De  Bermingham,  9, 12, 15, 19,  434. 
Beauchamp,  187. 
Beallanmoe,  448. 
Bedborough,  438. 
BehiUy,  133, 147,  327. 
Belgrove,  159. 
Bell,  133. 
Bellacomisk,  143. 
Beere,  109,  121-4,  144,  187,  228,  230,  271,  291, 

385,395. 
Bellings,  63. 
Bellingham,  30. 
Bergin,  313. 
Berkeley,  105-6. 
Bernard,  3, 168,  406-7,  436. 
Bertles,  256,  327. 


Betts,  44,  78,  96, 108. 

Bettsworth,  245. 

Bianconi,  191-4,  229,  232. 

Bideford,  102. 

Biggs,  109/1,  327,  452. 

Binglev,  54. 

Bird,  2d6. 

Blake,  327. 

Blakemore,  127, 187//. 

Blennerhassett,  52,  317. 

Blount,  84-5-7,  91-3,  230-9,  257,  293,  327,  492. 

Blessington,  115. 

Blue  Anchor,  57, 172. 

Blind  St.,  56. 

Boardman,  133,  327. 

Boate  St.,  57, 167,  306,  338,  485. 

Bodkin,  156. 

Bolton,  52,  79,  82,  92,  357. 

Bond,  124, 187. 

Boolick,  273//. 

Booker,  90-3-4-5, 100-3, 239, 245-6, 259, 260-8, 327. 

Borinardshy,  240. 

Borris,  110//. 

Borrisoleagh,  67. 

Borrinahow,  243. 

Boughton,  95. 

Boulter,  149. 

Boulisallagh,  453. 

Boulster,  436. 

Bousfield,  176. 

Bowen,  245, 455. 

Boyton,  8,  52,  108. 

Boytonrath,  83. 

Boyle,  109//. 

Brabazon,  33,  304. 

Bradford,  133, 187,  329. 

Bradley,  313. 

Brady,  290. 

Bradston,  109//. 

Bradshaw,  156,  230-2,  355. 

Brahan,  388//. 

Braughal,  395. 

Bray,  27,  44-5,  50-1-3-7-8,  61,  86,  96,  108-9.  157, 

163-4,  219, 239-40, 256-79,  300,  307,312-5-7, 

328. 
Breech  Gate,  56,  79. 
Brennock,  51,  81-6,  90-6,  133,  239,  241-2,  256-9, 

278//,  283,  328-9,  340. 
Bret,  8,  24,  245,  433. 
Hrereton,  95. 

Bridge  St.,  43,  56,  90, 123. 
Briggs,  109/1. 
Bright,  109/1. 
Bridge,  370  seq. 
Brittan,  329,  433. 
Brittas,  432. 
Broad,  329. 

Broderick,  187,  316  scq. 
Broghill,  63,  74,  95, 106,  111. 
Brousworth,  287,  329. 
Brouncker,  47-9,  275. 
Brown,  53-5, 133-7, 147,  255-8,  329,  411. 
Bruce,  10, 11,  409. 
Bryan,  133,  221,  328,  374,  385. 
Buckley,  193n,  329. 


General  index. 


609 


Buckworth,  109«. 

Bullock,  329. 

Bunbury,  141-2-3, 167,  366. 

Burdensgrange,  426. 

Burgagery,  13, 232-9,  246,  319,  442. 

Burgess,  143,  464. 

Burgessland,  462. 

Burghley,  39. 

Burke  (Bourkc,  Be  Burgh),  67, 176,  216,  229,  232, 

263, 271, 310-3, 329, 369, 370, 431ii,  200, 282-3 
Burke,  Clanwilliam,  7-8, 11, 12-3,  22/i,  67. 
Burke,  Cappagh,  431//. 
Burke,  Ileagh,  432//. 
Burke,  Lismacue,  83. 
Burke,  Monecannan,  86. 
Burke,  ScartBeld,  83. 
Burns,  211. 
Burntcourt,  42,  68. 
Burton,  188,  338. 
Butlers,  7-8,  11,  22,  109,  133-7,  142-3-4-6,  168, 

230,  241-6,  268-9,  329,  369,  388,  410. 
Butlers,  Ardmaile,  67,  433//. 
Butlers,  Boytonrath,  83. 
Butlers,  Bansha,  61,  436. 
Butlers,  Ballinure,  439. 
Butlers,  Cahir,  22-3-4-6-6-7-9,  30, 61,  61, 86, 116, 

143, 161-4,  202-6,  244,  266,  411,  431-6. 
Butlers,  Cloughbreedy,  86. 
Butlers,  Cloughcullv,  61, 462. 
Butlers,  Grallagh,  432//. 
Butlers,  Kilcash,  61-2,  70//. 
Butlers,  Kilmoyler,  437. 
Butlers,  Killinane,  22. 
Butlers,  Knockgraffan,  61. 
Butlers,  Moorstown,  62. 
Butlers,  Moyaliffe,  432^. 
Butlers,  Nodstown,  62. 
Butlers,  Roosca,  86. 
Butlers,  Shanballyduff,  83. 
Burton,  379  scq. 

Byrne,  187,  208-11,  228,  232,  329. 
Byron,  167. 

Cabragh,  432,  22. 

Cahir,  7, 12,  30-6,  64,  71,  82-3, 168, 194, 269,274, 

286,300-1-2-6,436,461. 
Cahirclough,  113,  449. 
Cahill,  210,  229,  412. 
Callaghan-Ryan,  210/1. 
Callinan,  277,  312. 
Camden,  160 
Camus,  433. 
Campbell,  296,  329. 
Candler,  92/f. 
Cane,  139. 

Cantwell,  7,  67,  133,  200,  228, 232,  329,  432-3. 
Canute,  8. 
Cappagh,  140. 
Cappoquin,  42, 102. 
Card,  329. 
Carden,  142,  440. 

Carey  (Carew),  133, 149//,  229,  329. 
Carleton,  91,  104,  126,  143-4,   186-7,  230,  291, 

330,  346,  368. 
Carlisle,  64. 


Carigensheera,  110» 

Carpenter,  102. 

Carr,  93ff,  100-3,  246-6,  267,  294. 

Curran,  239. 

Carrick,  47-9.  60-1-4-6-6,  96, 116, 128,  130-6, 168, 

160-1-2, 196-6-7,  203,  348,  368,  376, 436,441. 
Carrigmore,  466. 
Carrigan,  292. 
Carrigartrv,  463. 
Carrigvisteale,  370,  386,  466. 
Carson,  361. 
Carthage,  3. 
Carvell,  266. 
Casey,  276,  329. 
Cashel,28,37-8,  48,  60-2-7,  60-4-9,  83,  110//,  130, 

140-3,  169, 160-2-6,  206,  264,  299,  368,  408. 
Cashen,  187,  229,  329. 

Castell,  116-7-8, 133, 148, 191, 230, 278. 329, 109//. 
Castleconnell,  74. 
Castlecoyne,  110//. 
Castlegrace,  23,  436,  466. 
Castlehaven,  70,  72//,  74. 
Castlereagh,  164. 
Castletown,  110//,  436. 
Cattelstown,  62. 
Cathaldus,  3. 
Cave,  329. 

Chadcraft,  95,  242-6, 269. 
Chadwick,  209. 
Chaffin,  246. 
Chaloner,  329. 
Chaplin,  293. 

Chancellorstown,  91,  126,  336,  460. 
Charles,  246, 66, 184. 
Charnley,  109,  464. 
Charlmont,  70/i,  363-7. 
Charpe,  266. 
Charteris,  61. 

Chaytor,  133, 177, 186, 231/*. 
Chelcome,  246. 
Chenevix,  292. 
Cheshire,  292. 
Cherry,  296. 
Chimmicks,  109//. 
Christmas,  116. 

Clanwilliam,  8, 11, 22-4, 141, 168, 271. 
Clancy,  229,  232. 
Clare,  13, 164. 
Clarendon,  166. 
Clair  (St.),  339. 

Clarke,  267,  266//,  306//,  109, 367. 
Clasgany,  463. 
Clayton,  266. 

Cleare,  144.  216/r,  228,  274,  329,  437. 
Cleeve,  184. 
Clerke,  109/f. 
Clibbom,  183. 

Clogheen,  130, 168, 160-1, 366, 361  scq. 
Cloncleary,  440. 
Clonbrock,  164. 
Clonbrogan,  143, 364. 
Clonmel  (Lord),  319, 149//,  164, 430. 
Clonkenny,  62. 
Cloncoskrane,  86. 
Clonmilchon,  436. 


610 


General  Index. 


Cloneen,  143, 348. 

Close,  133. 184, 364. 

Clotworthy,  77. 

Cloughbreedy,  86. 

Cloughcorrigeen,  126. 

Cloughharden,  462. 

Clough  Jordan,  110//,  436, 441. 

CloughcuUy,  61, 462. 

Clough  nacody,  91, 462. 

Clues,  162. 

Clutterbook,  109//,  126, 142,  168. 

Cole,  133-8-9, 170-7, 230-1, 266-8,  260, 329, 436. 

Colsery,  329. 

Collett,  101-8-9, 133,  260,  289/i,  296,  329. 

Collins,  131-3,  231-4,  347,  360-8. 

Colville,  296»,  320-6. 

Comerford,  90, 106//,  108,  137,  284, 260, 330, 447, 

464. 
Comyn  (Commins),  8,  22, 30-1-4, 62, 69, 133, 160/f , 

272,  330,  434,  309, 
Compsy,  8,  9,  426. 
Condon,  229,  232. 
Congreve.  116,  330. 
Congan,  407. 
ConnoUv,  148w,  330. 
Constable,  133,  168,  334. 
Conry,  96. 
Conway,  63,  412. 
Cooke,  83, 138,  142,  161-3-6,  176,  187,  201,  230, 

246, 267,  292-6,  330,  348,  436. 
Coolgaranroe,  466. 
Coolnainuck,  161. 
Coolmoyne,  431. 
Cooleagh,  433. 
Cooloneen,  448. 
Coolquill,  366,  433. 
Coonagh,  11, 13. 
Cooney,  309,  313. 
Cooper,  208. 

Coote,  96, 109«,  179,  321-2.  330. 
Corr,  34,  86,  241,  268-9,  431. 
Corbett,  93-4, 133,  331. 
Cork,  63,  66«,  68,  62,  98/i,  303,  481. 
Corporation  Mills,  234. 
Corcoran,  229,  330. 
Cott,  200,  244,  281. 
Coughlan,  67,  130. 
Coulter,  109w,  149//,  330-1. 
Covey,  271. 
Cowley,  124. 
Cox,  32,  169,  170,  292. 
Craddock,  108, 178, 228, 266. 
Crannagh,  161. 
Cranwell,  124,  330. 
Craven,  133. 
Crean,  184-7,  234,  348. 
Creagh,  61-8,  219,  228,  241,  267,  279,  331,  389, 

404-6. 
Creaghton,  143. 
Cregg,  446. 
Cremins,  371. 
Croane,  233,  273w,  463. 
Croanwalsh,  166. 
Cromwell,  64-79,  110. 
Cronen,  210. 


Croken,  49. 

Croker,  166.  176,  228,  231,  325. 

Crohane,  433,  438. 

Croke,  439. 

Crotty,  133,  331. 

Cross  (Town),  66. 

Croughtamory 

Crozier,  296. 

Cuddihy,  309,  313. 

Cuffe,  83,  187w. 

Cullen,  381,  77. 

Cullinagh,  466. 

Curran,  167,  176m. 

Curraghdobin,  446. 

Curraghnemony,  440. 

Curraghtoneen,  463. 

Curry,  368. 

Cusack,  273. 


Dalton,  130,  269,  313,  331. 

Darner,  142,  188,  294. 

Daniel,  28,  67,  108,  132-3,  144,  150//,  183,  219. 

242,  266,  268,  286,  311.  331,  436. 
Darcy,  109/i. 

Darlinghill,  91,  126,  176,  346,  460. 
Davan,  138,  143.  331. 

Davis,  47-9,  67, 109,  110,  133,  187,  275,  313.  436. 
Dawson,  109/j,  140-1, 160,  398,  441. 
Dav,  277 
Debsdall,  61. 
Declan  (St.),  418. 
Delany,  437. 
Denmead,  133,  398. 
Dennis,  166,  321,  393». 
Dennison,  108,  246,  260,  328,  331. 
Dennehy,  229. 
Denn,  369. 
Denny,  293,  331. 
Derby,  261. 
Derrinlaur,  31. 
Derry,  124. 
Derrygare,  433. 
Derrygrath,  127//,  338,  461. 
Derryluskan,  109//,  433. 

Desmond,  16-6,30-1-8,68,214,  299,306,412,  441. 
Despard,  142. 
Devanny,  162. 
Dillon,  133,  368. 
Dispensary  St.,  65. 
Disney,  331. 
Dix,  104,  246. 
Dixon,  331. 
Dobbyn,  368. 

Doherty,  109//,  130,  368,  380. 
Donnellan,  83,  440. 

Donoghue,  86,  93-6,  108,  239,  241,  259,  311. 
Donoughmore  (Church),  2,  3, 4,  417-23.  431. 
Donoughmore  (Lords),  206,  211«,  335-6.  349. 
Doody,  331, 
Dorchester,  64. 
Douglas,  146/7,  179,  228. 
D'Ouir  Hundred,  114-6,  120-1,  237. 
Dower,  296. 
Dowd's  Lane,  66,  132. 


General  Index. 


511 


Downes,  293,  364. 
Downey,  331.' 
Downing,  465. 
Doyle,  312,  137,  160,  388. 
Drangan,  109/y. 
Draper,  245. 
Drew,  291. 
Drogheda,  363-4-5. 
Dromlemmon,  374,  400,  456. 
Drom,  432. 
Dnimmond,  211. 
Drury,  37. 
Drysdale,  143. 
Duagh,  30. 
Dualla,  433. 
Duane,  489,  331. 
Duckett,  331. 

Dudley,  133, 184,  296,  331. 
Duff,  359,  351. 
Duggan,  262,  438. 
Duigenan,  398. 

Dumville,  127, 133  152^/,  187, 191, 331. 378//,  398. 
Dunbar,  245. 

Dunboyne,  61,  300,  326,  433. 
Dunbrody,  272,  407. 
Duncan  St.,  66,  167,  193. 
Duncannon,  195-6,  484. 
Dundrum,  52,  55//,  61,  320. 
Dungar\'an,  6,  27, 194. 
Dunkirk,  102. 
Dunlavin,  395. 
Dunlea,  331,  369  seq. 
Dunn,  133,  331 

Dwyer,  133,  143,  163,  184,  239,  278,  312,  331, 
393-5,  462. 

Earpe,  246. 

Egan,  151,  229,  274,  279-80,  308,  331,  389. 

Eliogartv,  82,  92//,  8. 

Eliott,  159,  206. 

Elly,  448. 

Elmer,  447. 

Ely,  7,  8,  9, 11,  18,  245. 

English,  8,  52,  82,  96,  133,  156,  234,  241,  258, 

281,  31211,  425,  431. 
Enniscorthy,  113//. 
Entwistle,  331. 
Emly,  137. 
Emmet,  295/i. 
Erby,  109». 
Esmond,  239. 
Essex,  106,  227. 
Evans,  121. 
Evelyn,  109//. 
Everard,  83,  109,  143,  241,  284-5,  311-2,  351, 

427,  434,  479. 
Eyland,  258. 

Pagan,  24,  27,  57,  209,  258-9,  413. 

Falkland,  53-5-8,  481. 

Fanning,  8,  22. 

Farmer,  109/i. 

Farranrorv,  433. 

Farrell,  331,  390  seq. 

Fayle,  229,  234. 


Fell,  133,  331. 

Fen,  102. 

Fennell,  61,  66,  71-2,  100,  296,  369,  365. 

Fennelly,  186,  229. 

Fennessy,  133,  143,  331. 

Fenton,  38,  63. 

Fermoy,  408. 

Ferns,  272. 

Ferris,  127,  378//,  398. 

Fethard,  9,  27.  37,  47,  61-8-9,  82-6,  113,  156-9, 

241,  425,  441. 
Fetherstone,  436. 
Figlas,  22,  429,  446. 
Fitzgibbon,  69,  313. 
Fitzgerald,  58,  115,  134,  159,  160-3,  278,  312, 

331,  351,  389,  455. 
Fitzharris,  413. 
Fitzhenry,  274. 

Fitzpatrick,  133-8.  278/i,  309,  331,  394. 
Fitzwilliam,  7,  32. 
Fingall,  61. 

Flahavan;il6,149//,410. 
Flannery,  200,  280. 
Flanagan,  256. 
Flavin,  282-3. 
Fleming,  97,  312,  434. 
Flemingslown,  455. 
Fley,  331. 

Fleetwood,  90-3-5,  335. 
Flood,  134,  312,  331,  <36. 
Flower,  93. 
Flynn,  184. 
Foard,  245,  258. 
Fogarty,  432. 

Foley,  91-3,  201«,  230,  246,  257,  293,  333. 
Foliot,  18,  138. 
Ford,  294.  298//. 
Forristal,  229. 
Foster,  99,  331. 
Foulke,  100,  364-5. 
Foulkes,  96-9,  100,  109//,  274,  316. 
Fowley,  109//. 
Frankes,  245. 
Frazer,  159. 
Frehans,  454. 
French,  386//. 
Fryers,  103-8,  255-6-7. 
Furlong,  436. 

Gahan,  142,  154,  365. 

Galbertstown,  60,  317. 

Galfe,  246. 

Gallows  Hill,  75,  171. 

Gammonsfield,  282. 

Gaol,  58,  242-3. 

Garnavilla,  158//,  331,  367,  386//,  444,  451. 

Garrinlea,  91,  125,  335,  385. 

Garrinahassy,  452. 

Garryshane,  239. 

Garryroe,  449,  451-4. 

Garryduiif,  446, 453-5. 

Garronearia,  113, 449. 

Garrongibbon,  88. 

Garrantemple,  450. 

Garstin,  236. 


512 


General  Index. 


Geary,  229. 

Gearin,  270. 

Geffry,  47,  310. 

Gethin,  176, 316-6. 

Gibbs,  124. 

Gill,  193/1,  367. 

Ginkell,  111. 

Gladstone  Street,  66. 

Glanleamv,  448. 

Glanville,'331. 

Glashier,  331. 

Glenahelly,  llOn. 

Glengall,  Lord,  164/i,  197,  202. 

Glenagad,  234.  273. 

Glenary,  273ii. 

Glenawaydan,  408. 

Glenbane,  413,  460. 

Glenaheira,  31. 

Glissan,210,368,466. 

Glynn,  62. 

Goat  Island,  66. 

Godfrey,  80-3, 96,  109//,  331. 

Godwin,  134. 

Goggin,  369. 

Going,  116-8. 134,  186-7,  230,  331,  361,  398. 

Goldie,  281. 

Golden,60,  83-6,  126,  143. 

Goose  Island,  234. 

Gordon,  66,  91, 134, 168,  230-1-4,  298. 

Gore,  258-9,  270-3,  286.  324,  333. 

Gorman,  134, 141//,  209,  273,  369. 

Gormanstown,  61,  464. 

Gortmaloge,  273/i. 

Gosling,  92//,  246. 

Gough,  41,  68,  219,  260,  413». 

Gowing,  246. 

Gowran,  264. 

Grace,  8,  64,  60, 141-3,  209,  277,  360-9. 

Grady,  171. 

Graham,  127, 187. 

Grange,  60. 

Grangemore,  461. 

Graigue,  llO/i,  447. 

Grallagh,  433. 

De  Grandison,  6, 13-6,  216,  298. 

Grant,  39,  104. 

Grattan,  168-9,  166,  362. 

Green,  109  134,  211,  229,  460. 

Greer,  132,  188. 

Greet,  108.  246. 

Gregory,  134,  178. 

Gregson,  94. 

Grenane,  6,  200,  413-4. 

Gresham,  246- 

Grey,  34,  77,  412. 

Greystown,  433. 

Griffin,  232. 

Griffith,  269,  368  scq. 

Grubb,   1301-4,   162//,   171/i,   183-4-6-7-9,   199, 

200   234,  296,  331,  354. 
Guiga,  331. 
Guinan,  369  seq. 
Guiry,  210,  232. 
Guyon,  33. 
Gwin,  109w,  447. 


Hackett,  8,  29,  62,  69,  134,  143,  161,  180/j,  181. 

231-2,  284,  332,  351-4-8-9,  434. 
Hadden,  296. 
Hagerty,  94. 
Hall,  208,  211. 
Halifan,  363,  389. 
Halsey,  92-3,  316. 
Hally,  141, 184,  262. 
Hamerton,  90,  100//,  101-3-4,  116-6,  121,  139, 

241-2-6,  266-7,  260,  318,  332.  492. 
Hamilton,  332. 
Handca,  332. 
Hanglin,  385. 
Hanley,  228. 
Hanagan,  332. 
Hanrahan,  67ii,  332. 
Harden,  266. 
Harper,  164, 176, 256. 
Harris,  134. 

Harrison,  110»,  141/^  143,  188,  436,  441. 
Harty,  332. 

Harwood,  104, 149//,  332. 
Harvey,  134, 187,  273//. 
Hatte,  149/1. 

Hayden,  134. 184,  204,  425,  432. 
Hayes,  168, 187,  332. 
Hayman.    105,    116,    123-6,    134,     149w,   178, 

230-1,  332. 
Haynes,  llOn. 
Hayward,  261. 
Hawardcn,  Lord,  164,  207. 
Hawke  St.,  167, 172. 
Hearne,  228. 
Heaslop,  231, 349. 
Heffernan.  425. 
Hemphill,  264n. 
Hedderman,  141. 
Henebry,  9,  28, 183. 
Henlv,  332. 

Hennessy,  356, 138, 141,  277-9,  330-2. 
Henbury,  103,  228,  230, 245,  257. 
Henry,  147«. 
Henderkin,  383. 
Herbert,  88, 107, 168,  386. 
Herrickes,  246. 
Hepburne,  332. 
Heware,  246. 
Hewetson,  366  seq.,  496. 
Hickey,  87, 108, 143,  229,  332,  371. 
Hickman,  134. 
Hide,  336. 

High  St.,  66,  90, 102, 169,  214. 
Higgins,  284-6,  293, 352-6. 
Hill,  110«,  104, 134, 187,  246,  259,  332. 
Hobson,  148/1. 

Hogan,  229,  310,  332,  446,  452. 
Holland,  54, 102,  332. 
Holliday,  134. 
Holliwood,  60,  274. 
Holmes,  229. 

Holy  Cross,  40,  209,  264,  407. 
Hope,  134. 

Hopkins,  106,  228,  230,  246,  256,  332. 
Hoomes,  258-9 
Hoops,  398. 


General  Index. 


513 


Hore  Abbey,  91,  llO/i,  335 

Hoskins,  294.  332. 

House,  245,  256. 

Howard,  150, 170. 

Howley,  206. 

Howell,  123,  134,  296,  334. 

Hoyle,  llOw. 

Hubbard,  247. 

Hudson,  281. 

Hughes,  110«,  145//,  183. 

Humphreys,  77,  334. 

Hullan,  382. 

Hurley,  332. 

Hely-Hutchinson,  154,  160-4,   206,   211,   291-4, 

322,  335,  M9,  371,  437. 
Hussey,  164,  296. 
Hygate,  245. 
Hyland,  365,  400-1. 
Hynes,  134^2. 

Iffa  and  Offa,  7,  23. 

Ikerrin  7, 11,  54,  432. 

Imens,  143. 

Innislounaght,  34-5,  285,  327,  406-16. 

Inchiquin,  69,  72,  316-7,  328. 

Inchnamraher,  234. 

Innisceltra,  423. 

Ireton,  68. 

Irishtown,  56,  81,  90, 186,  234. 

Island  Battys,  233/<,  413. 

Island  Goat,  56. 

Island  Great,  66. 

Island  Little.  131, 234. 

Island  Suir,56, 131, 184-6. 

Iverk,  159. 


fackson,  294,  332,  414//. 
Jacob,  159,  187-9,  294,  330,  436,  441,  485//. 
acobites,  124. 
ames  I.,  53,  237, 
ames  II.,  109, 151,  168. 
ameson,  183-6. 
;effs,436. 
enkins,  246,  257. 
ephson,  142, 161,  327. 
lohn,  St.,  9,  22, 153, 161,  330,  433. 
ohnson,  89, 167-9, 186,  361. 
ones,  93,  110//,  117,  134,  152//,  158,  187,  268, 

260,  289.  293. 
Jordan,  77-9,  208. 
Jossestown,  91. 
Jolly,  277,  296. 
Joyce,  186. 
Judkin,  142. 
Julian,  187. 

Kearney,  55,  68,  83-6, 116, 131-4, 143-7, 305, 332, 

378,434-7. 
Keating,  9,  15,  21-2-6,  52, 125,  134,  150;;,  161/;, 

192, 202,  332-3, 366, 381-5, 398, 425, 451. 
Kedragh,110/;,452. 
Keile,  llOw. 

KeiUy,  134, 176, 187, 200,  228-9, 231, 284. 
KeUett,  91, 119, 230-1, 


Kelly,  37, 134, 158, 192, 296. 

Kemmis,  394. 

Kennedy,  134, 143,  149//,  192,  432. 

Kennet,  327. 

Kenrick,  134,  333. 

Kenny,  147,  232. 

Kenrechtan,  39,  57-8. 

Kent,  8. 

Keogh,  156. 

Kettlewell,  149/;. 

Ketty,  246 

Keyes,  131. 

Keyny,  412. 

Kilbehenny,  68. 

Kilburry,  437. 

Kilcaroon,  110//. 

Kilcash,  3,  22,  61-7,  70;;,  111,  137, 141-2-3,  310, 

437,  447-9. 
Kilcommon,  452. 
Kilconnell,  30,  22. 
Kilcooly,  264,  411. 
Kilcoran,  390,  454. 
Kildare,  30. 
Kildunoge,  454. 
Kilfane,  172. 

Kilfeacle,  13,  30-1,  208,  272,  366, 
Kilgeany,  273;;,  316. 
Kilkenny,  32,  127//. 
Kilmaloge,  2, 110/;,  451. 
Kilmanahan,  16,  31-2,  58,  412,  414;;. 
Kilmeaden,  28. 
Kilmoyler,  160,  437. 
Kilnelongarty,  54. 
Kilnemanagh,  11,  54,  425. 
Kilnorassy,  447. 
Kilroe,  454. 
Kilronan,  32;;,  390;;. 
Kilsheelan,  5,  7,  10,  13, 15,  30,  57,  272. 
Kiltagan,  2. 

Kiltinan,  8,  22,  70-1.  335-8,  433-6. 
Kilworth,  68,  91,  335. 
Killahy,  195. 
Killbragh,  434. 
Killboy,  95, 110;;. 
Killcrow,  380. 
Killeatin,  455. 
Killeen  Butler,  451. 
Killemly,  451. 
Killeheen,  110;;. 
Killerk,  2, 140. 
Killeheffernan,  448. 
Killgrant,  110//,  153/;,  238. 
Killins,  433. 

Killmore,  113, 125-7, 152//,  159, 175, 272, 326, 436. 
Killoan,  110«,  244. 
Killoquirke,  110«. 
Killoskehane,  348,  436. 
Killosalla,  110;/. 
Killoughter,  327. 
Killrussell,  436. 
Killusty,  110;/. 
Killurney,  125,  448. 
Kingdom,  134. 
Kingsmill,  60. 
Kingston,  120. 


514 


General  Index. 


Kinneally,  209. 

Kippin.  296. 

Knight,  246. 

Knockagh,  381,  453,  451. 

Knockaughriin,  395. 

Knockanearla,  214. 

Knockeen,  463. 

Knockelly,  434-6,  485//. 

Knockgraffon,  7,  8,  51,  82,  95,  110//,  286.  431. 

Knocklofty,  125,  335,  437,  453. 

Knocklucas,  234. 

Knockfallory,  110//. 

Knockanroe,  110//. 

Labarte,  116, 177-8,  230-1, 354. 

Lacken,  52. 

Lackey,  121, 130.  230-4,  334. 

Lackymore,  110//. 

Ladyman,  92-3-9, 109,  201, 258, 271,  274//,  286-7, 

291-3-6, 338. 
Laffan,22,  66,  106//,  433. 
Laffoly,  436. 
Lalor,  161,  200. 
Lambert,  436. 

Landaff,  Lord,  164,  160.  349. 
Landers,  11,  334,  410. 
Landregan,  383. 
Lane,  230, 246, 260. 
Langley,  79/i,  143, 231,  290. 
Lanner,  llOn. 
Lanstafford,  409 
Latham,  143, 245,436. 
Latten,141,425,436. 
Latteragh,  143. 
Laurence,  110,  257. 
Lawless,  67//,  322, 346. 
Lawlesstown,  239, 431, 448. 
Lawton,  184. 
Leary,  134. 
Leahy,  149//. 
Leake,  110//. 
St.Leger,66,60-l. 
Legg,  110/1. 

Lee,  105.  134, 149//,  241,  266,  261,  370. 
Lehunt,  93-6-8,  110//. 
Leigh,  77. 
Lennon,  164/f. 
Lester,  117, 134, 187,  293. 
Leo,  278 
Levet,  274. 
Leynach,  24,  46-7-8-9,  87//,  96,  241,  260-1,  268, 

328.334. 
Lewis,  134, 143,  230-1,  334. 
Lieranearla,  233,  273//. 
Lillington,  246. 
Limbry,  230,  334. 
Limerick,  169,  194. 
Lincolne,  241,  266-9. 
Linehan,  334,  368. 
Lisadobher,  446. 
Lisahoney,  210. 
Lisfuncheon,  371,  400,  466. 
Lisheen,  160-3. 
Lismacue,  83,  205. 
Lismalin,  22,  80, 96,  436-7-8,  486. 


Lismore,  3,  9, 113«,  164,  277if,  372. 

Lismortagh,  433. 

Lisnamrock,  62,  436. 

Lisnamuck,  328. 

Lisronagh.  9,  61, 112,  272,  449. 

Lissekelly,  436,  62. 

Lisrea,  143. 

Little,  99. 

Longueville,  436. 

Lonergan,  209,  211,  232,  277,  315,  369  sc-^.,  497. 

Long,  108,  205,  358. 

Lord,  358. 

Loughkent,  llOn. 

Loughkyrragh,  410. 

Loughloher,  451,  461. 

Loughmoe,  45,  61, 145,  426,  457. 

Loughnan,  564. 

Loughrea,  85-8. 

Lough  Gate,  66,  76-7-9.  275/*. 

Lough  Street,  40,  66-7-8,  76,  91-7,    167,   170-a 

242,  276,  588. 
Lount,  429. 
Loveday,  257. 

Lovelace,  95,  246-7,  266-9,  262,  441. 
Lovett,  142. 
Lowe,  154,  292,  554. 
Lowther,  61. 

Loyd,  154, 158,  510,  554,  577. 
Luby,  165. 
De  Luca,  409. 
Lucome,  166. 
Lucas,  154, 145-4. 
Ludlow,  96. 
Lumn,  188. 

Luther,  118, 152, 142,  228,  250-1-2-5,  334. 
Lynch,  148,  161,  278,  515. 
Lynestown,  62,  425. 

M'Cann,  554. 

M'Cheane,  154, 147//. 

M'Carthy,  125, 145, 184,  254,  554,  415. 

M'Clelland,  149//. 

M'Donnell,  64, 285,  567. 

M'Egan,  60. 

M'Grath,  51-2-8. 46-7-8, 82, 168, 160, 185, 285. 312, 

554,  579,  467. 
M'Guilfoyle,  266. 
M'Kenna,  154. 
M'Keogh,  62,  296. 
M'Mahon,  577. 
M'Namara,  554. 
M'Sweeny,  567. 
Mackay,  294,  560. 
Macken,  554. 
Madden,  187, 276. 
Magan,  570.     • 
Maganstown,  446. 
Magner,  515. 
Maguire,  208. 
Maher,  208-9, 425. 
Mahony,  252, 567, 596. 
Mainstown,  450, 446. 

Main  Guard,  56, 81,  150, 160-7, 255/i,  506, 576. 
Malachy  (St.)  407. 
Malcomson,  152,  145/i,  182-5-4-6, 196,  201,  296, 

940,  549.  229. 


General  Index, 


515 


Malone,  134, 334. 

Mandeville,  9,  118,  153-8,  300,  312,  334, 430, 446. 

Mangan,  267. 

Mara.  209. 

Markham,  188, 246, 336. 

Market  St.,  56. 

Marlay,  115. 

Marlfield,  127, 130-1, 164, 176, 183-6-8, 320, 413. 

Marlhill,  364. 

Maron,  259. 

Martin,  334. 

Martyr  Lane,  40, 57. 

I^arsh  441 

Marshall,  92, 116-7-9, 143, 149//,  318. 

Marvell,52,433. 

Mary  St.,  56-8-9, 157, 167,  351, 480-7. 

Massey,  142, 179, 321, 440. 

Mason,  124,  334. 

Mathew,  86,  104,  117,  143,  159,  165,  193,  314, 

365-6,455. 
Maude,  142,  157,  193,  320,  365  seq. 
Maunsell,  52, 189,  334,  434. 
Max,  334. 
Maxwell,  164. 
May,  273/1,  289. 
Meade,  108-9, 168,  334. 
Meaney,  281. 

Meagher,  7,  108,  138, 143-4,  158,  277,  334. 
Meares,  294. 
Medlicott,  318. 
Meldrum,  29,  83,  434-6,  440. 
Mellifont,  408-9. 
Meehan,  229,  369  scq. 
Meredith,  100,  110//. 
Merrit,  245. 
Methwolde,  51. 
Miagh,  49. 

Middle  Row,  56-8,  242,  494//. 
Miles,  158, 231-4,  334-8. 
Milerstown,  239,  431,  448. 
Mills,  334. 
Milltown,  433. 
Minchin,  398,  438. 
Minehan,  246. 
Minehead,  102. 
Minella,  184. 
Minorstown,  446. 
Mitchell,  231-4,  334. 
Mitchellstown,  202. 
Mobarnane,  294,  434. 
Mockler,  9,  22-5,  51-2, 83,  425, 433,  451. 
Mocklerstown,  22,  83,  433. 
Modeligo,  210. 
Mokes,  228,  256-9,  271. 
MoUagh,  445,  452. 
Mologholan,  239,  244. 
Monedihy,  445. 
Monemihill,  449. 
Monemore,  436. 
Monkstown,  413,  450. 
Monroe,  30. 
Montgomery,  357. 
Moody,  110«,  336. 
MoonacuUa,  234,  291. 
Moony,  305. 


Moore,  91-3, 102-5-7-8-9. 110-1-3-6, 119, 116, 125, 
121-9,  130, 142-4-8-9,  153-8-9,  165, 170,  173, 
201, 246, 271, 288, 291, 307, 324, 335,393, 416. 

Mooretown  Walsh,  156,  449. 

Moorestown,  22-5, 130, 425, 431, 450. 

Moran,  298. 

Morgan,  82-9, 116-7-8, 134, 187, 230. 332. 

Moroney.  44, 47-8-9,  96,  106-8, 138, 143, 239,  241, 
256-7-8,  277,  300,  304,  336-7. 

Mortimer.  97. 

Mortellstown,  431. 

Morton,  57//,  131-2-5, 158, 183-6,  191,  234. 

Morris,  37-8,  49,  97,  143,  275,  284. 

Morrissey,  229,  232. 

Morrisk,  451. 

Morrin,  233. 

Mountcashell,  91, 120, 145//,  149/i,  164,  176,  271, 
320-1 

Mountain  Castle,  67. 

Mothel,  418. 

De  Mouner,  409. 

Moynard,  52,  432//. 

Moycai-ky,  433. 

Moylan,  163. 

Muckross,  168. 

Mueretv,  446. 

Mulcahy,  74,  229,  285. 

Mullady,  261. 

Mullowney,  124. 

MuUaghanony,  418,  425,  450. 

Mullinaparky,  239. 

Mulryan,  52. 

Murphy,  96, 135, 186, 229, 232,  336. 

Murray,  183. 

Musgrave,  363. 

Mylodstown,  447. 

Myers,  184-7,  234,  281. 

Nagle,  158,  331,  367. 

Nantes,  276. 

Nash,  311. 

Naughton,  358. 

Neagle,  134. 

Neary,  337. 

Neddins,  452. 

Nelthorp,  104,  494. 

Nelson  St.,  132, 167, 184,  295. 

Nenagh,  11,  54, 137,  398,  440. 

Neville,  108. 

New  Abbey,  188. 

Newberry,  246. 

Newcastle,  22, 25, 35, 131/i,  362fi,  364-8,  431, 453. 

Newcastle  West,  385. 

Newchappel,  450. 

Newcombe,  337. 

Newcomen,  348. 

Newenham,  159,  165,  321. 

Newfoundland,  396. 

Newtown  Anner,  121-7,  431,  447,  496. 

Newtownlennan,  446. 

Newport,  174«,  I88/1. 

Newman,  152n,  258,  337. 

Newmarket,  364. 

New  St.,  55, 172,  184. 

Nicholas,  54. 

JI 


516 


General  Index. 


Nicholls  246  494. 

Nicholastown,  15,  25,  338,  426,  431-7,  451. 

Nicholas  St.  Church,  12,  20. 

Nicholson,  162. 

Nire,  233. 

Noane,  110;/,  436. 

Norbury  Ld.,  208,  349,  359. 

North  Lane,  56. 

North,  89. 

North  Gate,  75-6,  244. 

Norris,  38. 

Norton,  54. 

Nugent,  85, 106,  232. 

Nuttle,  337. 

Oaklands,  131;/,  203,  338. 

Gates,  107. 

G'Brien,  6,  11,  145;;,  180.  229,  283,  337,  407-8. 

O'Callaghan,  371-2-3,  390, 156-8. 

O'Carran,  434. 

G'Carrol,  11,  30,  432,  440. 

Ochael,  410. 

Ocherohv,  37. 

O'Conneil,  191,  282,  323,  351-5. 

O'Connor,  11,  18,  81,  229,  313.  330-7. 

G'Dineen,  410. 

G'Donnell,  158,  203,  229,  279,  313,  337. 

G'Donovan,  406. 

O'Doyle,  158. 

O'Dwyer,  11,  52,  55;i,  61,  81-3-4. 

G'Fergus,  36. 

OTogarty,  30. 

O'Hartegan,  32. 

O'Hedan,  52. 

O'Heffernan,  8,  410 

G'Higgins,  81. 

G'Homan,  304. 

O'Keeffe,  208-9. 

O'Kennedy,  11,  52,  60. 

G'Lahy  440.' 

Old  Bridge,  234. 

O'Leary,  295,  396. 

Oliver,  245,  485. 

O'Mahony,  183. 

O'Mara,  7,  53. 

G'Meagher,  11,  52,  81-3, 160,  432. 

O'Neill,  7,  22,  64,  66  seq.,  134, 186,  229, 430, 445. 

O'Phelan,  4,  5,  6,  407-8. 

Orchard,  337. 

Orchardstown,  313-8,  377/;,  449. 

O' Regan,  313. 

Ormond,  15, 16,  17,  22,  64-5,  60,  29,  30-1-8,  49, 

51-3-4,  62,  74,  96-7-8,  100-4,  149,  167,  174, 

240,  273,  300-4,  313. 
Orr,  296.    . 
Osborne,  32;/,  121-9,  152;/,  164,  183,  212;/,  228, 

234,  271,  317,  358,  488,  494. 
Ostend,  102. 

O'Sullivan,  32, 37, 149;/,  305. 
Ossory,  24,  33-4. 
Ottenbury,  122. 
Outrath,  209. 
Ovington,  455. 
Owens,  121. 
Owny,  8,  11,  54. 


Page,  110/1,  292,  337. 

Pagett,  337, 

Paine,  337. 

Pallister,  193,  289. 

Palmer,  246,  294,  452. 

Parker,  110//,  256,  337. 

Parnell,  110;/. 

Paris,  84-7,  239,  245-6. 

Parsons,  55;/,  162;/. 

Parr,  337. 

Patten,  295. 

Patrick's  (St.)  Well,  2,  266,  412,  414-6.  450. 

Peacon,  337. 

Pearson,  134. 

Pedder,  134,  201,  210,  337. 

Peisley,  60. 

Pennington,  95. 

Penrose,  128. 

Pennefather,  142,  149//,  159, 176,  228,  337,  436. 

Perkins  440. 

Perry,  12-3-6,  91-9,  110;/,  131-2.  152,  169,  172, 

258-9,  271,  294,  306,  327-9,  346,  363-4-5. 
Perrot,  38,  93,  230,  243-6. 
Peter  St.,  66,  157,  351. 
Pett,  104. 
Petty,  80. 
Pettybone,  259. 
Phair,  95. 

Phelan,  134, 149//,  187. 229,  232,  276,  283,  426. 
Picket,  246. 

Piggot,  109,  228,  256-7,  260,  337,  322. 
Pierce,  136. 
Pilltown,  364. 
Poer  Le,  159,  409. 
Polenonan,  143. 
Pomeroy,  200,  291. 
Ponsonby,  164. 
Portland,  159, 165. 
Poulakerry,  26,  110;;,  430,  447. 
Poulbuee,  183,  273;/. 
Poulavinoge,  234. 
Pourguier,  337-8 
Power,  14, 19, 22-4-8, 94;/,  120, 170,  229, 241,283, 

311-6,  332-8. 
Powerstown,  82, 160,  239,  241,  436.  448. 
Powell,  94,  245,  436. 
Poynstown,  433. 
Poyntz,  124. 
Prendergast,  9,  11,  15,  22-5,  52,  99,  116,  149w, 

154-9, 229, 232, 255-9, 274-5, 281-5, 301, 313-9, 

338, 365,  425, 440,  454,  492. 
Preston,  70,  338. 
Pretender,  The,  124. 
Pretty,  95, 110;/,  159. 
Prior",  163,  290. 
Prior  Park,  201,  273. 
Priorstown,  448. 
Price,  186-7,  245,  256,  338. 
Proctor,  246. 
Prossor,  187,  338. 

Proud,  245.  ^     ^  ^'3       *^^ 

Purcell,  8,  51,  61,  82, 109,  138, 143-4,  229,  244. 

313,  338,  432-6,  426-7.  n  ^i  ^ 

Putland,  324.  ^  ^' 

Pyke,  110;/. 


General  Index. 


617 


Pym,  297,  337-8. 
Pyne,  338. 


Quay,  122, 168.  186-7,  234. 

Quayage,  360. 

Quay  St.,  67. 

Quinn,  136, 187,  228,  232,  281,  289//,  313. 

Quirke,  7,  24,  108,  239,  269,  338. 


Rabone,  228,  269. 

Radcliff,  96-8, 109,  115. 

Ragwell,  184. 

Raheen,  233,  273//. 

Rathconnack,  166. 

Rathculle,  22, 174. 

Rathduff,  239. 

Rathkeevan,  448. 

Rathogallv,  462. 

Rathronan,  22,  118//,  183.  239,  431-6,  449. 

Read,  110,  338. 

Reanan,  246. 

ReardoD,  338. 

Reddich,  338. 

Redmondstown,  183,  448. 

Reidy,  229. 

Reken,  37. 

Rehill,  23-7,  68,  86, 143,  400,  466. 

Reynolds,  68,  83,  269. 

Rhoades,  228,  289. 

Richardstown,  130//,  446. 

Richards,  83-4-6-7-9,  89,  93,  246-6,  338. 

Richelieu,  62. 

Richmond  St.,  36, 167,  170, 184,  199. 

Rindon,  106. 

Rigg,  131-6,  296,  338. 

Rinuccini,  63,  72. 

Rivers,  136,  200,  229,  338. 

Robbins,  168. 

Robeson,  104,  368 

Roberts,  289. 

Robinson,  176, 110//. 

Roche,  36,  74,  96, 189,  219,  241. 

Rochelle,  102. 

Rochefort,  39. 

Rochestown,  26,  68,  82,  338,  431,  462. 

Rockwell,  208,  212/i. 

Rodolphus,  134. 

Roe,  142,  208,  212,  327,  330-8. 

Ronayne,  322. 

Koscrea,  7,  368-9. 

Koosca,  86,  464. 

Ross,  74, 161.  281,  368. 

Rothe,  106/1, 108,  266-8,  338,  427. 

Rouse  246. 

Russell,  169, 184-7,  209,  234,  338,  494. 

Russellstown,  241. 

Rutherford,  339. 

Rathorne,  110//. 

Ryall,  91-9,  109,  118,  123//,   133,  144,   162-3-6, 

174-6,  188.  191-8,  228,  232,  294,  308,  326-6, 

329,  338,  340. 
Ryan,  69,  83-6,  IO6/1,  130-6,  166,  187,  229,  234, 

339,  432-9. 


Sadieir,  110//,  142, 169,  191. 

Sail,  67w,  83, 106//,  137-8,  312,  434,  480. 

Salmon,  230,  246,  339. 

Sandford,  290-1. 

Sankey,  79/j,  80-3-6-9,  242,  414. 

Sapperton,  166. 

Sargent,  136, 163//. 

Sarsiield,  111. 

Sauce,  168,  161. 

Saucestown,  62,  434. 

Savage,  108. 

Scales,  339. 

Scarlap,  368. 

Scarlfield,  83. 

School,  Free,  68. 

Schomberg,  110. 

Scott,  106,  139, 140,  149//,  161-2. 

Scrouthea,  184, 234. 

ScuUv,  191,  208,  362,  364//. 

Sealy,  147. 

Seed,  110//. 

Sellin,  242. 

Seskin,  447. 

Sexton,  267. 

Shambles  Lane,  67-8. 

Shanbally,  371,  381. 

Shanballyan,  336. 

Shanballyduff,  83, 110//. 

Shanahan,  183,  339. 

Shapcott,  110//. 

Shanrahan,  110//,  364,  390.  436. 

Sharpe,  99, 100. 

Shaw,  118, 136,  147//,  230,  330-9,  398,  449. 

Shee,  187,  209,  284-6,  312,  439. 

Sheehy,  246,  339,  360  scq.,  496-7. 

Sheemian,  261. 

Sheldon,  434. 

Shelmedieu,  339. 

Sherlock,  108, 138,  339,  370,  436. 

Sheyne,  48. 

Shiel,  182, 186. 

Shortcastle,  244. 

Shortis,  340. 

Shrewsbury',  140. 

Shronell,  14l.» 

Skehan,  209,  232,  244. 

Silvermines,  83. 

Sigounier,  339. 

Singleton,  229. 

Sirr,  372,  391. 

Sladen,  187. 

Slane,  61. 

Slattery,  116,  163, 170,  313 

Sheer,  237. 

Slievardagh, 

Slievenamon,  88. 

Sloughter,  246,  327,  339. 

Slynestown,  434. 

Small  man,  339. 

Smith,  99,  100,  124,  166,  184,  193//,  268,  378, 

316-6,  339. 
Smithwick,  160. 
Smyth,  63,  168,  161,  232,  261-2. 
Solmes,  111. 
South  Gate,  66. 


518 


General  Index. 


Southwell,  137-9. 

Spa,  121, 177,  184,  234. 

Sparke,  62. 

Sparrow,  131^,  184,  203,  296,  339,  376. 

Spellman,  446. 

Spenser,  92/f,  228,  242-5. 

Spratt,  282. 

Springhouse,  125. 

Spurier,  102. 

Squibb,  455. 

Standish,  94. 

Stanley,  32,  492,  86,  93-4-5-8-9,  230-5,  256,  316, 

333-9. 
Stanton,  339. 
Staper,  260-2,  437. 
Stapleton,  52,  425. 

Stephen's,  St.,  Church,  12,  20,  234,  244. 
Stein,  183-6. 
Stephenson,  65-6,  228. 
Sterne,  486. 
Stoaker,  237. 
Stokes,  8,  229. 
Stockdale,  135. 
Stopford,  93. 
Strafford,  55. 

Strangman,  180/1,  354,  455,  494. 
Strapp,  124. 
Stritch,  24, 59,  96, 106/7, 106,  121, 138, 143-4,  229, 

241-3.  255-8,  262-8,  277,  302,  314,  339,  340. 
Sturzaker,  246. 
Stydell,  259. 
Sullivan,  339,  340,  395. 
Suir,  28,  56,  97,  128-9,  243. 
Suirville,  184. 
Sutherland,  340. 
Suttonrath,  451. 
Suttleworth,  256. 
Sunbury,  228. 

Swyny,  96,  241,  258,  312,  340. 
Swift,  112, 168. 
Sydney,  40. 

Taafe,  389». 

Tachkerath,  409. 

Talbot,  107, 115,  340. 

Tanner,  37. 

Taylor,  100,  llO/i,  135, 142, 149/i,  187,  245,  259, 

340,436. 
Templetny, 
Templemore,  440. 
Templetuohy,  208. 
Tengan,  228. 
Tennison,  340,  400. 
Thomond,  11,  48,  60. 

Thompson,  116,  135, 183-7,  245,  256,  340,  451. 
Thomas,  118,  257,  260. 
Thomastown,  143,  205,  264. 
Thornill,  156,  246,  436. 
Thurles,  9, 11,  83,  316,  143, 194,  208,  432-4. 
Thwaytes,  100. 
Tibarach,  6,  7. 

Tickencor,  32«,  42,  94/*,  316,  431. 
Tipperary  Town,  11,  llO/i,  141, 166-9,  194-6. 
Tobin,  9,  51,  83, 109,  340,  426-7-9,  436-6,  452. 
Toler,  159,  388,  396. 


Tomlinson,  80,  94. 

Tonnery,  137-8,  276-6,  340. 

Tothall,  121,  230,  241,  398,  487. 

Toohy,  229,  376  scq.,  497. 

Toomevara,  205. 

Townsend,  316,  356. 

Town  Hall,  58, 163//,  236//,  242. 

Tramore,  340. 

Travers,  303,  384,  431. 

Trayer,  340. 

Trehie,  37. 

Trimlestown,  61. 

Troy,  340. 

Tuam,  110«, 

Tubber,  209. 

Tubberaheena,  86,  llO/i,  131,  184,  289,  239.  431, 

449. 
Tubrid,  456. 
Tucker,  245. 
Tuckey,  158. 
Tuksbury,  100. 
Tullagh,  110//,  464. 
Tullaghorton,  286. 
Tullamaine,  62, 110//,  434. 
Tullamelan,  453. 
Turpin,  246,  267,  260,  340. 
Turtulla,  208. 
Tyrone,  168-9. 
Tyrrell,  139,  140. 

Vale,  340. 

Valentine,  110//. 

Vaughan,  84-6,  91-9,  101-2-8-9,  126,  135,    245, 

294,  338,  340. 
Vickars,  294. 
Villiars,  53, 136. 
De  Vin,  312. 
Violas,  187/1. 
Vowell,  158. 
Vyn,  228,  255,  434. 

Ufford,  15. 
Uniacke,  160. 
Uncle,  10. 
Upperthird,  174. 
Upton,  361. 
Ussher,  340. 

Wade,  333. 

Wadding,  300,  469,  470,  480. 

Wall,  19,  22  43-7-8,  60-2-7,  90-6,  135,  147,  161, 

219,  241,  268,  261-8,  289,  300,  429,  430. 
Wallace,  136,  187. 
Waller,  99, 142-3. 
Walpole,  113. 
Walkdcn,  110//. 
Wakefield,  196,  202. 
Walsh,  22,  37,  49,  61,  65,82-6,  87,  96-8, 135, 156, 

214//,  239,  241-2-4,  257-8,  278,  313,  320,  341. 

419. 
Waite,  372^,  391. 
Waytes,  267. 
Wainright,  246,  261. 
Walkington,  109,  230,  274//,  287. 
Ward,  llOw,  340. 


General  Index. 


519 


^Va^in,  246,  257. 

W^arren,  291. 

Waterford,  28,  37, 43,  61, 70, 127«,  128, 132, 159, 

194-6,  200,  241,  257,  299. 
Watergate,  55,  305. 
Watts,  110/1. 

Watson,  158, 162, 189,  296,  341-9. 
Webber,  341. 
Weldon,  341. 
Welland,  271. 
Weilv,  341. 

West,  230,  228,  260,  296. 
Westmoreland,  151. 
Weston,  135. 
West  Gate  240-2. 
West  Street,  56,  296,  377. 
Wellesley,  195. 
Wexford,  163. 
Wheatley,  246. 

Whites,  8,  24-5,  37-9,  40-3-7-8, 51-3-8-9,  61-4,  78, 

86,  90-8,  106i/,  108-9,  110//.  135-7-8, 140-3-7, 

150//,  229,  230,  241-3-4,  255-6-7-8-9,  260-1-5, 

312-4-7,  328.  330,  341-4,  412. 

White,  John  (first  Mayor),  50,  219,  302-3. 

White,  John  (Mayor,  1649-50),  57,  65-8,  73,  91-6, 

240. 
White,   Nicholas  (M.P.  in   1613),  44,  87,  219, 

265-7,  315. 
Whitechurch,  24,  454. 


Whitehand,  100-8,  116,  143,  228,  230,  256,  291, 

343. 
Whitelock,  79. 
Whitten,  135,  258. 
Wilkinson,  135-8,  140,  345. 
Williams,  256. 
William  St.,  55. 
Williamson,  93/f. 
Willington,  348,  398. 
Wilson,  124,  230. 
De  Worcester,  7,  8,  9. 
Woodlock,  27. 
Wood,  99, 135,  294,  345. 
Woods,  232,  293,  356. 
Woodenstown,  110//. 
Woodroff,  127//,  363. 
Woodward,  295,  360. 
Worrall,  295. 
Wray,  llO/i. 
Wren,  167. 

Wright,  162-3,  232,  256-7,  335,  349. 
Wyse,  393-4,  404,  465. 

Yelverton,  162//. 

Yong,  277. 

Young,  113,  125, 130, 160,  202,  362. 

Youghal,  4,  43//,  68,  149//,  316. 

Zouche,  40. 


44 


t)iBtovp  of  Clonmei: 


LIST   OF    THE    ORIGINAL   SUBSCRIBERS. 


Ahernc,  T.  J.,  Alto,  Cherokee  Co.,  Texas,  U.S.A. 
Anderson,  Rev.  Father,  O.S.A.,  John  St.,  Dublin. 
Anthony,    J.    J.,   Manager  ^funster   &   Leinster 

Bank,  Clonmel. 
Atkins,  Thomas,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 

Bagwell,     Richard,     D.L.,     MarlBeld,    Clonmel 

(2  copies). 
Baker,  A.  F.,  56  Merrion  Square,  Dublin. 
Barron,    Percy   S.,    Librarian,   Mount   Melleray 

Abbey,  Cappoquin. 
Barton,  Charles  R.,  Anglesea  Street,  Clonmel. 
Barton,  Mrs.,  of  Grove,  16  Landsdowne  Place, 

Cheltenham. 
Barrymore,  Lord,  Foto  Island,  Queenstovvn. 
Beary,  Michael,  Dungarvan,  Co.  Waterford. 
Beglcy,  Rev.  Father,  O.F.M.,  Franciscan  House, 

Waterford. 
Bergin,  Henry  J.,  Station  Master,  Clonmel. 
Bewley,   Mrs.   R.   I^cky,  69   Grosvenor    Road, 

Rathmines,  Dublin. 
Boland,  Charles  J.,  112  Malone  Avenue,  Belfast. 
Boland,  F.  W.,  136  Frant  Road,  Thornton  Heath, 

London. 
Boland,  H.  P.,  32  Edinvale  Rd.,  Ranelagh,  Dublin. 
Boles,  Neil,  26  Mary  Street,  Clonmel. 
Boshell,  James  D.,  Ballyvaughan  Cottage,  Clonmel. 
Boyle,  Frank,  Dungarvan,  Co.  Waterford. 
Boyle,  John  F.,  Dungarvan,  Co.  Waterford. 
Bourke,  Michael,  Ballytarsna,  Clonmel. 
Brunicardi,  D.  N.,  6  Ely  Place,  Dublin. 
Brunicardi,  S.  A.,  Town  Hall,  Clonmel. 
Burke,  Edmond,  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
Burke,  Edmond,  O'Connell  St.,  Clonmel. 
Burke,  John,  138-140  Liberty  Street.  New  York 

City,  U.S.A. 
Butler,  Lt.-Gen.  Sir  Wm.,  G.C.B.,  Government 

House,  Devonport. 
Butler,  James,  East  Lodge,  Tramore. 
Butler.  M.  A.,  9  Hazelmere  Rd.,  Kilburn,  London. 
Butler,  Patrick,  Sarsfield  Street,  Clonmel. 
Byrne,  James,  J.P.,  Quay  House,  Clonmel. 
Byrne,    Rev.    Father    J.    (C.S.    Sp.,)    Rockwell 

College,  Cashel. 

Cahill,  James.  T.C.,  Bolton  Street,  Clonmel. 
Cantwell,  Rev.  Father  N.,  Seville  Place,  Dublin. 
Carroll,  Dr.  D.  J.,  Anglesea  Street,  Clonmel. 
Carroll,  James,  6  Ely  Place,  Dublin. 
Carrothers,  Edward,  Knowsley  Rd.,  Cressington, 

Liverpool. 
Casey,  Dr.,  Ormond  Quay,  Dublin. 
Casey,  Frank  J.,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  U.S.A. 
Casey,  Henry,  St.  Louis,  Mo„  U.S.A. 
Casey,  Wm.  M.,  Bellevue  Place,  Clonmel. 
Casey,  M.  J.,  Manager  National  Bank,  Clonmel. 
Clarke,  Wm.,  Clonmel  Chronicle, 
Clarke,  R.  Elliott,  44  Strada  Mezzodi, Valetta,  Malta. 


Clonmell,  Earl  of.  Bishop's  Court,   Straffan,  C<». 

Kildare  (2  copies). 
Cloughley,  Henry,  Rock  Lodge,  Clonmel. 
Coffey,  Michael,  Abbeyville,  Fethard. 
Coghlan,  Rev.  James,  C.C.,  Lismore. 
Collins,  J.  W.,  Nelson  Street,  ClonmeL 
Condon,  T.  J.,  M.P.,  Mayor,  Quay  St.,  Clonmel. 
Condon,  Patrick,  Sarsfield  Street,  ClonmeL 
Condon,  Rev.  Father  Thomas,  C.C,  Tramore. 
Cooke,  J.  B.,  O'Connell  Street,  ClonmeL 
Cooney,  Rev.Joseph  B.,  Franciscan  Abbey,Ck)nmel 
Condon,  Patrick  J.,  26  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Cox,  Joseph,  Short  Street,  Clonmel. 
Crean,  R.  J.  Glenbrook,  Clonmel. 
Crean,  Dr.  Thos.  J.,  Brighton  Place,  Clonmel. 
Crean,  John  R.,  Coolgreany,  Clonmel. 
Crosse,  Wm.  S.,  Parnell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Croome,  J.  F.,  Annesfort,  Clonmel. 

Davin,  John,  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 

Day,  Mrs.  Mary,  14  Spencer  Road,  Kingstown. 

Day,  Robert,  J.P.,  F.S.A.,  M.R.LA.,  President  of 

Cork  Arch.  Society,  Myrtle  Hill  House,  Cork. 
De  la  Poer,  Count,  Lord  le  Power  and  Corogh- 

more,  Gurteen  le  Poer,  Kilsheelan. 
Denny,  C.  E.,  Ballybrado,  Cahir. 
Dennehy,  Dr.  Patrick  R.,  Headview,  Lismore. 
Disney,  William,  Catherine  Street,  ClonroeJ. 
Donoughmore,  Earl  of,  Knocklofty,  Clonmel. 
Doocey,  Rev.  Father  P.,  SS.  Peter  &  Paurs,Clonmel 
Dow  ley,  Ed.,  J.  P.,  Tinvane  House,  Carrick-on-Soir. 
Dower,  Robert  J.,  Charlton  St.,  Chicago,  U.S.A. 
Dunne,  James.  66  Thomas  Street,  Clonmel. 

Everard,  Rev.  Father  John,  P.P.,  Ballyporeen. 
Everard,  Rev.  Father  James,  Cahir. 

Fanning,  Martin,  4643  South  Halsted  St.,  Chicago. 

Fayle,  Alfred,  J.P.,  Merlin,  Clonmel. 

Fayle,  Edwin,  Kylemore,  Orwell  Park,  Ratfagar, 

Dublin. 
Fayle,  W.  T.,  21  Queen  Street,  Clonmel. 
Feehan,  Matthew,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Fell,  Thomas,  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
Fennelly,    Thomas,   His    Grace    Archbishop  of 

Cashel,  The  Palace,  Thurles. 
Fennell,  Charles,  River  House,  Clonmel. 
Fetherstone,  Thomas,  68  Summerhill,  Dublin. 
Fitzgibbon,  Thos.,  Aid.,  6  &  7  Mitchell  St.,  Clonmel. 
Fitzgibbon,  E.  J.,  Albano,  Eglinton  Road,  Dublin. 
Fitzmaurice,  Rev.  E.  B.,  Dogheda. 
Flavin,  Very  Rev.  Canonj  S.S.  Peter  &  Paul's, 

Clonmel. 
Flynn,  Rev.  Father  Michael,  Presbytery,  Donny- 

brook,  Dublin. 
'Fogarty,  John,  41  Upper  Dominick  St.,  Dublin. 
Foley,  Thomas,  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 


List  of  the  Original  Subscribers. 


521 


Geary,  Aid.  Walter,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Griffith,  P.  J.,  33  Longwood  Avenue,  Dublin. 
Griffith,  Richard  B.  Kilsheelan,  Clonmel. 
Grubb,  Mrs.  Cambridge,  Suir  Island,  Clonmel. 
Grubb,  J.  Ernest,  Co.  C,  Carrick-on-Suir. 
Grubb,  Louis  H.,  Ardmayle,  Cashel. 
Grubb,  Richard  Theodore,  Harlow,  Essex. 
Grubb,  Strangman,  North  Common,  Ealing. 
Grubb,  Miss  Susanna,  Glenam,  Clonmel. 
Guiry,  P.  V.,  J.P.,  Redmondstown,  Clonmel. 

Hannigan,  Rev.  Father  Thomas,  P.P.,  Powerstown, 
Clonmel. 

Harvey,  Dr.  Bagenal  C,  Asylum,  Clonmel. 

Harvey,  F.  A.,  Mitchell  Street,  Clonmel. 

Harrington,  Rev.  Father,  St.  Joseph's,  Ferry  house, 
Clonmel. 

Harney,  Joseph,  Market  Street,  Clonmel. 

Heffernan,  Dr.  Patrick,  Asylum,  Clonmel. 

Hemphill,  Robert,  Springhill,  Killenaule. 

Henderson,  H.  R.,  21  Queen  Street,  Clonmel. 

Hickey,   James   John,   T.C.,   46  O'Connell    St., 
Clonmel. 

Hickey,  Rev.  Wm.,  Settle,  Yorkshire. 

Hickey,  Rev.  John,  St.  Mary's,  Clonmel. 

Higgins,  D.  J.,  Sol.,  Clonmel. 

Higgins,  Mrs.  Napier,  Nether  Winchendon,  Ayles- 
bury (2  copies). 

Higgins,  Mrs.  Mary  E.,  Ardsallagh,  Fethard,  Tip. 

Hodges,  Figgis,  104  Grafton  St.,  Dublin  (2  copies). 

Hogan,    Rev.    Father    Thomas,    St.    Munchins, 

Limerick. 
Honan,  P.  J.,  28  Brighton  Road,  Rathgar,  Dublin. 
Howley,  Rt.  Rev.  M.  F.,  The  Palace,  St.  John's, 

Newfoundland. 
Hughes,  A.  E.,  Box  212,  Darien,  Conn.,  U.S.A. 

Ingham,  William,  Mount  Pleasant,  Clonmel. 

Jennings,  I.  R.  B.,  J.P.,  C.I.  R.l.C,  Lady  Lane, 
Waterford. 

Kane,  John.  Thomas  Street,  Clonmel. 
Kavanagh,  Gerald  P.,  34  Gardiner's  Place,  Dublin. 
Keane,  Henry  D.,  Sol.,  John's  Hill,  Waterford. 
Keating,  David,  Wexford. 

Keating,     Rev.     Father     P.,    Ardiinnan,    Cahir. 
Keating,  J.  J.,  46  Mountjoy  Square  and  3  Lower 

Abbey  Street,  Dublin. 
Kearney,  James  V.,  Quay  Street,  Clonmel. 
Kelly,  T.  B..  Asylum,  Clonmel. 
Kenneiick,  Mrs.  M.,  Auburn  House,  Clonmel. 
Kenny,  Henry  Eagan.  Hillington  House,  Goole, 

Yorks. 
Kennedy,  Thomas,  Pass,  Clonmel. 
Keogh,  Michael,  64  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Kneeshaw,  William,  Gas  Works,  Clonmel. 

Laffan,  Dr.,  Cashel. 

Leahy,  Michael,  6  Fort  Green  Place,  Borough  of 

Brooklyn,  U.S.A.,  City  of  New  York. 
Legge,  Richard  M.D.,  Co.  Asylum,  Mickleover, 

Derby. 
Lennon,     Rev.    Father   John,    Dunmore    East, 

Co.  Waterford. 


Lindsay,  Capt.  P.  M.,  Garrankyle,  Fethard,  Tip. 
Long,  J.  J.,  Editor  Sationalist^  Clonmel. 
Long,  B.  J.,  Jervis  Place,  ClonmA 
Lonergan,  Rev.  Father  Patri^gHdlinamult,  Co. 

Waterford.  ^V*- 

Lowry,  Denis,  4  Upper  GladstoiKst.,  Clonmel. 
Loyd,  Lady  Mary,  Invernore  H^se,  Courtown 

Harbour,  Co  Wexford  (3  copies). 


Magner,  John,  T.C.,  Mitchell  Street,  Clonmel 
Malcomson,  Robert,  Melview,  Clonmel. 
Malcomson,  Mrs.  Minella,  Clonmel. 
Mansfield,  Geo.,  72  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Manning,  Richard,  6  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Martin,    J.     T.,    Ardfallen,    Shrewsbury    Road, 

Birkenhead. 
Massy,  Dunham,  Lieut.-General,  Grantstown  Hall, 

Tipperary. 
Meagher,  James,  Springmount,  Clonmel. 
Meagher,     Rev.     Father    E.,    P.P.,    Kilsheelan, 

Clonmel. 
Meehan,  James,  T.C.,  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
Mockler,  Rev.  Father  James,  St.  John's  College. 

Waterford. 
Mockler,  Rev.  Father  Thomas,  St.  John's  College, 

Waterford. 
Mockler,  Rev.  Father  Richard,  P.P.,  Ballyhooly, 

Cahir. 
Moffatt,  Robert,  84  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Moore,  Count  Arthur,  Mooresfort,  Tipperary. 
Moore,  Randle  K.,  Barne  Park,  Clonmel. 
Morrissey,  Aid.  Thos.,  J.P.,  Gurtnafleur,  Clonmel. 
Morton,  Capt.  Villiers,  Little  Island,  Clonmel. 
Moran,    Rev.     Father    John,    Carrickbeg,    Co. 

Waterford. 
Mother  Superior,  Ursuline  Convent,  St.  Mary's, 

Waterford. 
Mulcahy,  John,  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
Mulcahy,  J.  P.,  Ballydonagh,  Clonmel. 
Mulcahy,  James  P.,  J.P.,  Abbeyview,  Clonmel. 
Mulcahy,  T.  R.,  V.S.,  Anglesea  Street,  Clonmel. 
Mulcahy,  John,  16  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Mullany,  Rev.  Father  J.  F.,  Syracuse,  New  York. 
Mullaly,  M.  J.,  Ballycullan,,  Mullinahone. 
Mullaly,  Mrs.  J.  3602  Olive  St.,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  U.S.A. 
Murphy,  J.  M.,  Glenview,  Clonmel. 
Murphy,  Edward,  Hearn's  Hotel,  Clonmel. 
Murphy,  William  J.,  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
Murphy,  Thomas    &   Co.,  Ltd.,  Nelson   Street, 

Clonmel. 
Murphy,  Raymond,  12  O'Connell  St.,  Clonmel. 
Murphy,  James  A.,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Myers,  Mrs.  Marianne,  Suir  Island,  Clonmel. 
Myers,  James  J.,  Suir  Island,  Clonmel. 
Myles,  James,  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
McDermott,  Rev.  P.A.,  C.S.,  Sp.  of  old  Calabar, 

West  Africa,  C/o.  L.  Dooley.  16  Bolton  Street, 

Cloumel. 
McDonnell,  Very  Rev.  Thomas  Dean,  P.P.,  V.G., 

S.S.  Peter  and  Paul's,  Clonmel. 
McDowell,  Richard  A.,  101  Grafton  St.,  Dublin. 
McC.  Dix,  E.  R.,  17  Kildare  Street,  Dublin. 
McKeogh,  Rev.  Wm.,  P.P.,  Kilcommin,  Thurles. 
McLoughlin,  M.  J.,  21  Anne  Street,  Clonmel. 
McRell,  William,  38  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 


522 


List  of  the  Original  Subscribers. 


Nagle,  Rev.   Father  William,   Abbeystde,  Dun- 

garvan. 
National  Library  of  Ireland,  Dublin. 
Norris,    Very    Rev.    Dean,    Catholic    Rectory, 

Brentwood,  Essex. 
Nugent,  Patrick,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Nugent,  David,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 

O'Brien,  J.  F.,  Town  Clerk,  Clonmel. 

O'Brien,  R.  R.,  M.D.,  J. P.,  Jervis  Place,  Clonmel. 

O'Brien,  T.  R.  Donald,  Victoria,  Australia. 

O'Brien,  Thomas  F.,  Solr.,  Clonmel. 

O'Byrne,  T.,  St.  John's  Fountain  Road,  Liverpool. 

O'Connor,  Edward,  T.C.,  Mitchell  St.,  Clonmel. 

O'Connor,  J.  R.,  26  Nightingale  Lane,  Balham, 

London. 
O'Connell,  Mrs.  Morgan  John,  Longfield,  Cashel. 
O'Donnell,  Michael,  J.P.,  Binnoxtown,  Fethard. 
O'Donnell,  William,  Cashel  Street,  Clonmel. 
O'Donnell,  John,  39  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
O'Dwyer,  Rev.  M.,  S.A.,  The  Abbey,  Fethard,  Tip. 
O'FIynn,  Philip,  M.D.,  Abbev  Street,  Clonmel. 
O'Hickey,    Rev.    Michael    P.,    D.D.,    M.R.LA., 

F.R.S.A.I.,  Maynooth. 
O'Keeffe,    C.    H.,     Manager    Provincial    Bank, 

Clonmel. 
O'Keeife,  Patrick,  Ormonde  Hotel,  Clonmel. 
O'Keeffe,  Wm.,  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
O'Meara,  W.  F.,  The  Kraal,  Kilkenny. 
O'Meara,  Rev.   Father  J.,  Ashton-in-Makerfield. 

Lancashire. 
O'Neill,  P.,  P.P.,  V.F.,  Archdeacon  of  Dublin, 

Clontarf,  Dublin. 
O'Reilly,  P.  J.,  Main  Guard,  Clonmel. 
Ormond,  Marquis  of  Kilkenny  Castle. 
Ormond,  Rev.  Father  Laurence,  Ballylooby,  Cahir. 
Ormond,    Rev.    Father    William,     St.    Mary's, 

Clonmel. 
Orr,  Miss,  Airmount,  Clonmel. 
Orr,  Misses  M.  and  L.,  Airmount,  Clonmel. 
O'Shea,  Andrew*,  Thomas  Street,  Clonmel. 

Parker,  A.,  Castle  Lough,  Portroe,  Nenagh. 
Pelissier,  Robert  S.,  Anglesea  St.,  Clonmel. 
Peacocke,  John,  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
Peters,  Patrick  O'H.,  Bridge  Street,  Clonmel 
Phelan,  Thomas,  Spring  Garden,  Clonmel. ' 
Phelan,  John  B.,  76  O'Connell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Phelan,  A.  B..  M.I.C.E.,  Holly  Lodge,  Dalhousie, 

Punjaub. 
Phelan,   Mhl.   F.,  606,    Lindsay   Buildings,   St 

Catherine  Street  West,  Montreal. 
Phelan,  Theobald,  Prior  Park  Terrace,  Clonmel. 
Pim,  Miss  Elizabeth  Malcomson,  Newtown  Park, 

Waterford. 
Power,  Arnold  Le  Poer,  T.C,  Abbeyville,  Clonmel. 
Power,  Thomas,  Prior  Park,  Clonmel. 
Power,  Rev.  P.,  M.R.I.A.,  John's  Hill,  Waterford. 
Power,  Rev.  Father  Paul,  Mothel  House,  P.P., 

Carrick-on-Suir. 
Power,    Professor  J.,    Prince    Edwards    Place, 

Clonmel. 
Power,  Maurice  J.,  O'Connell  Terrace,  Clonmel. 
Prendergast,  Edmond,  Limerick. 


Prendergast,  William,  206  East  60th  Street,  Xevr 

York  City  (2  copies). 
Priston,  F.  S.,  6  Carrigside  Cottage  Road,  Cork. 
Purefoy,  Cap.,  E.B.,   16th   Lancers,   Naval    and 

Military  Club,  Piccadilly,  London,  W. 

Quinn,  F.  J.,  Spnngfield,  Clonmel. 

Quinn,  Miss  Catherine,  Springfield,  Clonmel. 

Quinn,  C.  W.  P.,  Tuam,  Galway. 

Quinn,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  P.P.,  Ballvbrack,    Co. 

Dublin. 
Quinlan,  J.  B.  Professor,  Santa  Clara  Cottage,  CaJ. 

Reidy,  James,  T.C,  Gre>'fort,  Clonmel  (3  copies). 
Riall,  Lt.-Col.,  W.  A.,  D.L.,  Heywood,  Clonmel. 
Riordan,  Col.  J.,  Roseville,  Clonmel. 
Robertson,  Hume,  Rose  Park,  Monkstown,   Co. 

Dublin. 
Rochfort,  William,  Cahir  Abbey,  Cahir. 
Rocker,  Fritz,  18  Mitchell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Ronayne,  William,  Nelson  Street,  Clonmel. 
Rowell,  Sidney,  30  Parnell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Russell,  John,  Airhill,  Clonmel. 
Ryan,  J.  D.,  St.  John's,  Newfoundland. 
Ryan,  Michael.  J.P.,  Jervis  Place,  Clonmel. 
Kyan,  Rev.  Edmond  J.,  Kilcommin,  Thurles. 

Seale,  Richard,  Parnell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Sharkey,  James,  44  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
Sheehan,  Most  Rev.  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Waterford  and 

Lismore. 
Shortis,  Joseph,  3  Mitchell  Street,  Clonmel. 
Shortis,  Patrick,  7  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
Sisters  of  Charity,  Clonmel. 
Skehan,  Aid.  Thos.,  Upper  Gladstone  ^t.,  Clonmel. 
Slattery,  J.  F.,  Dublin. 
Smith,  Mrs.  E.,  107  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
Smith,  William,  Barona,  Clonmel. 
Smith,  A.  Raynor,  Star  Hotel,  Jersey. 
Spratt,  Very  Rev.  Canon  P.,  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
St.  Albans,  Duchess  of,  Newtown  Anner,  Clonmel. 
St.  John,  Patrick,  Rocklow  West,  Kirby,  Cheshire. 
Stokes,  Patrick,  Kilmore  House,  Clonmel. 
Spyer,  Colonel,  18th  Regt.,  Barracks,  Clonmel. 

Tydd,  F.  E.,  L.L.B.,  Sol.,  Clonmel. 

Vaughan,  David,  R.I.C.,  Thurles. 
Vaughan,  Major  Wilmot,  64  Princes  Gate,  London, 
S.W. 

Walsh,  Rev.  Father  Nicholas,  St.  Peter  and  Paul's, 

Clonmel. 
Walsh,  Patrick,  Kilsheelan. 
Wall,  Rev.  Father  J.,  St.  Mary's,  Clonmel. 
Warren,  Ven.  Archd.,  M.A.,  Rectory,  Clonmel. 
Watters,  Thomas,  Model  School,  Clonmel. 
Watson,  Col.  Solomon,  Ballingarrane,  Clonmel* 
Weston,  Rev.  Mr.,  Christian  Schools,  Clonmel. 
White,  James,  Gladstone  Street,  Clonmel. 
White,  K.  H.,  M.D.,  Seskin  Cottage,  Kilsheelan. 
Whitford,  James  W.,  Peace  Grove,  Clonmel. 
Woods,  Francis,  96  Irishtown,  Clonmel. 
Woulfe,  Maurice,  Bolton  Street,  Clonmel. 
Wright,  Thos.  J.    10  Hadden  Road,  Clontarf, 

Dublin. 


List  of  the  Original  Subscribers. 


523 


Boland,  H.  P.,  2,  Wyndham  Park,  Bray. 
Byrne,  Rev.  W.  S.  T.  L.,  St.  John's  College, 

Waterford. 
Fitzgibbon,  Mrs.,  Albano,  Eglinton  Road,  Dublin. 
Griffith,  W.  A.,  122,  Phibsboro*  Road,  Dublin. 
Hemphill,  Very  Rev.  Canon  Samuel,  Rector,  Birr. 
Kane,  Wm.  F.,  King  Street,  Clonmel. 
Maher,  Rev.  James,  St.  Mary's,  Clonmel. 
Meagher,  Rev.  Wm.,  P.P.,  Tallow. 
Melleray,  Lord  Abbot  of,  Cappoquin. 
Mockler,  Rev.  Hugh,  P.P.,  Clerihan,  Clonmel. 


O'Meara,  Conyngham,  Metropole  Hotel,  Dublin. 

Pembroke,  Very  Rev.  T.  A.,  President,  Rockwell 
College. 

Phillips,  Major  J.  H..  Parkville,  Clonmel. 

Power,  John  G.,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Castle- 
knock  College,  Dublin. 

Roche,  Mrs.  T.,  Parnell  Street,  Clonmel. 

Ryan,  Rev.  Wm.,  SS.  Peter  &  Paul's,  Clonmel. 

Wright,     John     A.,    Barrister-at-Law,     2222, 
Washington  Street,  San  Francisco. 


N.  Harvey  &  Co.,  Printers,  Waterford. 


L-*' 


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